On My Mind

This week’s column poses quite a dilemma. The column goes up on the web on Friday, the 18th—the day before the absentee ballots are counted. It doesn’t appear in the newspaper until Sunday, the 20th, the day after the count, by which time conclusive election results will finally be known. How do I write a column that fits both circumstances? If those words sound familiar, they are. I wrote the same thing (with minor differences) two weeks ago. I never thought I’d write the very same words again so soon!

Ah, well, unless there’s a tie—I don’t know what the odds are of that happening, but I imagine they’re pretty slim—we will finally know, and none too soon, the official outcome of this most unusual of elections. Great credit should be given to the Commonwealth Election Commission, and to its director, Gregorio “Kilili” C. Sablan, for the well-organized, trouble-free and efficient conduct of the election, and of all the steps leading thereto. The self-effacing letter of thanks he wrote to all who worked on the election process, published in the Nov. 11 issue of both local papers, is a model of graciousness and modesty.

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Not quite at the same level of significance, but related, nonetheless, is the correction I was sent by the office of the Attorney General to a statement in last week’s column. I had said that candidates had 30 days, under the law, to remove their campaign signs. Contrary to the information in yesterday’s issue, the law states, in 1 CMC 6705(e) (2004), P.L. 12-180, that the signs must be removed in 15 days, or by Nov. 20.

I apologize for the late notice. I had forwarded that information to the Tribune on Nov. 14.

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I’m not sure whether it’s due to the fact that a change of administration is expected, or just coincidence, but there seems to have been more than the usual amount of discussion in the press lately as to what can be done to improve the economy, to bring in more tourists, to bring in more businesses. There’s been that ad hoc group chaired by former chief justice Jose dela Cruz, statements by various members of the Chamber of Commerce, letters to the editor, and most recently, the Tribune’s “FreeFire” question: “What should the CNMI do to attract more tourists?” The concerns are also the subject of discussion among Zoning Board and Strategic Economic Development Council members.

The worrisome part about all these discussions is that the proposed solutions are so diffuse, so different from each other, that there’s not all that much in common among all the answers. That could be interpreted as good, in that there’s a lot of creativity out there, but there’s another way of looking at it, which is that no one agrees on what the CNMI should be striving for, what it should become. There’s no unifying vision of what everybody wants for the CNMI.

Some are looking at short-term answers: bring in new factories to replace the old. Some are looking at Guam, and saying the CNMI should do as Guam has done, and build more shopping centers, shopping malls, bring in the military. Others look to Hawaii and say we should build more attractions, provide more hotel rooms. Some have said we should raise prices, and try to attract more high-class tourists. Others have said we need to spend more money advertising, to increase the numbers of tourist arrivals regardless of their income level, to entice airlines into increasing their flights so that more tourists, wealthy or not, can come.

But no one raises the question: Does the CNMI want to become like Guam? Does it want to be like Oahu? Does the CNMI want more factories, more foreign workers? Or military establishments? Or something friendlier, something more compatible with the island lifestyle, something more appropriate to the CNMI’s natural beauty and cultural heritage?

There needs to be consensus, it seems to me, on what people want the CNMI to be, to become, before any further efforts are made to promote development—of whatever sort.

The CNMI’s strength—and its uniqueness—is in its beauty: its long sandy beaches, its green hills, its once-clear lagoon waters, the flowering trees and shrubs along the road, the colorful reed warblers in the trees, the great open vistas (except where marred by those behemoths off the Garapan shore) over an ocean of ever-changing shades of blue and green, the beauty of its underwater sea life of fish, coral, turtles, octopuses, and the like, the little island of Managaha, not to mention having not one but three islands immediately at hand, each with its own distinctive characteristics.

If the CNMI were to concentrate on cleaning up the lagoon, restoring over-dived sites like the Grotto and Laulau and Obyan, maintaining its historical sites, restoring bird populations to Bird Island and enhancing Rota’s eco-tourism sites (such as its bird sanctuary or botanical tours of its endemic plants and shrubs ), it could offer itself as the “jewel of the Pacific”—where, for example, military (and civilians) could come to get away from the frenzy of Guam or Oahu and relax and enjoy the beauty that is the CNMI. As the “jewel of the Pacific,” it should have no trouble enticing tourists from all over Asia, a huge, densely populated and land-bound area whose people would welcome the relaxed pace and gorgeous views, the beaches that the CNMI has to offer.

If, in short, the CNMI chose to preserve, protect, enhance, and then share its beauty with others, it would have far more to offer that is unique and distinctive than if it were to undertake more urban types of development projects and then try to compete with Guam and Oahu.

As one pundit has observed, the CNMI should not become dependent on industries that try to capitalize on temporary advantages in international trade agreements, but should look toward projects that have a more benign, long-term potential, such as education, or, perhaps retirement homes—both of which could take advantage of the CNMI’s attractions as well as contribute to an increase in visitors/tourists.

But whatever the choice, if there is no consensus among the many interests in the CNMI—from entrepreneurs, businessmen and government leaders to investors, legislators and island residents—economic development will continue to flounder, to go off in several uncoordinated and unrelated directions all at the same time, destroying with one hand what is viewed as most valuable by the other.

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It is not that I am opposed to all new business ventures in the CNMI, but I am disturbed, nonetheless, by the announced intention of a firm called Lady Kimberley to begin long-line fishing of yellow tuna and skip jack in waters surrounding the CNMI and to establish a fish processing plant in support of the long-line fishing on Saipan. The most recent of several stories about the proposed venture appeared in the Saipan Tribune’s Nov. 16 issue.

I am concerned because there has as yet been no CRM permit application filed, as surely would be required for the establishment of the fish processing plant. Yet there have already been meetings with the Commonwealth Development Authority, the Finance Department and Bank of Guam regarding loan guarantees. I’m not sure what the logical sequence of events is here, but I should think securing permission for the plant would be high on the list.

Then there’s the concern with long-line fishing. At the same time as stories about the Lady Kimberley’s intent are appearing, so are stories about measures being considered and undertaken to halt overfishing of Pacific bigeye and yellowfin tuna (see the Trib’s Nov. 13 issue). Lady Kimberley’s president, Courtney Ziezke, claims that the CNMI Department of Commerce has said there is an abundance of marine resources in CNMI waters. But he does not say that those resources include the fish he intends to catch.

Admittedly the CNMI is powerless to control what happens in the waters outside the CNMI—except through appeals to the federal government—but great caution must be observed before it allows a smelly fish-processing plant on an island supposedly dedicated to tourism.

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Short Takes:

I just loved the language of Justice Alex Castro’s thank-you note of appreciation to the voters, which appeared in the Nov. 11 issue of the Marianas Variety. He wrote, “As we continue to paddle our judiciary canoe into the uncharted waters of tomorrow….” Very picturesque, and appropriate to the setting!

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It struck me as a little strange that the Attorney General’s Office would promulgate regulations, as it has apparently done in the October issue of the Commonwealth Register—which never saw light of day on its website—prohibiting the employment of foreign workers under 21 years of age in bars and night clubs, but not prohibiting the employment of resident workers under 21 years of age in such establishments. The regs, according to a story in the Nov. 11 issue of the Variety, also do not apply to foreign workers already working in such places, but prohibits bringing in any more under 21 years of age for such jobs.

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If anyone’s curiosity has been aroused—as mine has been—by the continuing daily ad in the Variety for “land for lease/sale” on Tinian within walking distance of the Dynasty Casino and Taga Beach, it’s no scam, nor is it someone so wealthy that s/he can afford an ad that size on a daily basis, as I had speculated. Instead, the person placing the ad is the publisher of the Variety Abed Younis, who, by virtue of his position, can afford the on-going larger-than-average advertisement. Younis said he is only trying to find the very best offer…

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Movie ratings for last week (which I forgot to include): 4 “R’s”, 2 “PG-13’s”, 1 “PG,” (which I thought incredibly violent for such a mild rating) and only 1 “G.” This week’s tally is: 2″R’s”, 4 “PG-13’s”, the same violent “PG,” and one “G.” If they’ve already seen Chicken Little, guess families with young kids don’t get to go to the movies this week.

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Last but not least, congratulations and best wishes—for safety and success—to Chief Public Defender Masood Karimipour on his challenging assignment to Afghanistan as advisor to its Ministry of Justice. The CNMI will be the poorer for his absence.

(The writer is a librarian by profession, and a long-term resident of the CNMI. To contact her, send e-mail to ruth.tighe@vzpacifica.net)