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BEFORE DECLARING STATE OF EMERGENCY
Torres still waiting for IT&E’s report
Acting governor Ralph DLG. Torres hopes to get a more extensive status report from telecommunications firm IT&E as discussions on a possible state of emergency for the CNMI continue.
Torres said he and Attorney General Edward Manibusan continue to hold discussions on the state of emergency declaration but are waiting on IT&E for the report.
“I have no update on the status of the repair, but they [IT&E] gave an update today,” Torres said, referring to a press release from the service provider.
IT&E said that aside from the basic communications services, customers can also expect a “marked difference with their Internet outage.”
IT&E said it is in contact with a repair vessel sailing from Taiwan. But the company did not specify any other details.
Torres said he will “not want to act on it [state of emergency]” until after meeting with IT&E.
The Attorney General yesterday confirmed that talks on a state of emergency was brought up as early as last week when the massive communications outage started.
He echoed Torres’ comments, saying that a declaration will depend on how long the outage would be.
“Once a timetable is in, we can then decide what to do,” Manibusan said, adding that he and Torres are “looking at other alternatives,” and if necessary “possibly declare something.”
According to the AG, a state of emergency will give the CNMI government “the ability to mobilize resources and mobilize people to go to Tinian to do their work there.”
“We can move into Guam if we have to,” he said.
A damaged submarine fiber optic cable and a backup system that also needed tweaking effectively cut off Saipan from the rest of the world last week, crippling some critical services and industries on the island.
