FLASHBACK – Jan. 30,2012

Senate mulls new shooting resort bill[/B]

Another legislative measure which aims to allow the establishment of shooting resorts on Rota and Tinian are currently being reviewed by the Senate. Sen. Edward Maratita on Friday introduced the proposed measure to accommodate the construction of multi-million shooting resorts on Rota and Tinian to boost the islands’ tourism industry and to generate enough government revenues. Under the new bill, Universal Recreational Shooters will equally divide the $25 million-worth of investment between Rota and Tinian where the proposed shooting resorts will be constructed. But Senate Floor Leader Pete P. Reyes disclosed the proposal is currently being evaluated at the committee level to thresh out problems on earlier legislative measure which requires the shooting resorts to be established within the Free Trade Zone.

The Office of Vocational Rehabilitation yesterday expressed high hopes the agency will eventually lose its high risk status following the positive result of the ongoing technical assistance programs to consumers. OVR was removed from the reimbursement status in November 1999 which State Rehabilitation Council Chair Ramon C. Dela Cruz noted as a major progress due to collaborative efforts of various agencies. Mr. Dela Cruz said the remarkable improvements over the past year has impressed the Region 9 Rehabilitation Service Administration after the on-site inspection conducted in February last year

Saga of CUC’s $51.5M debt continues[/B]

Sen. Pete P. Reyes has revived a measure he authored in the 12th Legislature that seeks to transfer the indebtedness of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. from the Commonwealth Development Authority to the Department of Finance. At the same time, Senate Bill 13-5 seeks to ensure that any repayments made by the CUC to CDA should go to an account called Capital Improvement Projects Local Match Fund, to be used as a source for the matching requirement for CIP funds. Reyes said CUC should be provided with greater flexibility in settling this debt and any repayments it may make for these loans should benefit the Commonwealth and should be used to address the Commonwealth Infrastructure Program needs in the CNMI.

The Marianas Visitors Authority has started sending out flyers and promotional materials to its key offices abroad to lure tourists to visit the Northern Marianas in June this year to witness a rare Annular Solar Eclipse. The Annular Solar Eclipse can be seen from Saipan, Tinian and Rota on June 11 around 8:10am, when the moon’s antumbral shadow reaches the southern end of the Northern Mariana Islands chain at 10:10pm on June 10 Universal Time. An annular solar eclipse is different from a total solar eclipse in that the Moon obscures 100 percent of the Sun’s disc during a total solar eclipse. At an annular eclipse, a ring (or annulus) of sunlight is left uncovered and this surrounds the dark Moon.

User fee totals $7.8M in Q1[/B]

User fee payments for the garment industry posted a slight 7 percent increase in the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2003 compared to the same period last year but the figure is still far below the numbers posted in 1999, 2000 and 2001. At the same time, the Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association reports that the volume in dozens of apparel produced still remains approximately 5 percent down from the industry’s peak year in 1999. According to SGMA, the drastic drop in sales-and the resulting drop in user fees paid to the CNMI government-is attributed to the nearly 20 percent decline in the sales price the Saipan factories can get in the global marketplace.

The Northern Marianas College Board of Regents prefers to oversee the NMC operations independently and free from any form of political pressure, BoR Chairman Vince Seman said. In particular, Seman was referring to the recent calls of Saipan Rep. Stanley Torres for NMC president Kenneth Wright to relinquish his position due to his alleged questionable actions following his entry last August. “The accreditation standards mandate that there be no political interference and I believe that’s also a constitutional mandate,” Seman said. “I’m also a representative of people in the sense that I have my own constituent as a board official, but certainly I won’t go and tell the legislator how to do his job.”