THE TRUTH of the matter is many citizens are confused and don’t understand “what direction we are headed nor how are we going to get there.” No one can deny that WE the People need some GREATNESS to improve our economy and social fabric to come from Capital Hill, not the continued suppression of our quality of life with more taxes, higher fees and the list goes on of things being done that make life harder for us regular-folks, especially the poor. Come to think of it, former Governors Camacho and Froilan Tenorio are the only two governors that I considered as approaching or being great during their terms, as WE had a lot of good Governors but scarce on GREATNESS. Well, WE need our Governor and other leaders to be GREAT and not average, as the CNMI is teetering on the brink if things are not turned-around (REFORMED). But this is not a direct attack on the Governor, as there are 29 other elected leaders on the Hill. But it is no secret that there are genuine questions and concerns being raised on the Coconut-Wire about what is happening and what is not happening with our economy and our social fabric.
Greatness can only be achieved when the opportunity for greatness reveals itself, as you cannot manufacture greatness and there are opportunities for GREATNESS everywhere you look but there seems to be no takers. CUC has just approved the purchase of new engines and yet since the conception of CUC there hasn’t been a single local person trained to maintain our engines. I was trying to get MPLT to sponsor “Special Scholarships for Highly Specialized Jobs like this to be filled by locals,” but no one listened when virtually all of our civil engineers are CWs. However, Senator Edith does have an Initiative that is “asleep in the House” that will set the conditions for NMD’s to finally access THEIR money, which would indeed be GREAT. So, stop holding up greatness with the NMD’s Money and get Senator Edith’s Initiative done!
There are those who still want the Chinese to return when we KNOW it will deter the Japanese Tourist market that WE founded our Tourism Industry upon, as WE only have Japanese & Korean Tourist Sites — DUH! Where is the GREAT plan to bring back the Japanese Market? Where are the Hotel Promotions for the Japanese Market? Where are the Airline Promotions for the Japanese Markets? IF CPA would spend half the time trying to work WITH the Governor opposed to fighting the very ideology that established our Tourism Industry (Japanese Tourists) the CNMI might be able to make some head-way in rebuilding our Tourism Market. But it can’t even be resolved as to who has jurisdiction to take care of the tourist sites when DPW is the only one with the equipment and capacity to maintain these sites — it’s a ridiculous funding-fight within our government, just like what the Mayors are facing with OUR quarry. Why should the mayors use Public Funds to purchase from a Publicly Owned Quarry, it’s a far cry from greatness, its madness regardless of what the law alleges. Heck, the Casino Commission continues to get paid and meeting but not a single word about a definitive resolution on the 77-million owed to the People, as if this money is insignificant — below average and even failing miserably.
Where is the “systemic workforce transition plan,” as NMC, PSS and NMTI are struggling to transition students into the workforce but they need real help & leadership from the government to make a real dent in transitioning workers across-the-board figuratively. BOE Member Orsini was right when he said: “the only way to get all the stakeholders involved in the workforce transition challenge is by law and even then, we will have to twist some of their arms to get them to cooperate.”
Senator Edith also is very RIGHT about the 902 Talks, as we could use financial and technical expertise assistance and WE even need some Diplomacy help with the Japanese Government to fix our Economy, especially if we want to bring back the Japanese Tourist Market. Our government is only “reacting to the challenges instead of instituting Economic & Social Initiatives to REFORM our situation for the immediate and distant future. I could go on and on but I think it’s clear the CNMI needs to make some solid reforms and all the stakeholders (government & private sector) need to buy-in and HELP. Stop working against each other, because WE will all find prosperity together or continue to flounder in our own Economic & Social mess. Do WE continue to be average & below or start striving for GREATNESS?
One People, One Direction.
Ambrose M. Bennett is an Economist who minored in Sociology, a Political Scientist, a teacher & former CNMI Board of Education Member, a James Madison Fellow (U.S. Constitutional Scholar), a Fulbright-Hays & lifetime Humanities Scholar who resides in Kagman III.
Ambrose M. Bennett
