Flashback — Dec. 2005-Dec. 2007


Appointees told to ‘resign now’[/B]

Appointed officials holding key positions in government should resign now, rather than wait for the incoming administration to ask them to, the Office of the Governor-Elect said yesterday. According to transition committee chairman Martin Manglona, appointees of the outgoing Babauta administration should be courteous enough to give way to the Fitial government. “All officials in key position should tender their courtesy resignations before the new administration comes in, so the next governor and lieutenant governor could have the chance to select their own people. It’s common sense to do this; they should not wait to be asked,” Manglona said.

The NMI Retirement Fund said it would be able to save on its monthly payments to Hawaii Pacific Medical Referral following the company’s decision to reduce its rates per member. Fund administrator Karl T. Reyes said HPMR reduced its rate from $9.50 each member to $8.75. There are 10,000 registered members in the Fund’s group health insurance program. “It would be down to $87,000 a month,” said Reyes. He said HPMR made the reduction during a recent negotiation for its contract extension. The Fund has agreed to extend HPMR’s Dec. 31 contract for up to 12 months in view of the government’s failure to privatize the health insurance program this year.

Tan Holdings’ commitment to NMI remains[/B]

Despite the announced closure of its garment manufacturing operations on Saipan, Tan Holdings Corp. reaffirmed its “long-term commitment to doing business in the CNMI and in the region.” The company said that, although Concorde has long been considered a “sister company” to Tan Holdings, the garment factory is a separate legal entity from the group of companies that does business in more than a dozen industries in the Western Pacific. “The garment factory’s closure will not affect the operations of other businesses the company owns in the region,” it said.

Marianas High School seniors Jose Castro and Jasheleen Camacho were recently crowned as MHS’ Mr. and Ms. Role Model of the Year. Castro and Camacho bested seven other male and female candidates during the grand pageant night held Saturday evening at the Pedro L. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe. First place went to seniors Bernard Rivera and Karen Hartman while the second place went to Gabriel Berger and Myrene Evangelista. Third place winners were Marco Castro and Keisha Paez. Several special awards were also given away during the event. The award for Mr. and Ms. Photogenic went to Jose Castro and Naomi Sablan. The Mr. and Ms. Congeniality plum went to Marco Castro and Myrene Evangelista.

Biz sector: Recovery will take 2 to 15 yrs
[/B] Some businesses believe the local economy can recover in two years, while the less optimistic ones say it may take 15 years. This projection is based on responses by some 50 firms to a survey conducted by the Burger & Comer accounting firm. The survey is done as part of a federally funded economic study for the Commonwealth. Addressing the Saipan Chamber of Commerce yesterday, David Burger said local businesses have identified three business factors that will help revive the economy—improved airline service, reduced utility costs, and change in land alienation provisions.

Cut trees that hit an electrical grid triggered island-wide outages on Saipan yesterday. The outages began at 1:15pm. The electric power was restored at different times starting at 2:07pm. The power was completely back on line at 4:22pm when the Chalan Kiya electrical grid was energized. Commonwealth Utilities Corp. spokesperson Pamela Mathis said at 1:15pm all engines at the Power Plant in Lower Base went into an emergency shutdown mode caused by a large fault or surge of electricity. “The engines are designed to automatically shut down when they sense this type or large scope of electrical imbalance,” Mathis explained.