Same officers to lead CUC until July 2001

The board of the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation yesterday gave its vote of confidence to Chair Jesus T. Guerrero to lead the agency again for the next 12 months amid the controversy surrounding the Saipan power project.

He won unopposed during the annual election held by CUC’s policy-making body, as did Vice Chair Laura I. Manglona from Rota and Secretary Edward C. Sablan from Saipan. At present, the board has six members, with still one seat vacant after former businessman Benjamin Sablan’s appointment expired last April.

Mr. Guerrero, who also represents Saipan, initially took the top board post in the surprise election last March that cut short former Chair Rosario M. Elameto’s term by four months. He served as vice chair for nearly two years beginning in July 1998.

With the retention of the set of officers that pushed for the reinstatement of the mothballed 80-megawatt power plant on Saipan and the conditional award of the estimated $120 million contract to Enron, the government-owned utility corporation is hoping to expedite the project.

Mr. Guerrero, who is the vice president of one of the largest tour operators in the CNMI, Pacific Development Inc., pledged to finish work on the controversial project he initiated in March.

“Nothing has changed. It is the same board committee. We are still aiming to achieve all our objectives as far as CUC is concerned,” he told reporters in an interview after yesterday’s board meeting.

He stressed the power project remains a top priority of the board, including the forthcoming negotiation with the Texas-based industrial giant on the terms of the agreement. He also said that he hopes to ground break the new Saipan plant in the next 12 months.

“I appreciate the vote of confidence for giving me the opportunity to lead CUC. It’s hard work and it’s not a simple matter. There are a lot of headaches, but we are getting there,” explained the chairman. “We work as a team, the whole board is working together.”

Although he originally intended to stay only until this year’s annual election, Mr. Guerrero disclosed that his colleagues had persuaded him to continue in order not to disrupt the board’s operations.

“I didn’t change my mind. I told them that anybody who wants to take this position is welcome because I would like to step down. But they are the ones telling me that they don’t want any changes. We still want to continue this process. We have already started so many things, we don’t want to lose those things,” he added.

As for his political plans, Mr. Guerrero said he will still seek the Democrats’ nomination as its mayoralty candidate for Saipan in the 2001 elections inspite of his job at CUC. “I’m still running. I’m not turning my back.”