Editorials

Don’t just say it; do it GOOD news for the CNMI: • a new inter-island airline, Marianas Southern Airways, has launched its inaugural flight; • the resumption (fingers crossed) next month of the Japan-Saipan direct flights; • FEMA will provide the Commonwealth $16 million in Covid-19 reimbursements;…

Tick-tock AFTER noting that the CNMI government remains largely dependent on ARPA funds (which will be depleted soon) and has to, once again, spend more on the ongoing efforts to contain Covid-19 (which seems to be never ending), the Finance Department’s third quarter report ends on an optimistic n…

Finding funding ELECTED officials have been making donations to the youth and the elderly while implementing village projects that will benefit community members. Right on. But what made these donations, these projects possible? Press releases? Speeches? Availability of public funds. Specifically, …

Cricket sounds OVER two years since its outbreak, Covid-19 is still a global pandemic and a major public health concern. Government-imposed restrictions and lockdowns are still ravaging economies all over the world, and Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine is so much gasoline poured on an economic …

Can you legislate ‘action’? SEVERAL years ago, a Koblerville resident complained about “unruly” juveniles who “hung out” in abandoned homes some of which had also been turned into illegal dumpsites for household trash. The lawmakers’ “solution” was…to pass a law, of course. Signed by the governor i…

Third stage of grief FOLLOWING  a series of fuel and electricity price hikes, many of us have quickly gone through the first two stages of grief — denial and anger — and are now at the next level: legislation. In the House of Talk, er, Representatives, two members have introduced a bill that they h…

No fuel, no power, no rate hike A LAWMAKER says CUC should be “creative” and “avoid any utility rate increase every time fuel costs go up.” Arithmetic. Politicians. They don’t go together well. CUC has to pay more for the fuel its power plants use to generate electricity because the price of fuel h…

FAC! A CNMI lawmaker said people are “suffering” from high prices, but their salaries “have not been raised.” Let’s — to quote a former governor who couldn’t — do the math. High prices — of fuel, electricity, basic commodities, etc. — affect everyone or almost everyone, including employers. Based o…

Lesson learned? Don’t count on it ASKED why the Saipan delegation acted on the e-gaming fee hike bill without a public hearing and without comments from those who would have to pay the additional fee, one of its proponents said, with a straight face, that they made a “policy call.” In other words, …

The lay of the land AT a recent House budget hearing, a lawmaker complained about appropriated public funds that had not been disbursed to the intended recipients (government agencies, vendors). This is not a new complaint. There are not enough public funds (see state of local economy), but there a…