‘Flip-flopping on surcharge hurting NMI’

Business groups have expressed skepticism over the latest decision of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. to junk the fuel surcharge fee, vowing to continue watching the developments on a day-to-day basis.

Saipan Chamber of Commerce president Alex Sablan believes that the fuel surcharge issue “is far from over.”

He said it is possible that CUC would simply comply with the legal recommendations of the Attorney General’s Office and then bring the proposal back to the discussion table as soon as CUC vice chair Herman Sablan returns on island.

CUC’s Sablan, who has been supportive of the fuel surcharge, was not present when the CUC board voted on the fuel surcharge on Tuesday. His vote could have broken the 3-3 tie that overturned the board’s Friday decision and resulted in the nullification of the proposed fuel surcharge regulations.

“I’m hoping that they don’t proceed with the fuel surcharge, that CUC will decide to work within the corporation to absorb the fuel price increases,” chamber’s Sablan said. “But the board has a fiduciary responsibility to keep CUC solvent. It’s possible that there will be another vote when [CUC vice chair] Sablan returns.”

For her part, Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands president Lynn Knight said CUC’s flip-flopping on the fuel surcharge issue is making the Commonwealth an unstable place to do business.

“Right now, the confidence [within the business sector] is low. Power is a basic, essential service that cannot be taken lightly. And the situation is changing drastically everyday. It’s hard to know what to believe anymore,” Knight said.

She added that a number of hotels are planning to invest in renovations and improvements to their facilities next year. However, the uncertainty about the power costs is making budget planning difficult for them.

She also noted that there are questions that CUC has yet to answer, particularly in relation to its actual financial standing. These unanswered questions, she said, further reduce the private sector’s confidence that the fuel surcharge is being planned carefully.

“I think CUC, the Legislature, and representatives of the administration should get together and come up with a consensus on what to do [with the utility firm’s reported financial problems] immediately,” Knight said.