Stayman must abide by decision

Former helmsman Allen Stayman was in town to brief our chief executive of on-going negotiations between Washington and the Federated States of Micronesia.

Quizzed about the Impact of the Compact funds, he said he will look into it when he gets back to Washington.

I find such statement very offensive, if not, downright condescending (“pledge to look into it”). It was a decision he made unilaterally without consulting with the US Congress and the affected jurisdictions in Micronesia (Guam, Hawaii and the CNMI).

Stayman’s decision on Impact of the Compact funds were made arbitrarily in that such commitment can only be made by the US Congress. And until Congress decides to earmark funds for this purpose, Stayman’s ill-fated decision gets nowhere other than the usual dish of bureaucratic skirting of an issue made prematurely.

Furthermore, he represents a lameduck Clinton administration that no longer has the luxury of time in its hands to make a difference in ascertaining its empty rhetoric to make sure that the “economic good times” doesn’t “leave anybody behind”.

If I were the governor, I would have slammed the Pinto Chief how he feels about his (Stayman’s) ruination of the image of these isles swimming up against the violent cascades of economic annihilation. I would also scribble Clinton’s advisor’s motto: “It’s the Economy Stupid!”–and slip it quietly into his pocket. Why wash your filthy hands now as though you never had any role in a commitment in which you never consulted with leaders in the affected jurisdictions? A well designed sports complex. Politicians and bureaucrats are good at ruining well thought-out plans that involve funds from well-meaning businesses here.

A good example is the apparent decision to derail the proposed sports complex at Koblerville behind the fire substation. Instead, money was funneled for the sports facility north of Marianas High School.
There’s a lot wrong with such spur of the moment decision.

For instance, it takes real experts to formulate a well designed sports complex such as the planned Koblerville facility. The Susupe sports center can’t accommodate Olympic-size facilities nor is there ample space for parking.

This issue is so mired in the nether world of half-cocked political decisions as to derail a central facility we can all be proud of through the years. We’ve lost focus on all the promises to assist our young people burn off their energies on constructive youth activities.

I say let’s revive the proposed sports complex for Koblerville before Yap State in the FSM completes its very own Olympic-size facility sometime next year. Real planning, anybody? Protecting our environment. We have done a superb job “addressing” the destruction of our ecosystem. We’re long on the use of the term “address”, awfully short on “resolve” to provide solid measures to protect the flora and fauna of these isles.

The NMI must decide if it can afford to see–through neglect–the permanent destruction of its lagoon and the eventual depletion of reef fish. Fact or fiction, the reef line at Obyan, San Antonio and Chalan Piao are basically dead. A once fertile fishing ground has turned into a dead lagoon.

The NMI must also decide how much of our pristine land in remote areas should be turned into a residential sprawl. Well, we would have turned these once fertile forest land into cement and pavement jungles. And it will cost new families an arm and a leg to maintain basic infrastructure in future homestead subdivisions. Isn’t it time that we turn to rebuilding the old villages to slow down the onslaught of ruining our finite land resources in remote places?