Camacho slams CUC for overspending

Depleting coffers of the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation should not be blamed on the government’s $12.3 million overdue bills but on CUC’s overspending, Rep. Rosiky Camacho told reporters in an interview over the weekend.

Mr. Camacho, who chairs the House Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation and Communications, branded CUC’s decision to cut the power and water supply of government offices as a very irresponsible act.

“I am telling the CUC chairman that it is irresponsible to disconnect public offices,” he said, advising utility corporation officials to review the agency’s finances before it should even decide to pass the buck on the government’s failure to settle its outstanding bills.

“Why don’t they clean their act and be accountable with their own expenditures first. I mean they should start cutting off-island trips. The problem is not the usage of utilities but the CUC’s being overstaffed and the agency’s overspending,” he pointed out.

However, Mr. Camacho remained opened to a dialogue between the government and the publicly-owned utilities corporation, as he stressed that whatever decision that will be made should be focused at ensuring the advantage of the bigger sector of the community.

“Let them do whatever they want to do, just be responsible,” the PUTC chair added.

At the same time, some senators have expressed concerns on the list of “non-essential” government offices which CUC intends to discontinue service to, since the list includes the Department of Finance.

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio also raised this concern in an earlier interview with reporters, even as he vowed to meet with his finance managers to address the issues surrounding CUC’s concerns in terms of receivables from the government.

CUC earlier disclosed disconnection notices have been mailed out to 40 public offices for the government’s failure to settle overdue bills that now stand at $12.3 million.

Almost 52 percent of CUC’s accounts receivable will be coming from the CNMI government whose average monthly utility bills amount to $825,000.

Although payments of about $1.2 million were made later last month, utility workers who read meters in three cycles disclosed that the government has utilized an estimated $2.5 million to $3 million worth of utility services in January.

In Fiscal Year 2000, CUC suffered a major setback, with its operating income falling over $9.5 million. Because of this, the agency was forced to cut maintenance by over $1.1 million, not to mention utility operations, expenditures for supplies and others.

CUC owes Mobil Oil about $2.9 million and has been spending at least $3.3 million for fuel every month. Due to oil price hikes, CUC paid Mobil 75 percent more for the last two fuel shipments.

Mobil earlier reprimanded CUC and warned that fuel won’t be delivered unless accounts are settled. CUC is $2 million short even before payments to Mobil were made.