Federal aid program draws minimal applicants

A federal unemployment aid program drew little interest among resident workers, attracting only 146 applicants during the one-month registration period.

The number of applicants is barely one third of the over 500 workers that the Department of Labor had expected to avail of benefits under the Disaster Unemployment Assistance program, which is distributed to workers who lost or missed work because of Supertyphoon Chaba.

Employment Services and Training director Alfred Pangelinan, who is running the program in the CNMI, said 86 or over half of the applications came from Rota, 56 from Saipan, and 7 from Tinian.

Retailers comprise 86 of the total applicants, with 45 of them coming from Saipan and 41 from Rota. The other 36 applicants are farmers while the remaining 24 are fishermen.

Pangelinan expressed regret that only a few farmers and fishermen applied for the assistance, considering that most of them were not able to work for some time after Chaba hit the islands in August this year.

Nevertheless, he admitted that a number of those who did apply were turned down because they did not have the necessary documents such business license and records of income tax payment.

“That’s one lesson we learned from this program. Farmers and fishermen should report every single income they make because tax records are one of the most common requirements for disaster relief,” he said.

Pangelinan reported only a portion of the Saipan applications have been reviewed so far. Nineteen have been deemed eligible for the assistance and 21 have been disapproved. All the other files, including those from Tinian and Rota, are still awaiting evaluation.

Pangelinan said he hopes to get all the applications assessed by next Friday.

He also said most of the successful applicants are retailers who were not able to open their store after the typhoon because of leaking roofs or damaged computers, among other reasons.

Approved applicants stand to receive between $262 and about $3,000, Pangelinan said. Eligible workers could get up to 26 weeks worth of earnings, but they could not receive more than $262 per week.

At least one denied applicant from Saipan has appealed the decision of the Division of Employment Services and Training, Pangelinan said.

Labor Secretary Joaquin Tenorio is currently reviewing the appeal. If Tenorio affirms DEST’s decision, the appellant has the option pursue his appeal with the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration in San Francisco.

The CNMI Labor Department accepted applications for the assistance from Nov. 1 to 30.

However, Pangelinan said interested individuals may continue to turn in applications until Feb. 26 as long as they can come up with a valid reason why they missed the Nov. 30 deadline.

He said one local worker submitted an application a day after the deadline, but his request was declined because he failed to provide a convincing reason. “He just said he was too busy at work,” Pangelinan said.