The governor, Demapan added,is looking at all legal options the administration has.
Demapan said it is unfortunate that the governor no longer has the authority to reprogram funds.
But this authority canbe restoredthrough a law passed by the Legislature.
CUC Executive Director Antonio Muna told KSPN 2 yesterday that the funding they received will provide them with fuel until Tuesday, June 8.
No fuel delivery
Power Plant 4, managed by Pacific Marine and Industrial Corp., still had 15,000 gallons of fuel to run its power generator on Wednesday.
But that was the last portion of the 100,000 gallons of fuel purchased by the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. last week, according to a plant official.
Based on CUC’s fuel projection summary,PP4 will run out of fuel at 12 noon today.
As of 4: 30 p.m. yesterday, the plant official said they had not received any advisory regarding a purchase order for their fuel supply.
If CUC can obtain a purchase order today, the official added, Mobilstill needs to secure the approval of its Guam office.
Usually, the plant official said, the payment should be made a day before the delivery to allow the clearing of the check.
CUC Executive Director Antonio Muna said they needed $364,698.60 to pay Mobil on June 2 so it could deliver fuel yesterday, June 3.
The plant official said they could stretch the generation of power up to 4 p.m. today.
PP4produces an average of 11.2 megawatts for CUC.
Punished
Residents interviewed by the Variety said they should not be punished for the failure of government offices to pay their power bills as they urged the government to do something about the power crisis.
Business owners, especially small stores, worry about the impact of blackouts on their perishable goods.
“This is going to be a problem. The price of electricity is already so high. If there’s going to be constant blackouts, our refrigerators and freezers won’t run and our goods would be destroyed. We will lose much,” one of them said.
Businesses catering to tourists in the Garapan area said blackouts will further ruin Saipan’s image.
Other residents said CUC should have planned ahead.
“I don’t want to go back to the dark,” one of them said.
Senate President Paul A. Manglona, Ind.-Rota, said CUC’s problems are complex and need a comprehensive solution.
He said Muna, a U.S. certified public accountant, is doing his best to find solutions.
“But the situation at CUC cannot be fixed overnight,” Manglona told the Variety.
“They should address this as a package. We cannot leave some areas behind and have fire here developing while trying to kill fire there. We know that CUC was in trouble since day one, when there was a declaration of emergency. There’s no such thing as emergency anymore. We’ve been having the emergency situation since then,” he said.
He said Rota may experience load shedding in the future if its own power crisis is not addressed soon.
Rota has only one generator and taps the electricity generated from Rota Resort to supply the rest of the community.
Sen. Juan M. Ayuyu, Ind.-Rota and chairof the Senate Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation and Communication, said the leadership held a meeting with the administration and CUC recently.
“CUC never raised the issue of money problem. I am surprised that this issue is now raised,” he said.
Manglona is hoping the administration can address Saipan’s power crisis.
“I hope that we can solve this crisis because it’s creating anxiety in the community, among businesses, and the private sector,” he said.
Unscheduled outage
Yesterday, Garapan was hit by an unscheduled power outage at around 6:10 p.m.
CUC assistant executive director for operation Abe Utu Malae said the power outage was caused by a problem with a power pole in Lower Base.
Power was restored at past 7 p.m.
