The hiring of personnel, he added, is not only to comply with the orders, but also to “run an efficient utility.”
Based on its current organizational layout, CUC has 58 vacancies, 24 of which are in the water and wastewater division, Fletcher said.
Many of these positions are technical, professional, and/or journeyman-level trade categories.
Problems in filling those vacancies involve finances and the changing nature of CNMI immigration policy, Feltcher said.
“My perspective is if CUC is unable to hire locally, or unable to affordably recruit off-island U.S. citizens, then we must look to nonresidents,” he added.
However, Fletcher said given the local restriction on the number of nonresidents the utility can hire as well as the unknowns of future immigration policies, CUC is “hamstrung in its hiring.”
Based on Public Law 17-36, CUC can hire up to 30 nonresident workers only.
“This situation not only affects CUC’s operations, but I believe it is a major concern for the entire business community as well,” Fletcher said.
