FLASHBACK – July 19, 2011

US territories to get $22M for Y2K preparations[/B]

The Clinton Administration will allocate $22.2 million in new federal funding for US territories and the freely associated states (FAS) to assist them in upgrading their government computer systems to make them Y2K compliant, an insular official announced yesterday. Danny Aranza, acting director of the Office of Insular Affairs or OIA, said the computer upgrading programs of these territories will be funded by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. Aranza said the budget office is awaiting Congress’ approval of its request to reprogram funds for this purpose. He said the budget office will fund only the computer systems that were originally installed through federal grants.

After one year of negotiation, Australian-owned Family Assurance will now provide reinsurance support to Oceania Insurance Corp., allowing the local company to give its clients a wider range of products. According to Ross Porter, managing director of Family Assurance, the company’s decision to seek a local partner was based on its confidence in the management of Oceania and the CNMI economy. Porter met with Commerce Secretary Frankie Villanueva last week to inform him of the reinsurance service that Family Assurance will be giving to Oceania. This brings to three the total number of companies with a reinsurance support.

Teno hopes Congress shoots down takeover bill[/B]

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio yesterday expressed hope again that legislation extending federal minimum wage and immigration laws that are pending in the U.S. Congress will not pass despite renewed efforts by some members to revive these measures. “It’s been our desire that [they], and we have always asked Congress to please, help us and hopefully the bill will not go through,” he told reporters in an interview. The governor was referring to S. 1052—which seeks automatic takeover of CNMI’s immigration by the federal government—that was passed by the U.S. Senate last February and is still awaiting action in the lower house.

The Office of Vocational Rehabilitation has recently been awarded $40,000 worth of federal funds to assist visually-impaired individuals who are 55 years old and above acquire the necessary vision aids that would support their plight to be independent. The agency has been guaranteed continuous $40,000 funding for a span of five years under its Independent Living for the Older Blind program. Tee Abraham, Vocational Rehabilitation director, is urging visually-impaired individuals and those whose vision are poor to avail of the services the agency is offering. Under the program, qualified applicants can be provided eye examinations, eye glasses or other vision aids at the expense of the VR office.

EMO seeks additional funds[/B]

Citing probable miscommunication between the Emergency Management Office and some lawmakers, the EMO is set to request the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation for fresh funding amounting to $120,000 to pay off its obligations to several vendors. This comes in the wake of the passage of House Local Bill 12-40, a local measure appropriating $303,957 for projects in the Third Senatorial District-with $19,062 going to the EMO. EMO director Gregorio A DL. Guerrero had originally asked for $120,000 but legislative action whittled down this amount to just $19,062, as lawmakers had to readjust the funding allocation to accommodate several priority projects for Saipan.

A partnership between the National University and the Northern Marianas College will bring business and nursing studies to the Commonwealth. The Bachelor of Business Administration offers four areas of concentration: accountancy, human resource management, finance, and marketing. Under the partnership, most general education requirements and other 100- and 200-level courses in preparation for the degree may be fulfilled by taking the NMC courses. All upper-division courses will be taken through the NU. Nurses who already have a BSN degree may enroll in NU’s Master of Science in Nursing program. Graduate level studies will include community health and leadership preceptorship courses, which will incorporate activities with health care providers in the CNMI.