The power bills of other government employees will be due this week.
A government employee on Friday told this reporter she developed a headache after receiving her disconnection notice.
Requesting anonymity, the employee said she did not know where to get the money to pay her bill.
She was hoping CUC wouldn’t cut her power supply.
Warren said they don’t disconnect power on weekends.
However, those who got their disconnection notices on Friday should settle their bills on Monday morning.
CUC field staff will cut the power of delinquent clients starting today.
Those who receive a disconnection notice are clients with long overdue bills.
But the nondelinquent clients whose power bills were due on Friday still have 30 days to pay, Warren said.
He recalled that during the last payless Friday that fell on Father’s Day last June, there was also a significant number of people who could not pay their power bills.
So CUC gave the affected government employees 30 days to settle their bills, he added.
CUC, Warren said, also considered easy payment terms for those whose bills had already accumulated.
“We are not as mean as some may think. We recognize they need breathing space,” Warren added.
Rep. Fredrick P. Deleon Guerrero, Ind.-Saipan, introduced House Resolution 17-20 on Thursday, requesting CUC to grant an extended grace period to all government employees who are affected by the delay in the release of paychecks.
Sen. Juan M. Ayuyu, Ind.-Rota, and Sen. Luis P. Crisostimo, Ind.-Saipan, asked CUC deputy executive director Abe Malae to be considerate to government employees with overdue power bills.
“Should these employees request your assistance to temporarily prevent disconnection, we ask you to work with these consumers to the greatest extent possible,” the two senators told Malae.
In a separate interview, Rep. Trenton B. Conner, R-Tinian, said that on Tinian, CUC had already started disconnecting residents.
He wants to find out whether these Tinian residents were given a grace period by CUC.
On Rota, the power supply of more than 10 government workers was disconnected by CUC on Friday, according to municipal council secretary Prudencio A. Manglona.
In a telephone interview yesterday, he said there will be more disconnections on Rota today and tomorrow.
“So we are requesting CUC to consider the Rota government employees affected by the payless Friday and provide them with an extended grace period,” he said.
Rep. Sylvestre I. Iguel, Covenant-Saipan, introduced House Resolution 17-19 urging all banks and financial institutions to provide alternative refinancing options to all government and private sector employees affected by the government’s austerity measure.
Government employees interviewed by this reporter said they are coping with payless Friday.
David Diaz, a legislative staffer, said the austerity measures have changed his weekend routine.
Before, he said, he usually went out for a picnic on the beach or a jet ski ride. Now, all he could do on the weekend was to stay home.
Another staffer, who declined to be identified, said she managed to stretch her past paycheck beyond last Friday so she did not really end up having much problem this weekend.
She said she planned ahead and made sure she still had enough to pay all her obligations.
Other staffers said it was supposed to be the weekend to buy the school supplies for their children.
Because they did not get paid, their children will be going to school today without notebooks and pens.
Only government employees providing essential services, and those whose positions are federally funded, received their checks on Friday.
The rest should get paid this week, the administration said.
