25 pct. Settlement Fund disbursements threatened

The NMI Settlement Fund and the administration of Gov. Ralph DLG Torres are in dispute over this month’s 25 percent pension payment, some $1.2 million, for CNMI retirees.

The Fund essentially claims that money provided by the government for the Feb. 12 payment is unlawful and would not be disbursed unless the government obtains a court order to force the release of money.

But the administration of Gov. Ralph DLG Torres has fired back, arguing otherwise and calling on retirees to tell the Fund to stop “playing games” with their money.

The dispute appears to stems from Settlement Fund Trust’s belief that the funds provided by the Saipan casino law for the 25 percent pension payment of retirees is the only source of funding, a position that the Torres administration has disagreed with in meetings between them.

In a statement yesterday, Joyce C.H. Tang, Settlement Fund Trustee, said the funds appropriated for the 25 percent pensions under the casino law, Public Law 18-56, have been “exhausted.”

Tang said the trustee notified the late governor Eloy S. Inos in June 2015 of the impending problem, in quarterly reports and in follow-up communications.

She said, more recently, she wrote to Torres on Jan. 29 and Feb. 10, 2016, to request a meeting to identify an alternate funding source for the pension payments that “complies with NMI law.”

“The Trustee has not received a response from the governor to this very important issue,” Tang said. “The Settlement fund cannot disburse the 25 percent pension payment unless the government identifies properly appropriated funds that can be used to pay the 25 percent payment, or obtains a court order.”

Tang said Torres has sent money to the Fund asking it to be used for the Feb. 12 pension payment, but that “this money was not from an authorized appropriations and for this reason cannot be used” to make payments.

“The Settlement Fund will hold all such money until the government identifies properly appropriated funds that can be used to pay” the pensions, or obtains a court order authorizing the disbursement of funds received, she said.

But in a statement yesterday, the Torres administration asserts that the government has always been and continues to be in compliance with the law on this issue.

A representative from the attorney general has sat in on meetings between the Governor’s Office and the Fund Trust, according to administration sources.

The CNMI government has continued to support and has “consistently upheld its responsibilities to fund the full retirement benefits of its retirees,” the administration said. “This misunderstanding of Settlement Fund Trustee Ad Litem Joyce Tang on this matter is troubling and raises concerns over her ability to properly provide the full benefits for our many retirees who have worked hard to earn it.”

“In our many meetings we have asked Ms. Tang to continue to disburse the funds we have provided her to make full payments to the retirees.”

The retirees have struggled long enough over the past years and should not be made to worry about their financial situation because of incorrect interpretations of the law by the Settlement Fund and its Trustee Ad Litem, the Torres administration said, adding that the government is committed and has worked tirelessly to meet its obligations to our retirees.

“The fact of the matter is government is current and lawful with its payments,” the administration said.

“I urge all retirees and settlement fund members to contact Ms. Joyce Tang and ask her to stop playing games with your pensions. The number for their office is 322-3863/67/69. Call them today and tell them that you have earned your pension and she should not reduce or hold back your benefits,” Torres said in the statement.