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CUC to undergo oversight hearing
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Posted on Jul 20 2008
The Public Utilities and Infrastructure Committee of the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation is moving forward with its plan to convene formal oversight hearings on the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.
Although no date has been set for the formal hearings, the committee is proceeding with its preliminary investigation, reviewing documents and requesting information from CUC in writing prior to the hearings. It will also have a meeting with the Office of the Public Auditor today to discuss the scope of the oversight.
The committee, chaired by Rep. Tina Sablan, has received support from House Speaker Arnold I. Palacios and SNILD chair Ramon Tebuteb for the hearings. But while Tebuteb has backed the planned oversight, he has cautioned the committee about potential issues concerning its subpoena power.
The SNILD rules provide the committees the power to subpoena government officials and documents. However, it is not clear that the Constitution or the law supports this rule. According to Tebuteb, it appears that only the presiding officers of the Legislature, as well as the House and Senate committees, have subpoena power.
Sablan said the procedural issue may be addressed by simply getting the signatures of either the House speaker or the Senate president on any subpoena the committee may issue.
The committee wants to look at CUC-related concerns including the consistency between statutes, regulations, and policies pertaining to CUC and actual practices; the agency’s financial viability; actual progress and performance of contractors hired to rehabilitate and repair the engines at CUC; plans for short-term power generation relief and long-term solutions, if any, at CUC; and other areas of concern.
The other committee members are Sen. Frica Pangelinan, Reps. Ed Salas, and committee vice chair Rep. Frank Dela Cruz.
The call for the oversight hearing arose during the June 17 community forum that Sablan and other concerned citizens organized. Forum participants, numbering about 200 Saipan residents, “overwhelmingly requested and endorsed” a formal legislative oversight on CUC, Sablan said.
