By Zaldy Dandan – Variety Editor
A more focused leadership
DESPITE the CNMI’s dismal state, there are still some things to be thankful for, including a leadership that is not willfully blind to the economic reality staring us in the face for the past few years. MVA has launched a new (and compelling) promotion campaign and is no longer shackled by gauzy geopolitical theorizing. Moreover, business leaders can once again air their concerns and offer recommendations without their integrity or patriotism being questioned.
Recently, the governor signed an executive order “to significantly streamline business permitting processes across the Commonwealth.” As the Saipan Chamber of Commerce president has noted, “For too long, our local entrepreneurs and investors have navigated a complex and often fragmented system for obtaining the necessary permits, licenses, and clearances. This has resulted in unnecessary administrative burdens, delays, and increased costs, which ultimately hinder economic growth.”
There have been previous attempts to establish a “one-stop shop” for business permits, but perhaps this time — under a more focused administration and in consultation with the business community — the government may at last transform a perennial talking point into a functioning system that cuts red tape instead of adding to it.
Please
A BILL has been introduced in the House of Representatives to mandate “comprehensive financial literacy education” in CNMI public middle and high schools. According to the bill, there is “growing recognition that early financial education is foundational to individual and community well-being. In the CNMI, the need is especially urgent.”
Well. We are treated yet again to elected officials lecturing on a principle they have shown no ability — or willingness — to follow. This is the same government that consistently overspends and has, in the not-so-recent past, bankrupted its pension fund and nearly run into the ground the island’s only hospital and utilities corporation. They are currently scrambling for funds to pay mounting obligations — including PSS’s 25% — and now they tell us that students need to be “financially literate.”
Has anyone asked, in any case, whether this bill would be yet another unfunded mandate imposed on PSS, which is already implementing cost-cutting measures?
A much greater priority is to have more economically literate government officials who know the many challenges faced by businesses in a small island community, and who realize that economic progress begins when government stops obstructing those who generate it.
Perhaps the Saipan Chamber of Commerce should consider hosting free seminars conducted by economists for the benefit of elected officials.
Zaldy Dandan is the recipient of the NMI Society of Professional Journalists’ Best in Editorial Writing Award and the NMI Humanities Award for Outstanding Contributions to Journalism. His four books are available on amazon.com/.
