FLASHBACK April 9, 2001-2003

CNMI to receive millions more in tobacco funds[/B]

All tobacco manufacturers will be required to deposit substantial amount of money to a proposed trust fund which will finance future cigarette-related medical services that may be needed by CNMI smokers. The Senate on Friday passed legislation that will require even those who are non-participants to the Master Tobacco Settlement Agreement to deposit money into the to-be established escrow fund. Under the proposed measure, all tobacco manufacturers whose products are being sold in the Northern Marianas market will be forced to participate in the Master Settlement Agreement.

House Speaker Ben Fitial yesterday enjoyed another successful day in his visit to Washington DC, having received the support of the powerful US Committees on House Resources and on Appropriations. Mr. Fitial’s second day on Capitol Hill included a meeting with Chairman James Hansen (R-UT), the new leader of the House Committee on Resources, the legislative body with jurisdiction over US territories, including CNMI. The speaker raised with Mr. Hansen the need for flexibility in the application of certain federal environmental laws, noting that some laws have a disproportionate impact on the economic development in areas such as the CNMI.

Hotel industry slowly picking up[/B]

The CNMI hotel industry recorded a slow but steady growth in the first three months of 2002, a positive indicator that the tourism industry is beginning to recover from the adverse effects of the September 11 attacks. The Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands yesterday disclosed that hotel occupancy rate in the period covering January-March 2002 registered a slight increase from the same quarter in 2001. HANMI posted a 69-percent room occupancy rate in the first three months of the year, 9 percent higher than the previous year of the same period’s 60 percent HANMI officials, however, said that the 69-percent occupancy rate remains below the normal level.

Dissatisfied with the water supplied by the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. with regards to both adequacy and potability, the American Memorial Park is planning to put up its own water facility to supply the needs of the 133-acre park, using federal fund amounting to about $1 million. This was disclosed by Chuck Sayon, the park’s site manager and ranger. The park is an area controlled by the National Park Service, an agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior. “The project is to supply to the park and its patrons a potable water system. Basically the water we get—the quantity and quality of water from our local utility—doesn’t satisfy the park’s needs, and we were audited by our public health officers from the National Park Service that said we needed to provide a potable water system for the park,” Sayon said.

NMI-wide briefing on SARS launched[/B]

The CNMI Department of Public Health, alarmed over the threat of SARS, posts an advisory at the hospital entrance. CNMI public health officials flew to Rota yesterday to hold medical and logistical briefings about the fast-spreading deadly disease known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS. “They are holding these briefings on Rota and Tinian to educate and best prepare our communities,” said acting Gov. Diego T. Benavente yesterday. The team, which met with local government authorities on Rota, was headed by Public Health Secretary James U. Hofschneider and medical director Dr. Richard Brostrom who also heads the CNMI SARS Response and Preparedness team.

Stressing that one must heed realities, House Speaker Heinz S. Hofschneider implied yesterday that the lower chamber may eventually pass a Fiscal Year 2004 budget that could be substantially lower than the $228 million proposed by the Babauta administration. This is because the budget proposal, which is $11-million higher than this current fiscal year’s allotment, hinges much of the anticipated increase on an array of tax increases that have already been rejected by House members when it was presented to them previously. The lower house had rejected the Integrated Fiscal Plan-an economic stimulus package that Babauta submitted to the Legislature in February.