Our future: A matter of policy

Policy is defined as a “course of action” or “procedure.” This brings our discussion to the two new federal policies on labor and immigration that will be transferred to appropriate federal agencies by June of 2009. Local control of these two issues will be gone, forever! There’s no more room for diplomatic dialogue. It died in the failed 902 talks years ago.

If I may note, discussions started on how the new federal takeover of labor and immigration would be implemented. But the other side has been negative, given that their mandates are federal laws, today! It’s implementation time, no more, no less. If I may reiterate, there’s no more room for dialogue!

If these policies were at their incipiency (proposed legislation), then it is reasonable to expect the solicitation of views from the CNMI. Their research work would have been thorough and geared toward granting the local government greater latitude to retain greater degree of self-government, sustain current investments and open opportunities for future investments.

This isn’t the case today. The federal law on labor doesn’t guarantee employment of over 80 local Department of Labor employees. It will, by June of 2009, deny the CNMI $5 million we generate from foreign workers. It will result in 80 percent loss in guest workers. This will force the crippling of the tourism industry. Worse yet, it will translate into nearly 60 percent in economic contraction in an already dismal economy.

It should be understood that the process for dialogues (902 talks) no longer exist. Labor and immigration are federal laws. Dialogue today is a Johnny-come-lately. Do we acquiesce their implementation because we fear standing up for our rights to self-government? The obvious violation of our rights to self-government makes it the more vital that we spend $400,000 to prevent the loss of $5 million in revenues generated from foreign workers and other disastrous consequences and unintended economic destruction.

The evolution of these policies is loaded with arrogance and the obvious exclusion of the NMI from the outset. It is clear that evil geniuses behind the construct of new mandates hid behind misplaced emotional gratification to please their distracted bosses shoving aside listening to our voices. They listened to others rather than the indigenous people.

It is obvious that there’s hardly a holistic approach to studying, with the use of dual prism (theirs and ours), how best to approach maintaining and improving dismal economic conditions here. There’s also the dire urgency and need to resolve instituting sustainable economic programs on a resource-poor archipelago. It didn’t matter to them and never did anyway.

More consultations with atrophied subcommittee staffers were held with local leadership. I liken it to a meeting of physicians to save a patient undergoing surgery bleeding profusely because they failed to heed his hemophiliac condition—a hemophiliac bleeds even from a tiny cut. What a way to address the livelihood of our people when theirs is the mandate to “provide a progressively higher standard of living.” That isn’t going to happen, which violates our rights to self-government.

I hope that the arrogance and domineering attitude of these staffers isn’t a microcosm of our future relationship with the federal government. At best, it looks dismal; at worst, a good beginning to force them into understanding the history of the unique agreement negotiated between two sovereign governments in 1972. It further illustrates their determination to completely destroy our livelihood. They never cared about forging policy stability on a highly sensitive and fragile island economy.

This is the crux of a very unsettling sentiment in the perpetuation of “their interest” over the interest of the indigenous people of these islands. How much longer must we endure the indignities of being shoved aside on matters of policy affecting our livelihood? Do we take this matter lying down or shouldn’t we rally behind the governor’s plan to take this matter to court? Think about it. It’s your future individually and our people, collectively.