FLASHBACK – August 6, 2011

Govt lawsuit vs CUC dismissed[/B]

The Superior Court has dismissed the government’s controversial lawsuit against the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. after the parties finally reached a settlement agreement. According to the settlement agreement, the government paid CUC $47.8 million from May 2004 to Sept. 2006. “For good cause shown and pursuant to stipulation and settlement agreement of the parties, this action is hereby dismissed with prejudice,” said the order issued on Friday by associate judge David A. Wiseman.

Two incumbent senators and several failed candidates from the 2005 election are among the individuals who filed for candidacy over the weekend. In addition to the 18 candidates reported earlier, at least 14 others have submitted their candidacy documents with the Commonwealth Election Commission. The month-long period for submitting nominating petitions and candidacy documents will end today, Aug. 6, 2007.

GAO: Local GDP could plunge[/B]

Pointing to findings they say will harm the CNMI’s economy, Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and officials in his administration are blasting a report released yesterday by the Government Accountability Office that details several scenarios on the impact of the pending federal takeover of local immigration rules and includes projections that suggest it could slash the Commonwealth’s gross domestic product by 50 percent or more. The GAO report recommends that federal agencies “identify an interagency process to jointly implement” the new federalization law and that the agencies work together to “develop strategies to obtain critical data on the CNMI labor market and foreign investment.”

About 12,000 guest workers and an estimated 5,000 CNMI residents are needed for the upcoming U.S. military buildup in Guam, according to a visiting U.S. military official. Lt. Col. Rudy R. Kube, operations director for the U.S. Marine Corps Joint Guam Program Office, said yesterday that the foreign workers will not necessarily be Filipinos, but that the Philippines is traditionally one of the sources of manpower for the construction sector.

Villagomez gets 7-year sentence[/B]

The federal court sentenced former lieutenant governor Timothy P. Villagomez yesterday to seven years and three months in prison for his role in the Rydlyme corruption scandal. His sister, former Commonwealth Ports Authority human resources manager Joaquina V. Santos, and her husband, former Commerce Secretary James A. Santos, were sentenced to six years and six months in prison each for their involvement in the scheme to defraud the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. and the United States.

The CNMI has so far received $52.4 million in total notification of federal stimulus fund award, lagging behind four other insular areas such as American Samoa ($67.7 million), U.S. Virgin Islands ($131.3 million), Guam ($152 million) and Puerto Rico ($3.38 billion), latest local and federal data shows. Commerce Secretary Michael J. Ada, however, said the CNMI is expected to have an additional award notification for $44.3 million in state fiscal stabilization fund for a total of $96.7 million by the end of this month.

‘CNMI still needs foreign workers'[/B]

If there’s one thing that the public and government officials agree on after seven public hearings, it’s this: The CNMI will still need foreign workers beyond 2014 when the transition to federal immigration ends. But there’s no unified position as to what immigration status should be given to long-term guest workers. The seven public hearings between June 23 and Aug. 4 also drew split reaction to the U.S. Department of the Interior report: support and opposition.

The NMI Retirement Fund disclosed yesterday that the agency paid a total of $254,000 to government employees who were found violating the anti-double-dipping law. The amount covers only those employees who were recorded on the Fund’s books to date, said acting deputy administrator Esther Ada. The amount is expected to grow once a comprehensive audit is completed. “This figure is just for the number we have in our record so far,” said Ada, who is also the agency’s internal auditor.