Tebuteb hopes casino industry won’t compromise environment

Rep. Ramon A. Tebuteb (Ind-Saipan) acknowledged that the casino industry could be a great benefit for the people of Saipan, but warned that Best Sunshine International Ltd.’s envisioned 4,000-room integrated casino resort could also come with some pitfalls.

Tebuteb

“The prospect about the recent casino gaming industry on the island of Saipan must not be taken for granted. Such an industry as presently envisioned promises tremendous social and economic opportunities and benefits for the residents of the CNMI. Simultaneously, though, this industry comes with many challenges. As we have learned from our past public endeavors into other industries, such as the garment industry on Saipan and the casino gaming industry on Tinian, we can only enjoy enduring benefits from new opportunities if we attend to their accompanying challenges with vision and vigor,” he said in the speech he prepared for the Jan. 12 inaugural House of Representatives session.

Due to time constraints, Tebuteb and Speaker Joseph P. Deleon Guerrero (Ind-Saipan) had opted to just submit their speeches to House clerk Linda Muna instead of reading them as the inaugural session was already pushing to 2pm.

Tebuteb said that developing the casino industry shouldn’t come at the expense of the island’s pristine environment.

“I am deeply concerned that we would once again compromise our natural environment for the sake of developing the casino industry. As contemplated, the upcoming casino will undoubtedly stress our existing infrastructure, particularly our wastewater system. It will also challenge our Commonwealth to wisely prepare our local workforce to meet the labor demands of the casino industry.”

Tebuteb added that essential public service systems such as Saipan’s education and healthcare systems would be called upon to meet the demands of this new industry.

“We need to deeply and concisely study and prepare for the real impact and demands of the Saipan casino industry, something that we failed to do in the past. Let us learn from our development mistakes of the past and lay out a better development path now and into the future,” he said.

‘Preserve culture, traditions’

Tebuteb, who will serve as the de facto leader of the minority in the 19th House, said as a lawmaker of Northern Marianas descent who was born and raised on Saipan, he firmly believes that one of his paramount duties is the preservation of the islands’ culture and tradition.

“I firmly believe that preservation of our culture and tradition can be accomplished practically within the boundaries of our Covenant with the United States, our Constitution and the United States’ Constitution. Without question, I firmly believe that preservation of our culture and tradition can be accomplished without compromising the sustainable development of our beloved Commonwealth, particularly the provisioning and benefits of a 21st century health, education, and economy systems that all Pacific islanders, like people everywhere, want. In fact, I firmly believe that imbedded within our special Commonwealth status, development can be best accomplished only through preservation of our culture and tradition.”

In providing for the core constitutional rights of U.S. citizens, Tebuteb said the U.S. Bill of Rights was not intended as a way to undermine and destroy the diverse native cultures of the U.S., most particularly when applied to the CNMI.

“[The] history of development throughout the world consistently shows that pursuing economic development at the expense of the natural environment and in disregard to social progress is not sustainable in the long term. Development policies, plans, and actions must equally incorporate all three dimensions—economic progress, social progress, and environmental protection.”

He said all throughout the CNMI’s 30-year history, the government failed to balance its pursuit for progress and protection in all three dimensions. He said there are ample examples of this imbalance that make the average families suffer.

“These include exclusion of our culture and tradition in various institutions, unaffordable cost of utilities; unaffordable cost of health care that is substandard at best; ever-escalating prices of essential commodities such as food for our families and fuel for our transportation,” he said.

Tebuteb said these are also reflected in the state of the Saipan Lagoon, which is slowly dying due to sewer seepages and non-source pollution from water runoffs.

“Our failure to balance our pursuit for economic progress with equal pursuit for fiscal integrity and sound governance is clearly illustrated by our seemingly intractable fiscal deficit and outstanding financial obligations. Indeed, as I speak, our cumulative outstanding financial obligation is in excess of half a billion dollars and increasing daily due to interest charges. We are in a financial crisis at this point. Overall, the CNMI had deeply regressed culturally, economically, socially, environmentally, and fiscally over the last 30 years.”

‘Liberate this Legislature’

Tebuteb also called upon his colleagues in the 19th Legislature to eschew party politics and work together toward the preservation of the culture and traditions of the Commonwealth.

“Let us do this by enactment of laws that preserve the Bill of Rights as bestowed upon the people of the NMI by our agreement with the United States and our Constitution. I call my colleagues present in this sacred chamber to take meaningful actions that reflect the lessons learned from our past development mistakes. I call upon my colleagues to truthfully acknowledge the urgent call to fix our many problems rationally with genuine collaboration, actionable planning, and hard work. I call upon my colleagues to liberate this legislature of the politics of personal destruction and the quests for personal power that have for so long created enormous barriers to our development. I call upon my colleagues to transcend political partisanship, to let this 19th Legislature be guided by a vision of enduring development fostered by sound research, analyses and science, and a genuine sense of urgency throughout all branches of government, particularly this body. I call upon my colleagues to lead the way for balanced development of our culture and tradition, economy, social welfare and environmental protection as engraved in our Constitution,” he said.