By Zaldy Dandan – Variety Editor
IN his 1966 book, “A Reporter in Micronesia,” E.J. Kahn Jr. noted that under the U.S.-administered Trust Territory government, the local residents of Saipan “were barred from half their home island and became understandably nervous about what was happening in the off-limits area.” The escalation of the war in Vietnam in February 1965, he added, caused widespread apprehension among the locals. “When the Saipanese heard that American planes had begun dropping bombs in North Vietnam, there was a wild exchange of frightening rumors. The most widely circulated one…was that [a] Soviet trawler had steamed north from Guam and was lying off Saipan, ready to launch an invasion force. Before the day was out, every pound of rice in every store on Saipan had been bought up by panicky natives who thought the Third World War was under way.”
In early 1991, the United States was involved in another war, this time against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, which had invaded Kuwait. The U.S.-led coalition gave Iraq until Jan. 15, 1991, to leave Kuwait — or else.
As that date approached, island residents and their leaders quietly braced for the consequences of war. According to Marianas Variety, the Commonwealth Ports Authority instructed all airlines, tenants and their personnel to implement security measures. CPA itself “will be increasing its security force,” and “security badges will be inspected frequently.”
In a memorandum, Gov. Larry Guerrero stated: “During the Persian Gulf crisis, we must take special precautions against terrorism and sabotage. Even though we are seemingly far from the center of the armed conflict, the possibilities of worldwide acts of terrorism cannot be dismissed.” The CNMI, he added, “should be on guard to protect our people, our government property and our vital services.”
In an editorial, Variety reminded its readers that prices of basic commodities — fuel foremost among them — would “skyrocket.” “It will not hurt if we…start conserving our resources,” the editorial stated. It also recommended car pools, a mass transit system and “shutting off the air conditioner…. Every drop of oil counts,” especially for the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. Moreover, lights “should only be used for security and safety purposes.”
Governor Guerrero said he did not anticipate a repeat of the 1973 oil crisis, but he was concerned about the increasing cost of fuel. “If the cost of power plant fuel rises, as it is now doing, we [would] have to find a lot of additional public money to keep the lights on.” He urged the public to conserve energy. Otherwise, he said, there could be higher utility rates, reductions in government services and power outages. He also formed an Energy Planning Committee to “map out plans by which the CNMI can conserve energy.”
Fuel suppliers and gas retailers were asked to “please…not take advantage of this Middle East crisis to raise your prices unnecessarily.”
Then as now, many assumed government could set prices and override the forces of supply and demand.
When the U.S.-led coalition began its offensive against Saddam’s forces in Kuwait and Iraq, the CNMI Senate canceled its session while the House of Representatives prefiled a resolution commending the more than 100 CNMI servicemembers who were part of Operation Desert Shield.
As author Matt Gallagher would put it, at the time, “Saddam Hussein commanded the world’s fourth-largest army…. The Pentagon forecast heavy casualties and judged it possible that Saddam would use chemical weapons on U.S. troops, as he had done against thousands of Kurds during the Halabja massacre in 1988.”
One local mother told Variety it was difficult to comfort her youngest daughter, who was very close to her 23-year-old brother, a private first class in the U.S. Army deployed to the Persian Gulf. “Every time she sees an airplane, she shouts, ‘There is [my brother]!’ When the phone rings she thinks we are talking to [him].”
Another relative said, “Every day since the war started we have always had prayers and rosaries…for [the soldier’s] safe return, but [his mother] has lost a lot of weight lately. She just could not stand listening to the news anymore.”
At the time, with the local economy thriving and the Marianas Visitors Bureau projecting a 15% increase in tourism arrivals despite Persian Gulf hostilities and rising airfare, lawmakers considered providing power subsidies to eligible residential customers of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. The goal was to “protect residential customers from unreasonable charges.”
Oil suppliers, for their part, told Variety there was “enough supply of oil in the CNMI and that there will be no fuel shortage even if war has already been declared in the Middle East….”
As for prices, the Shell Marianas terminal manager said, “I cannot guarantee how much, how quickly and to what extent oil prices will increase. It is now dependent on the events in the Persian Gulf.”
Mobil Oil’s area manager said most of the fuel designated for the CNMI came from Saudi Arabia and was transported to Singapore, where it was refined into finished petroleum products including gasoline, jet fuel and diesel. From Singapore refineries, the fuel was shipped to Guam and Saipan, from where smaller vessels transported it to Tinian and Rota.
Citing data from the Commonwealth Energy Office, Variety reported that gas station prices “have risen approximately 40 cents per gallon since August [1990], when Iraq invaded Kuwait.”
In March 1991, Variety reported a 4-cent drop in gasoline prices, and quoted the Mobil area manager as saying, “I expect we will see a normalization of prices coming from Singapore.” The paper did not mention the actual gasoline price at the time, though it was likely lower than the $1.649 per gallon price of unleaded regular fuel reported in February 1995.
“The time has come for the government to stop talking about the problems of fossil-fuel dependence and to do something about it,” Variety editorialized in September 1990.
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Zaldy Dandan is the recipient of the NMI Society of Professional Journalists’ Best in Editorial Writing Award and the NMI Humanities Award for Outstanding Contributions to Journalism. His four books are available on amazon.com/.
