By Gemma Q. Casas
Variety News Staff

THE prices of unleaded and premium gasoline on Saipan have gone up by 16 cents in recent weeks, further weakening the purchasing power of residents.
Since Tuesday, unleaded fuel is being sold at $3.449 a gallon while premium gasoline is sold at $3.619.
On Tinian, unleaded fuel was being sold at $3.84 a gallon as of last week.
On Rota, it’s now sold at $4.05 a gallon, up by 10 cents from $3.95.
Minimum wage workers on Rota say their wages are now a dollar or 32 percent lower than the price of gas.
Residents on Rota and Tinian say they have seen a 20-cent increase in gas prices in recent weeks.
Rep. Ray N. Yumul, Ind.-Saipan, said the increases in gas prices are further pulling down the value of the wages earned by the working class.
The minimum wage rate has been $3.05 an hour since 1996.
“This is detrimental to the working class. The minimum wage is overshot by the higher gas prices,” said Yumul.
The lawmaker expressed the hope that the Legislature would pass legislation to establish a mass transit system at least on Saipan.
House legal counsel Antonette Villagomez said everybody is affected by the soaring fuel prices.
Yumul and Villagomez believe a public transport system should be established to give residents, especially those who don’t have access to transportation, an option.
“We need a mass transit system in place,” said Yumul, author of House Bill 15-170 which seeks to establish a CNMI Transit Authority within the Office of the Governor.
The bill, which remains pending in the Senate, states that the Transit Authority Office will “review, apply, receive, manage and use federal grants from the Federal Transit Authority.”
Yumul said their goal is to get federal grants to purchase public buses for Saipan.
“It’s a very, very good program. (People) are resorting to underground taxis. If we had public transport, the fares could be as low as 25 cents (per trip),” he said.
A similar bill was introduced in the 14th Legislature but it wasn’t enacted into law amid the Public School System’s concern that it might jeopardize its access to federal grants for transportation.
Yumul said this issue has been addressed in the latest version of the bill.