FLASHBACK April 27, 1999-2001

OPA: Follow procurement rules[/B]

More than $15 million in government money have either been wasted or lost in several irregular deals or pocketed by corrupt officials during the past administration, according to an annual report of the Office of the Public Auditor. But of the amount, only $970,122 in overpayment or improper payment could be recovered, the report says. In the 1998 report sent to news agencies, Public Auditor Leo L. LaMotte says much of the audit and investigation by OPA showed that non-compliance to procurement regulations remained a major problem and has led to losses in significant amounts of public funds.

Stunned by yet another attempt to amend the Covenant, legislators yesterday lashed out at a proposed legislation in the US Congress that would remove trade privileges granted the Northern Marianas, saying it will spell economic disaster for the island. They vowed to oppose the proposal sponsored by Senators Spencer Abraham (R-Michigan) and Ernest Fritz Holling (D-S. Carolina), including lobbying efforts in Washington to protect the interests of the commonwealth government. The measure is expected to be introduced this week. Likewise, local leaders tied the move to ongoing plan to establish free trade zones in the CNMI, noting that removal of the privileges provided under Headnote 3(a) of the Covenant will discourage potential foreign investors attracted by the quota-free, duty-free provisions.

Teno wants more cops[/B]

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio yesterday sought a full report on the ongoing investigation being conducted by the Department of Public Safety into the Easter Sunday jailbreak and the related protest staged by inmates at the Susupe prison. At the same time, he pledged to hire more police officers to beef up the current DPS force in a move to ease worries in the community on such incidents which have alarmed island residents. Mr. Tenorio met with Public Safety Commissioner Charles W. Ingram and other police officials to discuss ways on how to deal with the problems in the Division of Corrections following the escape of three convicts last Sunday.

The level of revenue generated by the CNMI government from tourism-related businesses continue to fall, with hotel occupancy tax dipping by $1.7 million in 1999 from year ago, government records disclosed. An official report obtained from the Department of Finance showed tax collection from hotel occupancy dropped to $6 million during the last Fiscal Year, compared with the figure recorded in 1998 at $7.7 million. Quarterly collection of hotel occupancy tax fluctuated since the first three months of the Fiscal Year 1999 but was reported to have averaged at only $1.5 million in a three-month period. Hotel occupancy tax started spiraling down in 1998 when government collection reached only $7.7 million from the previous year’s $10.8 million.

NMI’s smokers getting younger[/B]

The Department of Public Health underscored the need to enforce more stringent measures that would limit the access of the islands’ youths to tobacco products amid findings that almost half of CNMI’s young populace smoke. An estimated 10 percent of middle school students and 30 percent of high school students are current smokers, according to the findings of a study commissioned by the DPH. This, as nearly 55 percent and 85 percent of middle and high school students respectively admit to having tried cigarette.

The Commonwealth is eyeing the possibility of launching a series of discussion with the Office of the Insular Affairs to secure additional federal reimbursement for the expenses incurred by the CNMI in hosting citizens of the Freely Associated States. Government officials are now preparing a plan of action that would entice the US government to allocate more funding to the CNMI, which has incurred over $100 million in total costs since the implementation of the Compacts of Free Association. The Commonwealth government wants a bigger Compact-Impact appropriation for the next financial year, considering the meager $500,000 allotment set aside by the administration of President George W. Bush for the CNMI in his Fiscal Year 2002 budget proposal.