Flashback — Oct. 1999-2003

FTZs should hire more locals[/B]

Businesses that will be established in the planned Free Trade Zone on Saipan must make an assurance that they will tap the local work force to solve the unemployment problem in the CNMI. While the bill creating FTZ has yet to be passed, Felix Nogis, director of the Job Training and Partnership Act, is worried that the locals will not be hired by future investors in the economic site. Since various government agencies, including the Department of Labor and Immigration, have already failed to monitor whether the private sector complies with the law on the 20 percent local hiring requirement, Nogis said he is not optimistic that businesses in FTZ will follow the law.

Admitting deplorable prison conditions on the island, Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio assured yesterday the government has moved ahead in trying to build a new jail in efforts to address overcrowding and other problems in the Division of Corrections. He said, however, that he would look into the complaints expressed by three inmates in a letter sent to his office seeking justification to their recent escape that has highlighted again the state of the existing DOC facility. “We did receive that so-called letter from the inmates. Our first reaction is we want to look into that. But for the information of the public, we are addressing those issues now and we are working so hard,” Tenorio told reporters in an interview.
[B] Oct. 21, 2002

Reyes: $47M to $189M is still growth[/B]

To appreciate the true picture of where the international investments of the NMI Retirement Fund are now, they should be looked at based on how much the Fund started out with and where it is now. This was stressed by Fund administrator Karl T. Reyes, who said that, although there has been a considerable decline in the Fund’s investments in the last few months due to the soft economy, it’s not time to panic yet. “If you take a look at the entire market of the United States, we are hooked to that program, so definitely, if it goes up, we go up, if it goes down, we go down. But the important thing for people to understand is, when the Retirement Fund put up their $47 million in 1983, how much is it now?” he asked.

While the rest of the CNMI government offices have shifted to latest electronic transactions for its payroll transfer, the Northern Marianas College continues to use the old, manual method of disbursing cash to its employees. NMC finance and administrative director David Atalig, in an interview, admitted that “we’re the last agency” to modernize. Atalig said going online and using a direct payroll system is “his main project” right now. Atalig said the NMC is currently holding negotiations with a commercial bank to get hooked to an online clearinghouse. “We’re working it out with the bank. We’d be able to go online and tap into this system,” he said.

DLNR proposes to upgrade tourist sites[/B]

Lands and Natural Resources Secretary Thomas Pangelinan has asked Gov. Juan N. Babauta for support to upgrade facilities at popular tourist sites, including The Grotto, Bird Island, Forbidden Island Overlook, the summit at Mt. Tapochou and several beach parks. The development of the Forbidden Island Overlook, according to Pangelinan, includes building an observation tower on the 265-foot (above sea level) cliff line with telescopes to view the entire Kagman forest, Forbidden Island and far out to sea. The Forbidden Island Overlook project also includes development of a small park with pavilions, bathroom facilities, picnic tables and barbeque pits.

The Public School System has received a grant amounting to over $140,000 to boost its information technology and distance education programs. PSS technology coordinator Mark Savares said the Governor’s Office and the PSS were recently notified of the grant approval by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The department, through its Public Telecommunications Facilities Program, which is administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, funded 110 applications totaling $14 million. This money is intended primarily to extend public broadcasting and distance learning services to unserved areas of the U.S., including insular areas.