4 proclamations signed

Four proclamations were signed yesterday for Disability Employment Awareness month, Retirement Fund Month, CNMI Energy Awareness Month, and the Oct. 5 Change the World Day energy conservation.

At about 10:30am, Gov. Juan N. Babauta signed the disability employment proclamation, recognizing the contributions to the CNMI of people with disabilities.

“For people with disabilities, employment is vital to independence, empowerment, and quality of life. It is for this reason that people with disabilities must be given equal opportunity to develop the skills they need to compete and obtain jobs in the 21st century workforce,” reads part of the proclamation.

This year’s theme is “Workers with disabilities: Ready for tomorrow’s jobs today.”

The event was attended by government officials, including Saipan Mayor Juan B. Tudela and Northern Island Mayor Valentin Taisakan.

Leading the ceremony was the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation headed by director Felicitas Abraham.

OVR, which was recently transferred to the Office of the Governor from the Department of Public Health, is designed “to assess, plan, develop, and provide vocational rehabilitation services to eligible individuals with disabilities, consistent with their strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, capabilities, interests and informed choices.”

OVR said it will have various activities throughout the month to promote disability employment in the CNMI.

Meantime, the Retirement Fund Month proclamation took place at past 11am yesterday at the NMI Fund building on Capitol Hill. The NMI Fund celebrates its 25th year this year.

Founded on Oct. 1, 1980, the Fund aims to provide retirement security and other benefits to government employees, their spouses, and dependents.

Currently, the Fund has 7,581 members, including some 5,000 active government employees.

Fund board chair Joseph Reyes said yesterday that the Fund’s total assets stand at $534 million, which includes both local and international investments.

In terms of unfunded liability, the Fund has less than $400 million, Reyes said. This amount refers to the obligations created by laws without sufficient funding.

The Fund is mandated to have at least $1 billion in total assets by 2020.

Meantime, the Fund said yesterday that it has managed to raise its total investments from $3 million to $445.3 million in a 25-year span.

It said that as part of its investment strategy, it currently allocates some 4.4 percent or nearly $20 million in the local market, including housing loans to its members.

The Retirement Fund also administers the Workers’ Compensation Commission and the Government Group Health and Life Insurance Trust Fund.

These programs were created to provide protection for employees in the CNMI from potentially devastating financial impact of injury or illness.

Meanwhile, Babauta signed a proclamation declaring October as CNMI Energy Awareness Month, with this year’s theme: “Not in use? Turn off the juice!”

This year’s theme, according to the CNMI Energy Division, promotes smart energy choices, reminding the public “to switch off unnecessary lights, unplug electrical ‘drains’ and use efficient ‘Energy Star’ products.”

It said that implementation of energy conservation methods and techniques can effectively reduce energy consumption both at work and home.

“Such reduction can be achieved through everyone’s cooperation to help reduce the demand to generate power and save money,” reads part of the proclamation.

The signing was held at the Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe.

In a separate proclamation, October 5 is declared as “Energy Star: Change a light, change the world day.”

On this date, people are encouraged to change their regular fluorescent lamps or bulbs to energy-efficient lighting products. In particular, the government promotes the switch to products with the “Energy Star” label.

If every home in the CNMI makes this change, it is estimated to result in more than 1,409,747 kilowatt-hours of energy saved or more than $15,507 per year.

This is reportedly a nationwide energy saving project of the nation’s governors “to maintaining secure, safe, and affordable energy resources for their citizens.”

“The Commonwealth of the NMI is proud to take part in this nationwide effort…to promote energy efficiency and environmental stewardship in every household by changing a single light,” said Babauta in the proclamation.