Business sector welcomes $1M grant from OIA

The Saipan Chamber of Commerce welcomed yesterday the Office of Insular Affairs’ $1 million grant to the CNMI to develop industries identified in a labor and economic forum held last year.

Chamber president Douglas Brennan hopes the assistance extended by OIA would help spur economic activity in the CNMI.

He added that he is glad to see the federal government finally stepping up to the plate as far as promises made to help the islands incorporated in Public Law 110-229 or the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008, which put CNMI immigration under federal control.

“The CNRA clearly indicates the federal government should, with respect to Title 7 P.L. 110-229, execute an orderly phasing in of federal immigration authority while minimizing adverse economic consequences during the transition period. Existing businesses were to be assisted during this period, while the federal government would continue to assist in developing a higher standard of living in the CNMI,” said Brennan.

The Chamber president also said they have suggested to the Fitial administration that part of the money be set aside to immediately survey the work force to allow for the establishment of the CNMI prevailing wage rates.

Other uses of the grant, the Chamber suggested, were to assist the field of tourism, training the local work force, and renewable energy.

Businessman Anthony Pellegrino, meanwhile, is ecstatic about the grant awarded by the OIA.

“I hope NMTI (Northern Marianas Trades Institute) will be included and money would be put into good use. It’s a positive attitude. I’m so happy,” he said.

Pellegrino said he hopes the grant would also help the agriculture industry, which he sees as an alternative to the now extinct garment industry.

“It cannot be as big as garment manufacturing, but we can still do a big chunk in helping our economy [rebound],” he said.

He said the CNMI can again be the breadbasket of the region. He said after World War II, Guam used to buy 200,000 lbs of produce a year from Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.

“Guam [now] imports $4 million a month of produce and nothing from us. What does it say about us that we don’t get any part of that,” he said.

Economy spiraling downward

A day before the $1 million grant from OIA, CNMI leaders got confirmation that the islands’ economy continues to contract—nearly 20 percent in 2009 and some 12 percent in 2008.

Those figures didn’t come as a big surprise to Brennan and the Chamber.

“I’d expect to see the economy continue to spiral downward for the next few years. Both GAO (Government Accountability Office) and the Conway/McPhee report anticipate a 3-5 year constriction as a result of loss of the apparel industry and the decline in tourist arrivals. Essentially, it’s the ripple effect,” he said.

Acting governor Eloy S. Inos echoed Brennan’s observation when asked about the average 16 percent drop in the CNMI’s real gross domestic product numbers in the latest survey from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

“This was no surprise. We know it, we see it. It’s just a validation of what’s happening here in the economy. We just need to turn this things around. I don’t know how low can you go really. Let’s just continue to work together and find a common ground and all talk about how do we bring the economy back and bring people back to work,” said Inos.

House Speaker Eli Cabrera (Rep-Saipan), for his part, said the figures are just about right when one considers the loss the once-mighty garment industry and the continued drop in tourist arrivals.

He said the CNMI should look toward developing the agriculture and aquaculture industries. But in order to move forward, the speaker said farmers and fishermen should be given reasonable rate in loans by the Commonwealth Development Authority.