FLASHBACK – June 20, 2011

BOE pursues honorarium for traveling members[/B]

The State Board of Education is currently looking into possible changes to its own by laws with regard to a board policy which does not specify that board members are entitled to receive honorarium while on official travel status. Citing a certain provision in the BOE by laws, Public School System Legal Counsel Tim Connor said that though it is not against existing BOE rules to provide honorarium to any board member traveling under PSS-related business, existing practices dictate otherwise. Mr. Connor commented the practice is somewhat “discriminatory” especially for non-Saipan board members since most board meetings are held here. “We have a situation where we have a meeting on Saipan and Tinian or Rota members are not paid honorarium because they’re considered under travel status,” said Mr. Connor.

The Public School System is currently experiencing difficulties in hiring licensed experts that would support the needs of special education students in all the 16 schools across the Northern Marianas. PSS legal counsel Tim Connor has mentioned two concerns which hinder the system from acquiring physical therapists under its special education program. Mr. Connor said that PSS is facing difficulty in competing with other school districts in recruiting licensed physical therapists to work on the islands of Saipan, Rota, and Tinian. “What the Commonwealth board is doing is requiring the physical therapists to be licensed in one of the 50 states,” said Mr. Connor.

Banks lend $21.4M in guarantee loans[/B]

Bank of Guam has topped the list of participants with the highest amount of approved credits released to local borrowers under the Commonwealth Development Authority’s loan guaranty program. CDA Executive Secretary MaryLou S. Ada said $12.5 million in guaranty loans were approved and released by Bank of Guam as of May 31, accounting for about half of the total $21 million credit packages lent out under the program. “Throughout the years, Bank of Guam has proven itself to be very supportive of the CDA’s guaranty loan program,” Ada said. Bank of Saipan was the second biggest lender under the CDA guaranty loan program with over $7.5 million, followed by City Trust Bank with $980,000 and Bank of Hawaii with $110,000.

Saipan congressman Dino M. Jones yesterday proposed a program that would require pregnant women to undergo counseling and screening at the Commonwealth Health Center to prevent prenatal transmission of HIV. This proposal came as the Department of Public Health disclosed an alarming rate of HIV cases in the Northern Marianas, with one new case reported annually. To date, there are at least 38 cases recorded at the health department, including the first case of HIV transmission from a mother to her newborn in 1998. Jones said a mandatory prenatal HIV education should be promptly put in place to educate all pregnant women regarding HIV prevention and transmission.

Atalig scrambles to help Rota[/B]

Responding to Rota’s cry for help, Sen. Ricardo S. Atalig said he is now trying to arrange a meeting with Gov. Juan N. Babauta and his financial officials and Rota Mayor Benjamin Manglona to avert a possible budget crisis on the island. “The Mayor has requested me to arrange the meeting with the Governor, the Finance Department and Planning and Budget, to see what we can do to resolve this employment problem on Rota,” said the senator. In a letter to Atalig, Manglona had asked the senator to arrange the meeting, to avert a possible payless payday on Rota, or worse, municipal employees actually losing their jobs.

The stalled Capital Improvement Projects on Rota can now go into full swing after the Department of Public Works and the Marianas Public Lands Authority signed the final agreement identifying the location for two of the four projects. Public Works Secretary John S. Reyes said he signed the agreement with MPLA yesterday that identifies the specific lots where the Judicial Complex and the Department of Public Safety building will be sited. This jump-starts the efforts to get the $4.5-million projects underway. Besides the two buildings, the other projects include the Rota Convention Center and the Cultural Center. All four projects are funded by CIP monies.