The center is also a reminder of Japan’s enduring importance to the CNMI economy. It was Japanese capital that built the local tourism industry and made the islands one of the favored destinations of Japanese tourists.
Japan Airlines, Shimizu, Mitsubishi, Hotel Nikko, Saipan Grand, Dai-Ichi, Saipan Diamond, Coral Ocean Point, Aqua Resort Club, Plumeria, Hafadai Beach, Mariana Resort, Kingfisher, Laulau Bay, MCC — these and other Japanese companies created the boom days of the late 1980s. Since the late 1990s, however, they have, one after the other, left the island, an exodus that culminated in JAL’s pullout over three years ago.
Japan, however, is still the CNMI’s primary tourism market. And despite the global recession Japan remains the world’s second largest economy that is a mere three-hour flight away from an island forever part of Japanese history. Indeed, when Japan’s beloved emperor decided to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, his imperial majesty visited Saipan. It was the first trip by a Japanese monarch to a World War II battlefield abroad.
In November, the CNMI will elect a new governor and one of his priorities should be to rebuild the islands’ ties with Japan and make the commonwealth, once again, an attractive place for Japanese investments and tourists.
Out with the old
THE good news is that the channel has been cleared of troublesome debris so more military ships can stop here, providing a lifeline for some businesses in the Garapan area. The bad news is that the number of airlines seats for the commonwealth keeps getting cut.
As a candidate in 2005, the governor touted his business credentials and connections to the business community, but his term is about to end and he has not been able to start a new industry of any kind or prevent airlines from rolling back the number of seats to the CNMI.
Last year, the governor refused to implement any kind of austerity program even though revenues looked bad and projections looked even worse. Instead of making modest adjustments all around over a number of years, he lifted the austerity measures and only now recognizes what everyone else has known all along: he has to make cuts.
Yet the governor refuses to permit the Legislature to constrain his ability to hire mostly non-essential personnel. This practice burdens government operations and the Retirement Fund while sacrificing essential services along the way.
Meanwhile, there aren’t enough professionals to run the hospital. CHC doesn’t have enough supplies and it needs new equipment. What equipment it has badly needs maintenance that CHC can’t afford.
This administration blames its predecessor for many of its current problems, but the governor has been in charge for over three years and all he has done is to create new problems on top of a giant mess.
With federal immigration on the horizon and with a governor still trying to solve new problems with old solutions, there seems to be no end of troubles for the CNMI.
DC’s ward
THE governor is in Washington, D.C., and the CNMI, finally, has a congressional delegate, but no one in the commonwealth seems to have a clear picture of what the monstrous federal stimulus package has specifically for these islands.
We know what is slated for Guam and American Samoa, but only a glimmer of an idea of what is budgeted for the CNMI.
One trend, however, is developing: the CNMI must now receive greater and greater sums of federal dollars to make up for the shrinking revenues it generates locally.
This should be a subject of great concern for local residents.
