Flashback – Oct. 1, 1999-Oct. 1, 2009

October 1, 1999

Bracing for the millennium
GUAM—Guam has dubbed itself a Pleasure Island to promote various tourist attractions, particularly in Tumon Bay which has undergone a multimillion-dollar facelift in what officials hope would spur its tourism industry. With the newest fleet of Boeing 737 jets by Continental Micronesia coupled with the gradual recovery by some Asian economies, particularly Japan, Guam and the rest of the islands in the region may register positive signs in their visitor arrivals for the first time since 1997. In a tour hosted by the Guam-based carrier, dozens of journalists and travel agents from Japan, the Philippines, Hawaii, CNMI and other island nations in the region saw the results of the modernization program the Agana government has carried out over the past two years. While the plan is not yet complete, many of the changes stand as a symbol of Guam’s commitment to bring its tourism industry—its main economic force like the rest of the islands in Micronesia—into the next millennium. Tumon alone has seen the rise of new hotels and other attractions that now dot the tourist district. Outrigger Guam Resort, which opened in June, is the latest addition to row of hotels overlooking the ocean.

The boat people trial: Each witness earns $128 per day
The alien smuggling trial has revealed that each of the prosecution’s six material witnesses is making $128 a day—or about 400 percent higher than the CNMI’s minimum wage workers’ daily earnings. Based on the per diem rate, the federal government spends a total of $23,000 per month on the allowances of the six witnesses, who have been asked to testify against six defendants charged with alien smuggling. The witnesses, who were among the 51 undocumented passengers aboard a Chinese fishing vessel interdicted by the US Coast Guard last April, were not charged with any crime. Federal authorities earlier sent them to California, and brought them back to Saipan last Aug. 23 to prepare for the trial. At Wednesday’s cross examination by defense attorneys , Mel Grey, special agent of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, said the federal government pays the six material witnesses tax-free per diem allowances on top of hotel accommodation, and other privileges.

October 1, 2009

Govt seeks to revive defunct Gardenia as a biz incubator
The government is currently preparing an application for an Economic Development Assistance grant to put to good use the defunct Pacific Gardenia Hotel, which would be converted into a business incubation center. Commonwealth Development Authority executive director Manny Sablan explained that the incubation center would give people who want to start businesses a venue to visualize what kind of business they can establish. CDA owns the hotel, which had filed for bankruptcy in September 2004 and was later placed under receivership. It went through a bidding process but no one showed interest. “We have to maintain it and we want to provide improvement,” Sablan said. CDA recently filed a case against the former owners of the hotel for allegedly failing to pay a 1989 loan that is now reaching $1.2 million, including interest and other charges. Sablan said the Department of Commerce is taking the lead in converting the former hotel into a center to generate additional income to the government.

CPA projects 20 pct. revenue drop
Projected revenues for the Commonwealth Ports Authority is expected to drop by 20 percent in Fiscal Year 2010, which began yesterday. CPA comptroller Frances Mafnas said during Wednesday’s meeting that the agency expects to generate just $10 million in revenues in the next 12-month period, compared to FY 2009, which recorded $11 million revenues. As an autonomous agency, CPA functions and operates as a self-sustaining agency, paying for its personnel and operational costs out of its own pocket. Mafnas said the low projection was a result of the pulling out of Continental Airlines’ operation on island and the reduction of some flights from the existing signatory airlines. To date, Asiana and Northwest are the only signatory airlines that pay fees to the ports authority. During the deliberation, board members asked the management to be cautious when adding items to the new budget. The board deferred voting on the adoption of the agency’s FY 2010 budget for two weeks after it uncovered some “technical problems” in the proposed budget plan.