CUC emergency extended anew

For the fifth time, the Babauta administration extended yesterday the declaration of state of emergency at the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.

Gov. Juan N. Babauta said that the reasons for his renewing the declaration last month still existed and that emergency measures must remain in place.

He noted that, although Engine 8 is now online and in full operation, Engines 3 and 4 at Power Plant I remain offline and are undergoing emergency repairs.

“As such, I find that the threat or danger to the CNMI caused by the lack of ‘back-up’ or reserve power generation capacity, the continued need to initiate critical maintenance and repair of power generation facilities; and the uncertain financial condition of CUC and its ability to make all required fuel payments due to increased fuel costs, mandate the issuance of this State of Disaster Emergency Declaration,” Babauta said.

The latest extension will be effective for 30 days, giving the governor full control of CUC and the authority to suspend all regulatory statute provisions and regulations applicable to CUC, including procurement regulations.

The declaration also suspends the CUC board of directors’ power, authority and or responsibility. It authorizes the governor to reprogram all funds to address CUC’s problems.

The successive extensions to the state of emergency declaration has earned the ire of House Speaker Benigno R. Fitial, who questioned Babauta’s exercise of direct authority over CUC.

“From the beginning, your reasons for declaring a state of emergency due to the CUC problems are inconsistent with the authority provided by the CNMI Constitution. Yes, CUC had fuel payment and maintenance problems, but such problems are caused by fiscal mismanagement, and poor and inadequate maintenance of the power generation facilities. No matter how you look at it, the CUC fiasco does not in anyway equate to a ‘crisis’ caused by the unavailability of public utilities,” said Fitial.

The speaker also demanded that Babauta submit a detailed report regarding the measures taken to deal with the CUC emergency.

Babauta has promised, but failed to provide such report to the Legislature since July 18, 2005.

“This is totally unacceptable and irresponsible on your part. The taxpayers have the right to be informed of how public funds are being spent and whether such funds are being spent within the parameters of Commonwealth laws,” said Fitial.

The governor made the original state of emergency declaration during his State of the Commonwealth Address on May 19, 2005. The declaration has since been renewed five times, with each extension lasting 30 days.