Flashback — April 2006-April 2008

April 23, 2006

Fitial offers land to honor Japan emperor

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial has volunteered his family land for the construction of a memorial commemorating the 2005 visit of Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko to Saipan. “I have offered my own family land in Marpi to build a memorial in honor of Emperor Akihito’s recent visit to the Commonwealth,” said Fitial in his first annual State of the Commonwealth Address on April 22. The emperor and empress made a historic visit to Saipan on June 28 and 29, 2005, to mourn the World War II dead.

Pete A: CNMI retains Headnote consultant

The CNMI government continues to get assistance from a consultant in Washington D.C. for the amendment of the Headnote 3(a) of the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Code, said Washington Rep. Pete A. Tenorio. In an interview after Friday’s State of the Commonwealth Address, Tenorio said that the government has retained the services of the consultant that was hired by the previous administration. “We still have the consultant,” said Tenorio. The Babauta administration had hired Sandler, Travis, and Rossenberg to help the CNMI lobby Congress for the tariff amendment, which would help boost the local garment manufacturers’ competitiveness in the world market.

April 23, 2007

DoF wants rebate class suit dismissed

The Department of Finance has asserted that the federal court has no jurisdiction over the tax rebates class lawsuit filed against DoF and therefore should dismiss the case. Assistant attorney general R. Anthony Welch, counsel for DoF, said the plaintiffs’ causes of action for recovery of rebates are vested in the CNMI Superior Court and are not causes arising under the Constitution or treaties of the United States. “The only possibility of district court jurisdiction is if the territorial tax code is a law of the United States. It is not,” said Welch in DoF’s motion to dismiss.

Governor gets ‘death threat’ call

The Office of the Governor received an anonymous call on austerity day Friday, allegedly making a death threat against Gov. Benigno R. Fitial. A staff at the Governor’s Office received the call in the morning while the governor was in a conference room holding a meeting with the military task force. The incident was immediately reported to the Department of Safety and police were deployed to the Governor’s Office to make the necessary investigation. Sources from the community said that since the Governor’s Office telephones have caller ID, the caller—a woman—was traced and arrested soon after.

April 23, 2008

New category eyed for long-term aliens

Saipan lawmakers are expected to pre-file today a bill that will allow long-time foreign workers to stay for five-year periods in the Commonwealth whether they have jobs or not. The unsigned bill, a copy of which was obtained by the Saipan Tribune last night, proposes to create a new immigration category of “resident foreign nationals.” A foreign worker may apply for a resident foreign national entry permit if he or she has lived legally in the CNMI for at least five years and has met character requirements. A resident foreign national entry permit is valid for five years and may be renewed.

Senate chooses to let PUC set the utility rates for the NMI

The Senate shelved yesterday a bill that would reverse the October 2007 rollback of power rates. By a unanimous vote, the senators decided that no action be taken on House Bill 16-79 until the Public Utilities Commission is ready to set new rates for the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. Meantime, the power rate for low-end power users will remain at 17.6 cents per kWh. The action was taken at the recommendation of the Senate Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation and Communication. In a report, the committee said it was “simply unacceptable” that PUC, which was created over a year ago, had yet to organize or regulate rates. This failure, according to the panel, has “left the utilities functionally unregulated and the public at the mercy of the utilities.”