CNMI govt joins with Red Cross for tsunami victims

Saying that the CNMI has special feeling of empathy for the tsunami victims in Asia, the CNMI government launched this week, together with the American Red Cross, a $1-dollar donation drive to assist the victims.

The CNMI hopes to raise at least $70,000 from among the local residents.

“If everyone in the CNMI gives $1 each, we could raise up to $70,000. One dollar per person is not too much to ask for especially when that $1 can go a long way toward providing the relief needed. Of course, more is welcome,” said Gov. Juan N. Babauta during a press conference Monday this week.

Babauta described the tsunami, which hit 12 countries, mostly in Asia, after Christmas as “the worst natural disaster of our lifetime.”

“We here in the CNMI have a special feeling of empathy for the victims. We are not strangers to natural disaster. Our lives and the lives of our most remote ancestors have been shaped by unpredictable natural forces. The faces of the victims we see on CNN are familiar faces; they are the faces of our neighbors,” he said.

The governor said the Executive Branch chose to support the ARC International Response Fund since it has supported the CNMI with millions of dollars over the past 40 years.

“The ARC has given so much…it’s our turn to give back, especially in this time of great need,” he said.

The government and ARC have identified the following donation sites: ARC-NMI office along Airport Road, Governor’s Office on Capitol Hill, Marianas Visitors Authority office in San Jose, and Chamber of Commerce in Garapan.

All checks should be made payable to American Red Cross.

The relief drive would last for three weeks or until the end of this month.

The money collected from the CNMI will be remitted to the ARC International Fund, which will then donate it to the tsunami-stricken countries.

Preliminary report on the fundraising is not yet available.

Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente, the administration’s designated official on the tsunami relief operation, said yesterday that he has yet to meet with ARC officials on Tuesday.

Benavente encouraged individuals and groups to drop by the donation centers personally or through their friends or representatives.

“It’s always good to give. This community has been known for being generous and we appeal to everyone to extend hand this time for the victims in the Asian countries,” he said.

Meantime, the chief executive ordered last week that all U.S., CNMI, and foreign flags in the CNMI be flown at half-staff in remembrance of hundreds of thousands of tsunami victims.

Babauta, in a Jan. 3, 2005 memorandum, directed that all flags in the Commonwealth be flown at half-staff from sunrise to sunset from Jan. 2 to Jan. 8 following the issuance of a similar order by President Bush.

“[This is] in remembrance of the countless victims of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that has claimed lives in over 12 countries,” he said.

As of yesterday, reports said that the killer waves as triggered by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in Indian Ocean, has resulted in nearly 150,000 deaths.

In related development, Washington Rep. Pete A. Tenorio has appealed to the U.S. Congress for funding assistance to ensure a reliable volcanic activity monitoring system in the CNMI.

Tenorio, in a letter to U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure congressman Don Young dated Jan. 6, 2005, said the CNMI urgently needs funding for a comprehensive volcano monitoring system, not only for Anatahan, which began to erupt again last week, but also for all active volcanoes in the Northern Marianas.

Tenorio said of the nine active volcanoes in the CNMI, the one on Anatahan is the only being monitored. As such, eruptions of other volcanoes, which could trigger earthquakes and tsunamis, could happen without warning.

“The recent tragedy in South Asia caused by an Indonesian island earthquake and tsunami reminds us that any coastal area is susceptible to such natural occurrences, and only through monitoring in our immediate area can early warning be reliable and instantaneous,” said Tenorio.