Nonresidents were admitted to the CNMI in huge numbers to help develop the local economy. Arguments can be made about whether those numbers were justified or whether they were even necessary, but that is all water over the dam at this point. In the midst of an economic collapse, exacerbated by the wholesale exodus of the garment industry, the number of nonresident workers is now relatively small. Each day, more and more nonresidents — and residents — leave island as more and more businesses close or scale back.
This is having an obvious ripple effect on the economy. The consumer segment is shrinking and thus there is less business and revenue for the private sector and the government. The impact of this gradual diminishment of population is stunning.
Federal officials, in any case, worked hard to strip the CNMI of local control because in their view, the commonwealth did not treat its nonresident population fairly. Advocates profess concern over the plight of nonresident workers in the CNMI, but the resulting outmigration is definitely not beneficial from an economic standpoint.
As these issues wend their way through an unresponsive federal bureaucracy, the CNMI government and other local private groups must plan for the inevitable disappointment that will come. The feds are more concerned with issues affecting the states than they are with the CNMI people who don’t vote on the floor of the U.S. Congress or elect the nation’s president.
Solutions must come from within. Problems must be solved locally, but it cannot be done if the local leadership is unable to decide what issues are truly deserving of their attention.
For example
THE hospital remains a blighted operation. Physicians and nurses are leaving in droves, critical diagnostic supplies are not available, equipment is old, there aren’t enough qualified technicians, and hospital management is not making any decisions — not good ones anyway.
To make money, the Department of Public Health — instead of revamping the pricing system, inventory, billings or collections management — is renting out space, no doubt at the direction of the administration. While this is a good idea on its face, it also raises questions. Why is a clinic that was suspended from operations months ago now recertified to open its doors in the hospital itself? Were all the concerns about this clinic adequately addressed? Were they false? Was this firm absolved of wrongdoing? Who exactly is in charge at the hospital? The legally confirmed secretary of public health has been on personal leave, and someone was appointed to assume his duties, but who’s calling the shots?
Meanwhile
THE Legislature, which should provide checks and balances, has conducted no budget or oversight hearings.
Many of its members are more responsive to zoning concerns perhaps because life and death issues are frightening or too overwhelming to tackle head on.
Although it remains unclear why hospital issues remain untouched, citizens need to understand that public health and medical services are severely compromised, and they should plan accordingly.
