I was made aware by Rep. Tina Sablan, in one of her visits to our school, that the CNMI does in fact have an open government. I found it hard to believe because it was never broadcast and therefore, as a result, the news wasn’t able to properly circulate within our society. But now that the doors have been open and the people finally have a way to get into the “nitty-gritty” of our local government, I’d say we better start taking advantage of this before more information becomes closed to us indefinitely.
I would’ve thought that since government agencies are always so eager to allot money from the fiscal budget, that most of them would be willing to comply with the Open Government Act. Yet again, I was in disbelief when I saw in yesterday’s paper that more than half of the CNMI’s major government agencies failed to provide the necessary documents; therefore violating the Open Government Act. This somewhat upset me. Were those 15 other government agencies just so busy that they couldn’t take 10 minutes of their time — as NMC did, bravo, by the way — to fill out a few papers and fax them over? Or maybe their hands were too cramped from handing more money under the table — if you catch my drift?
Gee, now I’m in a pickle, aren’t I? How in the world can I possibly be active in my community if my government fails to provide me with the crucial information I need in order to keep me up to date?
It’s getting ridiculous, people. I don’t think many of you out there are aware, but in order to have a strong government, you must have an open government. The president of the United States believes this and so do I. Where is our source of democratic power? It’s with us, the people. The CNMI only thrives on citizen participation, which can only be elicited by an open government. It’s a simple equation: people want access.
If that’s too hard to understand, let’s just put it this way: teenagers turn 18, but they don’t register to vote. The youth want to dominate the media, but they have yet to write a simple letter to the editor. Where do we get this spineless attitude? Our leaders, of course. So, my advice for the government agencies who have broken the law: Get your acts together. This isn’t a game. Sooner or later, we’ll know what you’re up to, and sooner or later, you’re just going to have to wallow in all that failure. Good luck with that.
THERESE DIMAPILIS
MHS Student
