Flashback December 03, 1999-2002

Continental apologizes for omission[/B]

Admitting the exclusion of Northern Marianas in one of its marketing promotions was an “unintentional omission,” an official of Continental Micronesia has downplayed the strong reaction by Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio as he assuaged fears of its impact on the local tourism industry.

Wally Dias, staff to the vice president for sales and promotion of the Guam-based carrier, said Continental continues to work with the Marianas Visitors Authority in attracting tourists to the island, contrary to reports that it is abandoning the CNMI.

“This omission was a simple, unintentional oversight and in no way represents a change in Continental Micronesia’s policy of strongly supporting CNMI tourism. Continental Micronesia apologizes for the unfortunate omission,” he said in a statement.

Visitor arrivals drop 48.4 percent [/B]

Visitor arrivals to the Northern Marianas dropped by 48.4 percent in October compared with the same month last year, as the CNMI tourism industry reels from the adverse impacts of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US.

The Northern Marianas played host to 20,858 tourists in October 2001, almost 20,000 lower than the 40,423 visitors reported in the same month last year.

Marianas Visitors Authority Managing Director Perry Tenorio said security worries caused by the crash attacks, coupled with economic uncertainties dampened visitor arrivals from Japan, Korean, Taiwan, and the United States.

The United Nations’ High Commission on Refugees has already made initial contact with the CNMI government Wednesday last week, with a proposal for a teleconference on Friday midnight.

Although no confirmation could be obtained as of press time whether the teleconference pushed through, administration officials believe the matter for discussion may revolve around the situation in Afghanistan.

According to an administration official, the UN High Commission on Refugees wanted to talk to Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio and the CNMI Department of Labor and Immigration to discuss a matter pertaining to Afghanistan.

Poker emergency regs amended[/B]

Torn between the desire to thwart poker-related crimes and the clamor of gaming operators to get their round-the-clock operations back, acting Gov. Paul A. Manglona initiated efforts yesterday to strike a balance between the two objectives by amending the emergency regulations issued Friday by the Department of Finance.

The amendment essentially provides an exemption to the 10am to 10pm limit set by the department, allowing poker establishments to operate 24 hours-provided that it has a uniformed security officer equipped with a two-way radio or a cellular phone.

It took a lawsuit filed by poker operators yesterday noon for the Department of Finance to revise its regulations limiting poker operations from 10am to 10pm, with the parties sitting down on the negotiating table before the case was heard in court hours later.

After the filing of the lawsuit, representatives from the Department of Finance and the Attorney General’s Office met and reached mutually acceptable terms, with acting Finance Secretary Esther S. Ada amending the November 27 emergency regulation.

This resulted in the dismissal of the case after approximately five minutes, with the lawyers for the poker operators admitting that the amended regulations render their case moot.