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AG takes over CUC engine procurement
Palacios extends state of emergency
Acting governor Arnold T. Palacios extended once more the emergency declaration for the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. and delegated the authority to procure a power engine to Attorney General Edward Manibusan.
Palacios cited the lack of a functioning board of directors as well as a technical worker crisis as the main reasons for Friday’s emergency declaration.
Gov. Ralph DLG Torres is in Hawaii to meet with officials from the office of economic adjustment under the U.S. Department of Defense. According to the administration, Torres is expected on island by the end of the month.
According to documents obtained by Saipan Tribune, Palacios signed executive order 2017-07, declaring a state of emergency at CUC and designating Manibusan as the “legal authority to effectuate the procurement of the replacement generator for Engine No. 8” at
Palacios also gave CUC executive director Gary Camacho the executive power of the board of directors to lead CUC in the absence of a fully functional board.
Camacho would lead CUC “under the supervision of the governor” and shall manage the corporation “in a business-like manner until a new board of directors is constituted.”
As of this publication, only one member of the CUC board has been approved by the Senate: Weston Thomas Deleon Guerrero, whose appointment was approved last July 11, 2017.
Palacios also directed that restrictions on government employment be lifted, giving CUC full power and authority to “retain staff which may include employees other than citizens and permanent residents of the United States.”
The state of emergency would last 30 days from July 21, 2017, or the date to which the EO was signed. Unless terminated by Palacios or Torres prior to the end of the 30-day period, the executive order would be in effect.
This is the third straight emergency declaration for CUC. Torres first declared a state of emergency last May 22, 2017, five days after the CUC board of directors submitted their resignations in the wake of the Engine 8 procurement fiasco that indicated the possibility of a conflict of interest.
