Ruinous attitude of indifference

The Issue: The lack of an economic plan to stave the continuing assault of the Asian Crisis has translated into less jobs and revenue

Our View: Is this what local leadership can offer–indifference–while our house is gutted by a raging fire of joblessness and poverty?

When more than 2000-plus tourist related businesses have bitten the dust as a result of a significant drop in tourists arrivals, it is mind boggling how the local government has quietly acquiesced the closure of these businesses as though it’s normal phenomenon.

As a direct result of that many businesses closing their doors, jobs have become as rare as a good ripe mango, the net effect being 70-200 local applicants clamoring for, believe it or not, a single clerical job. This is further aggravated by the “must downsize” decision from the business community in order to muddle through these difficult times.

At best, we’ve done nothing but impose strangling regulations against the very sector of the Northern Marianas Community that works 18 hour days to generate revenue in order to make some decent profit margins. When profit abounds, the more taxes they pay into the local coffers. But when about a third of them close shop and head back home, revenue generation simultaneously contracts. Then there’s the “luggage squad” who’ve sold their businesses while they can and head home too.

How sad to learn from an economist that the local government doesn’t have an economic plan upon which it could formulate economic stimulus measures to cushion the current assault in order that the private sector is given some breathing space to rebound. Must we constantly resort to ad hoc planning of rearranging the fire so we don’t burn the fish? It is no wonder that there’s a strong sense of hopelessness in the Northern Marianas Community especially at the grassroots level who now quiz whether they can endure the stretching of the policy of indifference and acquiescence as a result of the lack of planning and vision on the part of local leadership.

It is not a matter of option in bad times people (from businessmen to the most down trodden) to turn to government for answers. But we haven’t seen much of an answer over the last two years other than that common and tired thematic expression of “we’re trying our best”. It seems that the driver can’t find the keys located immediately below the wheel. As such, we’ve allowed events to overtake our better sense judgment at the expense of the multitude. The apparent policy of indifference isn’t the appropriate way to restart an economy that continues to go south. We hope leadership reassesses where it has missed the boat completely!