Torres says govt has yet to conduct damage assessment to economy

Acting governor Ralph DLG. Torres said on Friday that they have yet to conduct an assessment about the estimated amount of damage to the CNMI economy brought about by Internet and wireless service disruptions.

Torres

In an interview with Saipan Tribune, Torres said as of Friday, they are focusing on Typhoon Nangka and the weather.

On stranded passengers at the Francisco C. Ada-Saipan International Airport, Torres said the Commonwealth Ports Authority informed him about the situation at the airport last Wednesday night so he called some hotels and asked them if they can accommodate the passengers.

Torres said he told the hotels that the government will take care of the payment arrangement on a later date because it is important that they accommodate the passengers, some of them are children that are sleeping on the floor.

Torres said he thanks CPA, the hotels, and Jeju Air for acting expeditiously.

“I told the hotel industry, the three hotels, if they need the payment either we make the payment and we be reimbursed by Jeju or we will just have the payments go straight to Jeju,” he said.

Torres said their priority at that time was just to accommodate the affected passengers.

As of right now, there is no invoice to the government for hotel rooms, he said, adding that he does not know how many passengers were taken to the hotels.

The acting governor said at that time he learned about the problem at the airport it was 11pm and he didn’t know how many tourists were affected and that the concern was the availability of hotel rooms.

Torres said as of Friday, the Internet was still down, however, by landline, people are able to call off-island.

“That’s a good thing. We can communicate with families who are off-island. Let them know we’re doing okay,” he said.

Torres said IT&E continues to work hard on restoring the Internet.

“As of now, there is no update from them,” he said.

It is unfortunate that the CNMI had “two hits in one time” said Torres referring to Typhoon Nangka and the Internet and wireless problem.

Torres said he is asking the community to continue their patience as they assist IT&E to restore the means of communication.

Torres asked the community to restore their safety procedures both at home and for personal belongings.

“We will continue to update the community as we move forward,” he said.