There is still no new budget. There are no new and workable ideas from the administration — or the Legislature — to jump-start the economy. The CNMI’s elected officials stagger from one mini-crisis to another, saying everything while doing nothing. It is as if everyone on Capital Hill is still in a wait and see mode. But what else is there to see? And what are they waiting for? There is no widespread support for pot legalization. The Saipan casino bill is as good as dead. And the Marines are not arriving on Guam until 2014.
Meanwhile, the government’s financial bleeding continues and the economy is still locked in a downward spiral.
Tough decisions have to be made, now. Bold proposals must be offered, now. It’s time for leadership and not “follow the leader,” especially if the leader can’t even show up for proclamation signing events.
Not surprising
IN November, we told you to expect higher CUC rates after the elections. Well, here they are. CUC is now asking for higher water and power rates. At least now, there will be public hearings and a regulatory board must approve the proposed increases.
Water, to be sure, is an expensive commodity. Its availability is dependent on weather, conservation and appropriate maintenance and management regimen. If the water rate increases are justified, they should go forward, but only to fund badly needed CUC projects.
It is also undeniable that fuel prices are increasing once again. But before it is allowed to raise its rates, CUC must disclose the details of its financial condition and explain the hiring of its highly paid executives.
CUC should be able to bring on board whoever it thinks it needs to run the utility in a cost effective and productive manner — provided, of course, that these are professionals with the qualifications and experience to do the job. What does it matter if they come from American Samoa or any other part of the nation? Better that than the political hires of the past who have added to the debt and nonperformance of CUC.
The community’s only considerations are cost and production. Is CUC managing its resources in a responsible and affordable way? That should be the question.
Incidentally, whatever happened to the law allowing for the privatization of CUC’s power division and requiring the exploration of renewable sources of energy?
It’s up to you
THE governor has injected himself into the Okinawa fray, with the approval of the State Department, we hope. But recent international reports indicate that the Japanese government will proceed with its original plans, which should dash any expectation Tinian and the CNMI government might have had for a quickie economic bailout.
So what is the governor’s other plan to turn the economy around? The administration argues for greater employment of U.S. citizens in the private sector, but businesses are cutting costs, including jobs, because of the governor’s failure to deliver on his promises. And yet while businesses are shrinking, the administration continues to hire its political cronies.
As the winning speech in the recent AG’s Cup has put it, the citizens of the CNMI must look to themselves for help. They must, for example, find more ways to further reduce their household expenses and somewhat increase their incomes through entrepreneurship, growing their own vegetables and fishing, of course.
“The best place to find a helping hand,” a wise person once said, “is at the end of your own arm.”
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