FLASHBACK – July 5, 2011

CPA revenues soared 17 pct. in May[/B]

Spurred by the additional flights deployed by Taipei-based Mandarin Airlines and the increased participation of foreign carriers in the Airline Incentive Program, aviation revenues generated by the Commonwealth Ports Authority soared 17 percent in May, reaching close to $200,000 from last year’s $830,000. Since the beginning of the Fiscal Year 2000 in October, CPA revenues from its aviation division jumped 16 percent to $7.796 million from the previous year of the same period’s $6.731 million. A financial statement prepared by CPA Comptroller Dave S. Demapan attributed the increase in revenues to the implementation of the new schedule of airport charges, which witnessed an increase in landing and departure fees.

The Commonwealth Utilities Corporation is wrapping up its discussion with the Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino on its impending hook-up with the island power following a deadline imposed by the Coastal Resources Management. CUC Board Chair Jesus T. Guerrero expressed concern that time is running out as the deadline next month nears without concrete agreement with the Dynasty. “We need to do that right away,” he told CUC officials during a board meeting Monday. The hotel and casino, the biggest on Tinian, has yet to hook up with CUC’s 10-megawatt power plant on the island due to failure to agree on the electricity rate.

Bill seeks to expand access to 911[/B]

The move to grant emergency access to subscribers of landline telephones who have been temporarily disconnected for nonpayment is shaping up at the House of Representatives, soon after a bill providing for such access hurdled first reading on Tuesday. The House Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation and Communications, to which House Bill 12-306 was referred to, said that the bill will provide a fair measure of consumer protection without putting undue burden on the affected providers. Rep. Rosiky F. Camacho, committee chairman, said his committee believes that local landline telephone providers should provide access to 911 services for 30 days to people whose services have been temporarily disconnected due to the nonpayment of their telephone bills.

House Speaker Benigno R. Fitial yesterday called on the people of the Commonwealth to be more vigilant in guarding their rights as US citizens as he warned that “our freedom and liberty are more fragile than ever before.” In a Fourth of July speech during Liberation Day festivities at the American Memorial Park, Fitial also extolled the many brave men and women who lost their lives during the last world war defending the “peace and democracy we now enjoy.” The speaker, a staunch supporter of local self-government and free market policies, adamantly opposes moves in US Congress to federalize immigration, labor and wage laws in the CNMI. He has been in the forefront of lobbying efforts against a federal takeover of local immigration and labor control.

CPA: Tinian wharfage rate correct[/B]

The Commonwealth Ports Authority cited declining revenue collection as the primary reason behind the implementation of new wharfage rates. In a letter to Tinian Chamber of Commerce President Philip Long, CPA Executive Director Carlos H. Salas stressed that the new wharfage rates are implemented based on carefully computed rates and obligations faced by the seaport division. Salas explained that although port officials empathize with the businesses for being subjected to many adverse economic factors, the CPA also has financial obligations that have to be strictly met on a timely basis.

Tanapag residents, through Tanapag Action Group chair and now Director of Personnel Management Juan Tenorio, are opposing plans to use treated soil from PCBs to cover the Puerto Rico dump. Tenorio assailed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for saying that the soil treated from PCB contamination would be suitable for cover to close the dump. The EPA welcomed TAG’s concern, but assured that the treated soil is not at harmful levels. “Those soil are dirty,” Tenorio said.