Flashback – April 2000-April 2002

April 18, 2000

Quarantine Office stops smuggling of fruit bats

Department of Lands and Natural Resources Quarantine officers yesterday confiscated seven Fanihi or fruitbats hidden in a cooler owned by a CNMI resident who came from Palau at around 9:00 a.m. The woman, who owned the fruitbats, declared to the quarantine officers that the cooler only contained fish. However, after searching, the officers found the fruitbats carefully wrapped and buried underneath the fishes. Considered an endangered specie by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the maximum penalty for those caught taking fruitbats is five years imprisonment or $10,000 in fine or both. Officials refused to reveal the name of the local resident while investigation is still on going.

CNMI gets help in campaign against Big C

A representative of the American Cancer Society in Hawaii and Pacific is helping the CNMI come up with programs that will promote early detection and prevention of the highly dreaded disease. Eleanor Waterhouse, vice president of unit services and fund raising of the organization’s Hawaii Pacific Division, said raising awareness on cancer is the best way to prevent spread of the disease. Cancer, which a few years ago had lower statistics, has become a leading cause of death among the indigenous population-a fact blamed by public health officials on westernized lifestyle adopted by islanders over the years.

April 18, 2001

Legislators pledge funding for Airport Road expansion

The CNMI Legislature has pledged to make funding available for the rehabilitation and expansion of the Saipan Airport Road, an infrastructure project designed to alleviate the facility’s poor conditions. Legislators said yesterday that all other help, including technical assistance, will be made available to ensure the project’s completion within the year or by the early part of 2002. Commonwealth Ports Authority officials met with legislators headed by House Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation, and Communications Chair Rosiky Camacho to tackle redesigning of the dilapidated Airport Road.

NMC eyes deal with California university

Accessibility to higher education for local students is getting closer and closer to home. Besides the Northern Marianas College’s forthcoming plan to offer a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education degree this Fall, it is also embarking on collaborative efforts with the San Diego State University on various bachelors and masters degree programs. The articulation agreement between the two institutions is eyed as a golden opportunity for locally-based working students to further their education in several fields of discipline.

April 18, 2002

Speaker bats for tourism plan funding

With a price tag of $2.25 million, the CNMI Tourism Strategy Plan could end up as one of the more expensive promotional campaign of the Commonwealth, but House Speaker Heinz S. Hofschneider appealed to lawmakers yesterday to support the plan as a means to achieve the goal of bringing in 100,000 more Japanese tourists in 2002. “The Governor has already submitted the plans that the Strategic Tourism Planning Committee came up with. I would like to ask for your support for this plan, particularly since time is of the essence. This plan has to be implemented this year so your immediate action is needed to put this plan into motion,” said Hofschneider.

Making ends meet for government

Of the $216.68 million in projected resources for Fiscal Year 2003, only $210.8 million will be available for general appropriation since over $5.87 million would go toward paying off the government’s Capital Improvement Program bond obligations. This was disclosed by acting Finance Secretary Frank B. Villanueva in a letter addressed to Gov. Juan N. Babauta on the projected budget situation of the Commonwealth in the next fiscal year. “Of the total estimated resources [$216.98 million], $2 million is reserved by Public Law 11-14 to pay obligations related to the Public School System CIP financing bonds and $3.87 million is reserved by Public Law 11-102 to pay obligations relating to the $60-million Commonwealth Development Authority CIP financing bonds,” Villanueva said.