Creating work and circulating the money in the CNMI

Here I go again. This morning let’s discuss another crazy idea of mine which may just help give employment to many of our local citizens while rebuilding our islands. What if the government were to go into a frenzy of rebuilding our shabby infrastructure using only U.S. citizens?

The United States government has generously given us a huge amount of money in the form of ARRA funds. Think of all the work opportunities it can create. The local people could be put work, and all the money would remain here and circulate which would greatly boost our economy. Here is the plan.

Basically, infrastructure is the system of public works of a country, state, or region and the resources as personnel, buildings, or equipment required for an activity. Infrastructure includes constructing roads, government buildings, landscaping, sewer lines, painting, and many other local projects.

Much of our infrastructure on Saipan, as well as in Tinian and Rota, is badly deteriorated or is none existent. Now that we have millions of ARRA dollars, think how the following suggestion could work on improving our infrastructure while putting hundreds of our own people to work. This plan will also keep all the money in the CNMI for circulation. How do we do this?

Let’s discuss a similar method that former President Roosevelt created in 1935. He created an agency called Works Progress Administration which employed millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects. These included construction of government buildings, roads and many other projects. It provided jobs and income to millions of unemployed during the Great Depression. Isn’t this exactly what the ARRA funds should be doing?

My plan is that the government, instead of bidding out construction work to private companies who employ only nonresident workers, give the work to companies composed of only local workers. It could share the projects like major road building with some of the larger construction companies. But there so many smaller projects that need working on which could be easily given to local workers who may have little skill.

For example, many roads show wear and tear from use. Give these projects to local only workers. Have them trim trees which over hang wires. I recall a company in Hawaii called Trees of Hawaii which did exactly only that work. Clean and paint government buildings. Repair schools and their grounds. Think of some other work our local citizens could do if motivated and prodded by the government to do the work using the ARRA dollars.

Painting jobs of many projects could be given to local workers. Sandblasting dirty government buildings is another type of project that could be undertaken by local workers. Repairing leaking water mains and sewer lines. The list goes on. If I recall ARRA funds have also helped the PSS by allowing it to hire or keep much needed teachers.

There are numerous ways to utilize this important and huge amount of grant money. Why aren’t we exploring this avenue of using the money by using local labor whether unskilled or skilled? We have enough local skilled engineers and supervisors who can easily supervise the unskilled labor.

The Legislature instead keeps talking about cutting hours, austerity methods and other ways to cut costs. But little discussion is heard about increasing our income or at least giving more work to our own people. I realize that my discussion will receive some negative remarks because they seem to be anti-non-resident workers.

That is not the case. I fully believe that there is more than enough work available for everybody including non-resident and local workers. But we have to create it and want to do it. Meanwhile our food stamp lineup is about 10,000 of our citizens and growing.

Farming is another major opportunity and can become the second income producing industry in the CNMI next only to tourism. Only a few of us are lone voices wailing this message in the wilderness. Who is listening? Yet we have the capacity to produce thousands of pounds of fruits and vegetable monthly, but we insist on importing most of our fruits and vegetable instead and export money to pay for them. The same can be said about fish which are bountiful close to shore. The excess amount can also be exported.

Wow! It just boggles the mind when I think of all the potentials we have right under our feet. Yes, acres of diamonds and we cannot see them!

Another thought that I have been discussing with several Legislators is to introduce a bill to place an import duty on items that we can produce locally. Not only will it motivate our own producers, but the added import duty will go to the general fund and used for general operations. The bill will not restrict imported products. But the importer must pay an added duty. And the consumer can still purchase it if he wishes. Isn’t this better that increasing personal income taxes on money which we don’t have? Think about it the incentive for our local producers to produce. And the money stays here.

We cannot keep talking about cutting and cutting costs only. In business one learns quickly that to stay solvent, one must both increase income while decreasing costs. Both must be implemented. So it is in our society. Government must cut costs but at the same time must create work especially when the money granted to us is for just that. Why do we keep giving all the work opportunities to others instead of to the local citizens? Can’t we feel the pain and hunger that is gripping us? We must change our thinking.

To understand what has happened to our islands we need to take a drive through some of the villages. We will see abandoned houses, other

houses unpainted with unkempt yards. We have no money to maintain them. So many of us are feeling a real crunch just to buy basic necessities. Meanwhile our utility bills are suffocating us. But who cares?

What has happened to our human rights to work? Does anyone in power care? When we cannot meet our basic needs we fail as a society. Economic and social rights guarantee that every person be afforded work under which they are able to meet their basic needs in particular economic and social. When any government fails to do that it creates an injustice to citizens.

Since the U. S. government has been giving us huge funds to create work for our citizens, why is it not being funneled where it is most needed? As an extreme example: let us look at the widening of the road leading from San Vicente to Capitol Hill. It has been going on for over a year and has cost already a huge amount of money. But is there one local worker there earning a decent wage? Yet all that money comes from ARRA funds and is quickly remitted abroad each payday. Meanwhile every month more and more local citizens line up for food stamps in the midst of what could be an opportunity of work. How do we explain this?

While many of us feel that the private sector is the one that should create jobs. It does and should. But when it comes to improving the infrastructure which is paid from ARRA funds given to us by the United States for creating jobs, then the local government must provide specialized services to assist and support individuals in order to identify and find available employment. While I truly appreciate the dedicated hard work being done by our non-resident workers, we must consider our own local resident workers first.

Hopefully I will have stimulated some serious thinking about creating work for our citizens. Perhaps some of us will have better ideas than what I presented above. But the bottom line must be to create work for our local people. This must come first or we will keep becoming more and more depressed.

Please seriously consider the above. Let’s find ways to remedy the situation before we become morally and economically bankrupt. We must create jobs and keep the money here.