FORMER fire chief Clyde Norita, who is supporting the independent gubernatorial candidacy of Lt. Gov. Arnold I.. Palacios and his running mate, Saipan Mayor David M. Apatang, said former Customs Director Jose C. Mafnas’s transfer to the Department of Commerce “is so wrong on so many levels.”
Mafnas, who is also an AD 2022 supporter, has been named the new director of the export, importation and public outreach under the Department of Commerce. Customs is under the Department of Finance.
According to Finance Secretary David DLG Atalig, Mafnas’s new job is to conduct a “thorough review” of all alcohol, tobacco, and related products as well as import policies that fall under the law enforcement purview of the Division of Customs and Biosecurity and the Alcohol, Beverage, Tobacco Control Division.
Norita said Mafnas’s transfer may be a violation of the federal Hatch Act. Mafnas’s employment rights under CNMI laws and personnel rules and regulations may also have been violated, Norita added.
He raised the following questions:
• Was Mafnas consulted about his transfer?
• Was the Office of Personnel Management consulted in changing Mafnas’s position description?
• Did the Civil Service Commission approve this new civil service positions most especially “director” position?
• Did the secretary of Commerce acknowledge the transfer?
• The transfer was “immediate”; why? Usually a transfer is two weeks to give the employee time to transition.
• Why transfer Mafnas to Commerce when there is a director of ABTC in Commerce who is of equal rank to Mafnas?
• Why not create a “task force” with Customs and ABTC to conduct a review and submit a report?
• Why can’t Commerce Department just “sole source” a contract to JOGO to do the study? (JOGO Sanitation Services received a $142,000 contract from the CNMI government for disinfecting the designated vaccination center at the multi-purpose center and the medical care and treatment site in the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. parking lot.)
• ABTC just hired a new “outreach” person. Why can’t this new person work on this review and submit a report?
• This new ABTC “outreach” person — who is she again?
•The new Customs acting director was appointed over six high ranking Customs personnel. Why and who is she?
• Why take out Mafnass’ name from the Customs Academy graduation program?
Norita said the Customs and Biosecurity Division is a “para-military” organization. “The officers and personnel breath ‘chain of command’ to ensure that orders are properly carried out, something political leaders can’t understand,” he added.
“Protocol dictates that the secretary of Finance can only transfer personnel within his own department. The same goes with the secretary of Commerce. So to transfer an employee from one department to another department you need the governor to make that transfer order not the two secretaries who are obviously being set up for a lawsuit in their official and personal capacity,” Norita said.
He also noted that Mafnas’s transfer was ordered just a few weeks after he had increased enforcement on Rota and Tinian in an effort to prevent the smuggling of crystal meth and other contraband.
Norita said Customs, under Mafnas’s command, had foiled four attempts to smuggle crystal meth into Saipan over the last four months.
Clyde K. Norita
