FLASHBACK – October 10, 2011

Senate recalls NMC funding bill[/B]

Due to technical deficiencies, the Senate has recalled from Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio a bill that would have set aside government money for selected programs at the Northern Marianas College. The Senate’s action on House Bill 12-361 will further delay the allocation of funds into NMC programs that were primarily set up to promote and develop local talent in areas that are important to the long-term growth and stability of the Commonwealth. No reason was given for the recall of the bill, besides citing technical defects in the proposed measure. Earlier, the Senate had passed the bill on August 30, a mere 15 days after it sailed through the House of Representatives on a unanimous vote.

Three parcels of land leased by the second biggest duty-free shop on Saipan faces foreclosure after its creditor bank filed a complaint seeking such a relief before the court. The Bank of Guam filed the complaint before the CNMI Superior Court yesterday, seeking foreclosure against the Hakubotan duty-free shop but it was not clear at press time whether the three parcels of land refer to the property presently occupied by the shop. Bank of Guam lawyer Edward C. Arriola was reached for clarification, but he was not available yesterday afternoon. The size and location of the properties were not mentioned in the complaint.

‘Protect locally owned industry'[/B]

Instead of exerting unnecessary pressure on an industry built from long years of hard work by true-blooded locals, the CNMI community should shift its focus to protecting the Saipan Stevedore Company—an entrepreneurial success that the Commonwealth can genuinely call its own. This was the sentiment raised by acting House Speaker Manuel A. Tenorio yesterday amid the attacks hurled against the locally owned stevedoring business over its control on port terminal and stevedoring services in the CNMI. “I know this is very controversial because, first of all, maybe there are some outside interests trying to take over the port operation. But Saipan Stevedore is fully owned and operated by local individuals and has been in existence for many years. You can probably term this as a public service business,” said Tenorio.

The Department of Labor and Immigration hearing office ordered that a nonresident worker be awarded more than $1,300 in lost wages. The amount, however, was a significant decrease from the complainant’s original motion for reconsideration for a payback compensation amounting to over $7,000. Victoria Sergueeva asked DOLI to reconsider a May 16, 2002 administrative order and to award her $7,100 compensation for the period Feb. 15, 2001 to Jan. 10, 2002, “based on improper and wrongful termination” by her former employer. DOLI issued on May 16 an administrative order “in which it failed to award contract damages of lost wages” to the complainant.

OPA warns vs politics in govt offices[/B]

The Office of the Public Auditor has received several requests to investigate political activities that are allegedly taking place in government workplaces. This has prompted Public Auditor Michael S. Sablan to issue a memorandum reminding all public officials and employees to restrict themselves from engaging in political activities in the workplace as this violates the Ethics Code and election laws. Public officials, as defined in the Code, include elected officials and members of boards, task forces, and commissions. “The purpose of [that] memorandum is to remind all public officials and employees of the restrictions on political activity in the workplace.pursuant to the Ethics Code Act and other CNMI laws applicable to government employees,” Sablan said in the recent memorandum.

The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. has hired the services of private firm Water Quality Inc. to conduct tests on its drinking water for two months, at a cost of $7,200. The agreement calls for a $45 per water test, which, according to CUC, is $5 lower than the Division of Environmental Quality’s sampling rate. Under the agreement, WQI will perform 80 samples a month for CUC for two months at $45 per test. CUC spokesperson Pamela Mathis said this price may still go down as CUC is currently negotiating with WQI toward that end.