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Palacios: Small steps taken for economy to bounce back
‘With pandemic, bringing in construction workers a challenge’
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Posted on Feb 19 2021
Even with the challenges the CNMI is facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Torres-Palacios administration is taking steps to revive the economy, according to Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios.
In an interview Wednesday at his office, Palacios also urged the community to continue adhering to the Governor’s COVID-19 health protocols to keep the islands and its people safe. He said the CNMI has managed to keep its COVID-19 infections low—“We’ve done it. We’ve done it very well”—but the community must still not put its guard down.
Palacios just arrived on Saipan from the U.S. mainland two weeks ago after he was gone for three months due to a medical issue.
He said the administration is working very hard in looking at different ways to begin to, at least in increments, revive the economy, with business partners sitting down at the table with the Governor’s Economic Advisory Council to explore their options. He said they are also listening to some recommendations from others who are not in the advisory council on how to improve the economy.
“We’re taking a look at how we will bounce back,” the lieutenant governor said.
He noted that because of COVID-19 protocols, even the disaster programs on super typhoon constructions, infrastructure, and housing are a major challenge today.
Palacios said there are still a lot of homes that need to be built or repaired and even the Federal Emergency Management Agency is encountering many challenges with sourcing construction workers.
“Bringing in additional [construction] workers has been a challenge,” he said.
Palacios said he wants to continue asking people to be patient because there’s a lot of things that are also out of the government’s control.
For the things that they can control, Palacios said they will try to fix them.
