The Legislature, at the behest of this administration, is now repealing laws and programs that provide a direct service to the public like the education tax credit, while doing little to plan for the downturn in tourist arrivals, fund the hospital or provide the court with an adequate budget to pay lawyers and translators.
CUC is in a financial bind because of the government’s failure to pay its utility bills. It must hike the rates for its private customers to make up for the millions of dollars it cannot collect from the government. PSS now has to rely on federal funds as local funding levels have dropped substantially each year, resulting in delayed rent payments to the Retirement Fund which, like CUC, can’t collect from the government.
Lawyers and translators can go unpaid for only so long before the legal system begins to suffer. These service providers as well as vendors pay less taxes as a result of the government’s nonpayment. It is a downward spiral that can only be broken with an unerring focus on eliminating red-tape, privatizing government services following proper procurement regulations, and the full implementation of a plan to revitalize the islands’ draw as a marketable tourist destination.
Leadership you can’t trust
ADVOCATES for the preservation of Marpi should not be timid in their aim to maintain the historical, environmental and scenic value of that area.
There is nothing wrong with designating an entire swathe of land for preservation in perpetuity. Grand Canyon, Yellow Stone Park and Haleakala Volcanic Park come to mind. Development is permitted within certain parameters but only if it is consistent with the character of the area.
Homesteads are not consistent with maintaining the integrity of Marpi. DPL should put on its thinking cap to come up with other alternatives before it is permitted to destroy a landscape that contributes to the island’s economic survival in incalculable ways.
Meanwhile, tens of millions of ARRA funds go unspent and millions of dollars of capital improvement funds have been lost for failure to design and build projects within a specified period of time. Each year that the CNMI is unable to spend its Covenant CIP funds, a certain percentage is cut and reapportioned to the other territories.
So who’s to blame? According to the administration, in charge since 2006, the feds, of course, and Congressman Kilili for not jumping when the governor says jump.
