No definite end on CUC state of emergency

No definite end could be seen yet on the governor’s state of emergency declaration for the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation.

Gov. Juan N. Babauta said that he only has one standard for deciding whether or not to extend the declaration: “Do we have a reliable power system?”

“If the answer to that question is yes, then the state of emergency will end,” Babauta said.

The declaration, which placed CUC under direct control of the Executive Branch, has been in effect for five months now.

The governor’s critics have called on the governor to set a deadline for the state of emergency.

“It’s obvious that the governor hasn’t resolved the CUC crisis in all these months. He’s extending the state of emergency apparently indefinitely,” House leadership spokesman Charles Reyes Jr. said earlier.

Reyes works for House Speaker Benigno R. Fitial, who is one of Babauta’s rivals for the gubernatorial post in the Nov. 5, 2005 election.

Last week, however, Babauta touted improvements to the power situation since the administration took over CUC in May 2005.

“CUC has definitely improved the situation. We no longer have load shedding. We have enough power to meet demand, although there are still occasional outages,” Babauta said.

“We have reprogrammed $2.7 million to overhaul and repair generators. The CUC personnel are doing a great job at catching up on long overdue maintenance,” he added.

Babauta issued the fourth extension of the declaration on Oct. 17, 2005. The reasons he cited for keeping control of CUC were 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.

According to Fitial, Babauta’s reasons for declaring the state of emergency are inconsistent with the authority provided the governor 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.

The governor’s emergency powers allow him to assume full control of CUC and 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.