THE reason I kept writing about Sugar Dock was because it should have taught the CNMI a real-life lesson when you look at how it has just literally fallen apart with nothing for the kids to dive off. I wrote when the protest was on-going that “they were looking a gift-horse in the mouth but instead they are beating the horse to death figuratively.” As an Economist, I could immediately see the future recognizing the tremendous value of a Ferry for all locals and Commerce going to Tinian. In fact, it was the type of Ferry that you could drive your car onto and drive-off on Tinian to spend a day or whatever — it was truly an awesome step toward PROGRESS and even ahead of its time. I’m sure there wouldn’t be the same resistance today to a Ferry given there isn’t a Dock anymore, but it is critical infrastructure we NEED that our Governor refuses to fix and he has more money for Infrastructure than he knows what to do with — for TRUE. So PLEASE fix the Dock Governor for ALL of us-in-the-cheap-seats!!!
But I really don’t blame the failure to get the Ferry so much on the people who congregate at the pavilion but the ones who rarely even went there but took-over the leadership for the “Save Sugar Dock Protests,” especially the Republicans in office and famous others who participated — it was awful leadership. But there was the variable fact of the dock being a “cultural traditional place to gather” so it had history and “FEAR” was the leverage used by the leaders, like they have done with Article XII. It didn’t matter that they could have gotten a new pavilion and a lot more from the Ferry operator like the diving platforms, as the Ferry operator was willing to do anything within reason to accommodate the concerns but it was a flat out NO, which was pure selfishness and even arrogance. Looking at the Dock today it is proof that lessons should have been learned, especially when opportunity for greatness at something may only come ONCE in a lifetime.
An Apology: I am a person who RESPECTS others and it dawned on me that I might have cast the wrong impression about the people who use that pavilion and I truly want to APOLOGIZE to everyone that I offended with my reference to them as “beer drinkers.” The people at the pavilion are fine up-standing citizens who do a lot of things as a group to help the CNMI including cleaning the beach. In fact, there is a couple of the people whom I have to “fangnginge (Amen)” so I really want them to know. I’m sorry for my paraphrasing of them as they are not just beer drinkers but they are up-standing working citizens and some are even my family and friends.
I just hope you guys can find it in your heart to forgive me and I hope that you can understand that being an Economist and seeing such a great opportunity loss really got to me and I have been truly upset about it ever-since as we say. I was writing from disappointment with emotions in that opinion which I shouldn’t have done but I really wanted to see our youth with the opportunity to have access to some real diving equipment that could even lead to greatness for them and the CNMI. I still have a lot of respect for the people at the pavilion and hopefully they still respect me. But I pray that one-day our youth will have that Olympic Diving Platform & Spring Boards, as I believe they could punch the “first ticket to Gold in the Olympics for the CNMI,” if they have the equipment.
I will end with some SERIOUS words of wisdom for the entire CNMI, and hopefully lessons were learned about Sugar Dock. The Romans might say “fortune favors the brave, not those who can only say NO to progress.” So if, I pray, there is a next-time PLEASE be open minded as compromise has been a real instrument for saving lives and mankind’s progress and even the savior of our nation that was born out of compromise for a Bill of Rights. Then there is the Star Trek wisdom of “the needs of the many will always outweigh the needs of a few” as the key to greatness if finding a balancing point. Dr. King might say “dreams do come true, especially if we put our minds and hearts to task.” My MaDear would say what she said to me, “if you Ambrose (the CNMI) is to truly GROW Big we as a people must realize that all the big fish in the ocean eat all the little fish, so WE as a People need to learn how to grow BIG for ourselves” and stop saying no to progress. I have also often said: “We can never achieve big results and prosperity by trying to stay small and we will ALL, not just locals, find prosperity together or not at all.”
The warnings I made about being prepared for the Departure of the Garment Industry, Sugar Dock and the Casino are just three of the important “I Told You So’s” I wrote about that PROVED the powers-that-be really need to listen to me — a REAL Economist.
Ambrose M. Bennett
