U.S. congressional delegate aspirant Felipe Q. Atalig, a former manpower contractor of CUC, said it is only “fair and just” to allow manpower agencies to offer their services to address the severe manpower shortage at the power plant.
“Bidding will avoid any trouble and investigation by the federal government” Atalig said, citing the controversial contracts of CUC with DCM-EEI and the Commonwealth Industrial and Supply Company.
Lawmakers have passed a bill to allow CUC to again hire up to 19 guest workers for Power Plant 1. The governor is expected to sign the bill.
Atalig, who is a Saipan Municipal Council member and president of the Northern Marianas Islands Councils Association, said he is willing to supply manpower to the ailing CUC power plants.
“My workers are all intact,” said Atalig, who owns the Casa de Felipe Manpower Service which, he added, served CUC for almost 10 year.
CUC has said that the non-renewal of its 20 guest workers in Sept. 2007 dramatically affected the overall operation of the power generation division.
Atalig urged the governor to “set aside his political animosity” when addressing the power crisis on island.
He said the Legislature was “mistaken” when they supported the idea to remove the guest workers of CUC.
“They failed to see the bad consequences of their decision. They had no plan to replace the guest workers,” he added.
CUC Executive Director Antonio Muna earlier said that if CUC had to hire additional power plant mechanics, it should avoid manpower services since they were “more costly.”
CUC currently has seven maintenance personnel, Muna said, and additional engineers and mechanics are needed to fix the mechanical breakdown of the power plants’ engines.
