The administration is correct in reminding everyone that its predecessors did not pay the Fund, adding to the government’s financial woes. But administration officials should have known about this problem before they took office and certainly became aware of it shortly after they were sworn in. In response, they did what so many of us do at our own peril — they delayed action by deferring government obligations for 12 months.
Right now, the administration says it can pay only an 11 percent employer contribution rate, way below the required 36 percent. Paying 11 percent is its obligation and the administration shouldn’t be congratulated for doing its job, and there remains the matter of paying what the government owes the Fund.
It did not help that the Retirement Fund lost much investment value over the last several years. In fairness, many pension funds have lost value as the stock market slipped into a steep decline in reaction to the global financial crisis. However, some investment portfolios performed well, which demands an explanation on the part of the Retirement Fund.
The court, in any case, will soon decide on the amount that the government must pay the Retirement Fund, which agency officials say is over $200 million.
What the people would want to know now is how can the government pay the Fund without shutting down, and what are the long-term solutions to this mess that are being proposed by this year’s candidates for office.
Who are we kidding?
THE people and their government officials have become comfortable with creating win-win scenarios and clinging to the illusion of having satisfactorily addressed a problem by merely talking about it. So, four-day work-weeks were engineered for one year only, even though government finances justified making those reductions permanent. It also didn’t stop the administration from hiring rank and file employees that most will concede aren’t necessary to deliver essential public services.
Countries and corporations around the world are adopting the reduced work-week in an effort to cut expenses while delivering basic services. There is no reason a permanent four-day work-week ought not to work here. Savings should go to pay the Retirement Fund obligations.
The administration, to be sure, claims that every person on the payroll is essential to deliver essential public services, but this is not borne out by first-hand experience that almost everyone has when dealing with most government agencies. There are exceptions, but not too many of them.
Regarding NMC
THE fate of Carmen Fernandez’s contract with Northern Marianas College will be decided soon. WASC will deliver its findings and render its accreditation decision soon as well. Judging by the way both organizations function, provisional decisions will be issued, giving both the college president and the college a temporary reprieve, but it will solve nothing. College regents, NMC President Fernandez, administrators and some students are adept at public relations which will permit the status quo to continue. Meanwhile, huge damage is being done to the college, but no one is paying attention.
Still a good thing
THERE are a lot words that can be used to describe the positives associated with getting over 4,000 volunteers join an islandwide cleanup. It is a good thing. Its proponents should receive recognition for the effort and for fostering the spirit of volunteerism that gets people out there to help keep the island clean.
However, such activities have proven useless. Volunteer trash picking and the 1989 anti-littering law have not reduced littering one bit. A regular cleanup doesn’t solve the problem. It merely diverts attention from solving the problem because it removes the eyesore from public view — temporarily — but does nothing to make sure that it stops.
There’s no getting around it. The anti-littering law must be enforced. Otherwise, these commendable volunteers have, once again, wasted their time and efforts.
