Asunton Coñgresso

The House Standing Committee on Ways and Means chaired by Representative Tony Camacho has started paving the way to review the Fiscal Year 2001 budget package.

Speaker Ben Fitial related that unlike the FY 2000 budget, the FY 2001 budget review will focus on the total resources of the CNMI government, including local, federal and others.

Said he: “The new fiscal year budget will definitely reflect the basic philosophy and agenda of the House Leadership: Economy, Education, Environment and Essentials.”

“While we focus on economic recovery via proposed reform measures, Rep. Camacho remains sturdy in his commitment to funnel as much money to education as a matter of commitment to our students”, Fitial said.

“Let’s see who has any plans to ruin funds earmarked for the education of our children by cutting non-essentials in government operations”.

“The economy remains a troublesome issue given the continuing decline in revenue generation throughout the CNMI,” Fitial noted. “For unfazed and stubborn policymakers, I wish to put them on notice that quite a number of private businesses have postponed timely delivery of employee checks because they haven’t been able to make ends meet”.

“I don’t mean to fan the deepening loss in revenue generation. It’s a fact and the worse is likely to rock bottom by year’s end,” he said. “I urge one and all to realize the dire need to be proactive in staving off any further plummet of the local economy”. Fitial said “there’s no more room for gamesmanship, but there’s a lot of room to assist the business community in these difficult times”.

“Why assist them today? It’s where we collect money to pay for much needed public services!” he said.

“Protection of our fragile environment hasn’t been given the attention that it deserves,” he noted, adding, “we can’t be lukewarm on a matter that may eventually be lost forever because we failed to address and resolve them forthwith”. He said the reefs and lagoon have constantly been bombarded with runoffs during heavy rain. “I will call upon appropriate agencies to offer a hand in the mitigation of runoffs that have infected the lagoon with dangerous, if not, deadly fecal coliforms”.

“If the unique ambiance of an island is its waters and beaches, then for once in our lifetime, let’s say what we mean and mean what we say in protecting them for both tourists and residents alike”, he said. “Let us for once too put teeth to instructions we have conveyed to our young people about the essence of protecting the flora and fauna of these beautiful islands”.

“When I refer to the last ‘E’ (Essentials), it means cutting out excess baggage in government operations in order to funnel more money for programs that will benefit our people in the Northern Marianas Community,” he pointed out.
“Yes, it is our responsibility to ensure that our people are given meaningful jobs, but to the extent where the entire CNMI budget is spent on salaries without quality public services, then we know that we will have failed our people”.

“It’s a tough issue given that both branches of government are called to exercise real management skills,” he said. “We must learn how to live in both good and bad times”.