Previous Story
Man’amko want austerity Friday lifted for Aging Office
|
Posted on Mar 02 2012
By Clarissa David
Reporter
Reporter
As Older Americans Month approaches, the Saipan Seniors Advisory Council wants the Office on Aging exempted from the current austerity measures being implemented throughout the government.
Council president Teresita Sorroza and vice president Maria T. Salinas wrote to Lt. Gov. Eloy S. Inos saying that exempting the center from austerity Fridays will give the man’amko and the Office on Aging staff more time for the preparation and actual activities for the monthlong celebration in May.
The theme for this year’s Older Americans Month or Mes Man’amko celebration is “Never too old to play.”
“Indeed, we are never too old to play, and therefore ask that you do not prohibit us from doing so,” wrote Sorroza and Salinas, who signed and hand-delivered the letter to Inos’ office on Capital Hill yesterday.
According to the two, many clients at the Aging Center rely on the services the institution provides, including healthy meals and assistance in the man’amko’s errands.
The center, Sorroza and Salinas said, serves as a meeting area for the man’amko to meet with close friends and acquaintances. It also provides them with programs “that keep us feeling young and energetic.”
The two pointed out that the Office on Aging’ is federally funded, with the office’s approved state plan requiring them to open five days a week.
“As a result, we do not see the need to shut the center down every Friday when these expenses have already been accounted for,” said Sorroza and Salinas. “The fact is we are losing money that can eventually assist our ailing economy.”
The two said that clients at the center are calling for the restoration of the 80-hour work week for Office on Aging employees “since it is them who are responsible for implementing the programs we enjoy,” adding that doing so will benefit not just the staff and the man’amko but the CNMI as a whole.
Sorroza and Salinas expressed confidence that Inos will have their best interest at heart and grant them their request.
