Beg, baby, beg!
BACK in the day, local leaders pushed for self-government under the American flag so they could, among other things, pursue economic development. “The Marianas wanted and expected to be economically self-sufficient,” as Howard Willens and Deanne Siemer noted in their superb 2002 book about the Covenant negotiations, “An Honorable Accord.”
In the 1990s, two CNMI governors appeared before the U.S. Congress to highlight the tremendous economic progress that the very young Commonwealth had achieved. “Don’t send us back to a coconut economy. Don’t make us a federal welfare state again,” Gov. Larry Guerrero said. Gov. Lang Tenorio, for his part, said, “We have grown up and with adulthood, the handouts end. You will actually be helping us by taking them away. In fact, federal subsidies do us more harm than good because it perpetuates our dependence on the federal government and it comes with too many strings attached.”
Today, it seems that economic development is too difficult a task for the current leadership. It’s much easier to seek more federal aid, which, for the CNMI, was the central focus of the 902 talks held on Wednesday and Thursday.
In 1999, when the 902 talks were hosted by Saipan, they were held at the Hyatt. This time, the venue was a federal building, further underscoring the once-proud Commonwealth’s abject dependence on Uncle Sam.
So what’s the timeline?
THE governor must tell the public what to expect now that the 902 talks on Saipan have ended. He is essentially requesting more federal funds and other assistance. Does he expect Santa, er, the President’s representative to simply say yes? Will it also require U.S. congressional approval? How long will that take?
Meanwhile, with the local economy still sluggish due to low tourist arrivals, what then? Clearly, the austerity measures should not only apply to the executive branch, but to the two other branches of government as well. It’s called math. The government isn’t collecting enough revenue to cover its expenses, so those expenses should be reduced. It’s true that some of these are more urgent than others, so set priorities. This is exactly what hard-pressed households and businesses are doing right now. What makes government officials think they shouldn’t?
Good luck
ANOTHER investor has taken over the Hyatt, and is now proceeding with its re-branding. It’s a risky venture. As an MVA official pointed out early this year, 70% of Hyatt’s pre-pandemic customers were Chinese. Today, there are still no direct flights from China to Saipan while MVA continues to promote the CNMI in the Japan market, which remains a shadow of what it once was. The CNMI is now heavily dependent on the South Korean market, which, according to a Saipan Chamber of Commerce official, is “already saturated,” with limited potential for further growth.
Still, the (former) Hyatt’s new owner believes he has solid ideas that can turn things around and make it even better. We hope so. The entire community hopes so.
Meanwhile, the new owner will continue to incur costs involving maintenance, personnel, lease payments, supplies, taxes, among other things. He would be happy to break even, eventually.
“We will really try to make this work,” said the governor, referring to the re-branded hotel.
Well then, stop proposing tax and fee hikes, and start reducing the size of this bloated government.
