HERE’S the problem. Being able to be an armchair athlete and politician without being in the game isn’t necessarily going to provide solutions. The issues with CUC and our public perception and our public experience doesn’t give us a complete view.
Without a proper ability to communicate and public comments is not. It’s a one way to say what I feel, ask questions, and then the what…silence, it’s mute on the other hand, an audit in itself is not going to solve the problem. To say we need to lower the prices, it’s not going to solve the problem.
The major problem is the fuel source along with normal bureaucratic inefficiency.
We want to reduce our dependency upon imported products to run our power plant. Solar, wind or even wave will require an additional energy source. As a result, we always have a certain dependence for the global energy markets and the costs associated.
To just stop the exploration of other energy sources, like nuclear, isn’t the solution, but there are a lot of hard questions that need to be asked and research to be done.
Magma power, an unlimited source but needing further tests should be considered. Rushing into a 25-year contract that locks us in a higher rates and totally cripples our economy need further analysis.
New diesel generators that are more efficient, again, is a very short-term fix if we’re looking at long term consideration.
I think we need to have an entire new CUC operation-private.
Our present system needs to be revaluated at an operational level. From the customer service to the flipping the switch for water/power.
And why don’t we compare this to a similar size facility run somewhere. So we can immediately evaluate examples of efficiencies in other operations.
There’s a lot of questions to be asked, unfortunately it’s not one easy fix, the reality is the price of fuel is going to cripple our economy and our people. And that’s just the reality. The real question is, what do we do as a holistic approach while looking to the future.
DEL BENSON
Saipan, CNMI
