And while CUC’s executive director criticizes the privatization law as being “too expensive,” he has done nothing to cut his agency’s costs. Private power producers have observed that CUC can function with more than half of its current manpower. Moreover, buying generators that may not meet EPA standards is another very expensive proposition not different from the other questionable procurements that have landed CUC in this mess.
The entire CNMI government, in fact, can function by cutting over half of the manpower it has on the rolls, but officials would rather sacrifice public services than nonessential personnel. This administration has hired an additional 300 employees this year alone. Yet medical operations are compromised each day, and wholesale resignations loom as CHC and administration officials cut experienced personnel for newer, cheaper and well-connected labor.
In rejecting a proposal to provide housing benefits to critical hospital personnel, some lawmakers apparently want to leave those kinds of decisions in the hands of the same administration and CHC officials whose ill-advised policies have created precisely the problems that need to be addressed immediately.
Big mistakes are made this way. In the health field, however, mistakes can be deadly — and irreversible. CHC now has one surgeon and one in-house pharmacist for about 30 days. The hospital’s illustrious recruitment committee will take six months to find replacements who will take another year to get up to speed with CHC’s third world facility.
Some legislators are anxious to make cuts — in the wrong places such as public health or public education. They think that these accommodations can be dealt with in contract negotiations with the critically needed personnel. And if these personnel can’t take some cut, then that’s it. It seems that government officials are not aware that building and maintaining functioning teams of professionals is more than half the secret of creating a good organization. You can destroy a good program by simply changing key players. Take the Commonwealth Ports Authority. Once an efficient agency, it no longer has its best and most efficient professionals. CPA is now run by inept board members who engineered its crash. Not surprisingly, at one time, not so long ago, airport generators went down, affecting the flights of tourists. Tourism is the only engine of the local economy, but the gateway to the CNMI doesn’t function.
And so while legislators vote to cut the costs of critically needed public services, they may want to delve a little deeper into the figures and realize that they have to accept some of the responsibility for this government’s poorly managed agencies.
