Chamber: If the gov’t can, why can’t we?

If the government can hire and retain their nonresident staff, why not the business sector.

Saipan Chamber of Commerce President Anthony Pellegrino, in an interview yesterday, expressed the business sector’s utter frustration over the government’s seeming double standard over the three-year limit law.

Mr. Pellegrino lamented a legislative proposal granting the Coastal Resources Management exemption from the moratorium on the hiring of alien workers.

“If this is true, this is what we call hypocrisy, this is double standard. The government says, we need nonresident workers because we don’t have sufficient local residents,” Mr. Pellegrino said. “But you in the business community, you find your own local workers, whether they are there or not.”

He was alluding to a legislative proposal pending in the House of Representatives including the CRM in the list of government agencies allowed to retain and hire nonresident staff under Public Law 12-34

Currently, government agencies allowed to retain and hire nonresident workers in skilled, technical and key positions include the Department of Public Health, Department of Public Works, Northern Marianas College and the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation.

The Chamber of Commerce president is also worried about the senate’s decision on the bill.

Senate President Paul A. Manglona had also indicated that the Senate is not keen in passing House Bill 12-317, or the measure that would repeal the three-year limit law, in its entirety.

Mr. Manglona was quoted as saying the Senate would repeal PL 11-69, only if certain provisions of the lower chamber’s measure would be amended.

Mr. Pellegrino believes it would be a mistake for the Senate not to pass the bill. He remarked, “The entire business community feels that to start sending home nonresident workers home now, specially now that we are in dire economic slump, would be adding more injury to insult.”

He, however, hopes that the upper chamber will ultimately repeal the three year limitation. “It’s a totally, totally unrealistic law, our board of directors has already discussed and the unanimous view is it will be a disaster if the legislature does not repeal it. It should be repealed, there should be no limitation.”

Last week, the House of Representatives passed HB 12-317 repealing the PL 11-69.

The measure, which seeks to abrogate the three year limitation on nonresident workers in its entirety, was authored by Rep. Malua T. Peter. It passed the house with a vote of 11 yes, an abstention and a lone dissension from Rep. Stanley Torres.