Atalig promises transparency

David Atalig, who has been the acting Finance secretary for almost two months now, promises to be transparent regarding the financial situation of the CNMI.

When asked about how he plans to do so in Wednesday’s Saipan Chamber of Commerce meeting at the Pacific Islands Club Saipan Charley’s Cabaret, Atalig said he would be straightforward in answering questions about the government’s finances.

“I report on a monthly basis to our governor [Ralph DLG Torres] on our current revenues and expenditures. It is just going through the press secretary. And these are all public documents and we get audited by [Public Auditor] Mike [Pai],” he said.

“We will be transparent in all that we’re going to do. I will be transparent in my vision. My vision is every employee will share what they can share. [But] we are bound by a lot of taxpayer confidentialities. We are bound by privacy laws and acts. Our staff should be able to answer the questions that you may have and if they don’t, please let me know.”

This comes soon after many in the community have questioned the Torres administration’s claim of runaway economic growth in the last two years and its current plan to secure a line of credit with the Marianas Public Land Trust to help it meet its many obligations. The administration has blamed the unexpected onslaught of Super Typhoon Yutu last October 2018 for knocking the CNMI economy off its resurgent track after many years of economic stagnation.

Atalig said he does not know how his predecessor, former secretary Larrisa Larson, ran Finance and “I only care what’s going forward. What today brings. I am open. I am open to the media. I am open to anyone who is asking questions.”

“It may be two or three days late but I will get back to you, especially if inquiries are on specific issues. I would like to get the information before I call back, so we could have a good, healthy conversation instead of prolonging that call,” he added.

He said he still has no idea how to report to the public. “I don’t have a platform to do monthly financial reports to the public, I haven’t thought of that. I don’t know how or where on how can I provide information on our financial status.”

He concedes that he reports weekly to the House Ways and Means Committee and monthly to the governor. “So the governor and his staff can share that information.”

Atalig said that his department is also working on a new website where the community can make suggestions, report taxpayer challenges, or share ideas to improve the agency.

“I am open to all suggestions. We will be creating a strategic plan for the department and I hope to reach out again for input. As we are working on this plan, we would like to reach to out to our stakeholders—the public and other agencies.”