The hospital pharmacist doesn’t just dispense aspirin and other medicines produced and sold by pharmaceutical companies. A pharmacist prepares medicines and custom treatments, serving the very sick, as well as in-patient and out-patient groups in the community.
Anxious to cut costs, administration officials contend that this position can be served by just about anyone, completely ignoring the fierce competition that exists for qualified and experienced health professionals world-wide. Long-time service means nothing as well. Whatever valuable experience is gained on the job in the CNMI is to be thrown away, in exchange for cheaper and newer “models.” Any person who has served in a professional or technical position in the CNMI government is dispensable, no matter how long or how good his service is. This seems to be the administration’s modus operandi.
The administration at the same time would have the community believe that it is tough and capable of making hard decision in these tough times. This is its preferred interpretation of the current situation. But most people believe that this administration, even after three years into the job, is not in command of the budget or government operations. The administration still doesn’t know how the government functions, what services it provides or why these services must be provided.
The power crisis is the most glaring example. Not only was the purchase of the Agrekko generators done without transparency, but also without regard to local and federal permitting requirements. It has been widely known for years that many large generators operating in the CNMI, including government units, were not compliant with EPA regulations. Why? Probably because obtaining EPA permits will cost several hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Clearly, it is the chronic lack of education, planning and qualified managers that lands us in a mess over and over again.
Another case in point — the Department of Public Works’ inability to properly procure contract services has delayed the spending of millions of dollars in needed capital improvement projects. The administration cannot hire qualified and experienced professionals or sign contracts without procurement challenges because the government’s procurement system, methods and operations remain highly suspect. This deprives taxpayers needed public projects and robs the community of transparency and quality work. Everything ends up costing double or triple what it should have, not to mention the years of delays in implementing badly needed projects.
And so we ask again the people of the CNMI: Can you endure 15 more months of this disastrous administration?
