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Problems with Accountability
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Posted on Feb 19 2001
The Issue: CUC splurges at the expense of taxpayers, students and medical referral patients.
Our View: CUC must learn real management skills in disposition of CNMI’s scarce resources.
The headlines over the last week are clear tales of everything that have gone wrong in paradise, i.e., 300 employees may be axed, the severance of our relationship with Queen’s Medical Center–who handle the needs of our cancer patients–as a result of our inability to meet our obligations.
We don’t have any intention of being mean spirited, but then like everybody else at the village level, isn’t CUC wary of the economic doldrums warranting real management skills in the disposition of scarce taxpayers money?
As far as we know, CUC was never exempted from the austerity measure instituted some three years ago by the governor. Its adolescent attitude of splurging or picnicking while our house is on fire reflects its grand sense of irresponsibility and obvious lack of accountability at a time when most everyone had to endure bad economic times.
It’s awfully difficult justifying subsidy for its fuel needs amidst an obvious misappropriation of public funds–hiring more people as to promote nepotism in the organization–and other excesses that may have to be passed on to consumers. No sir! Each must be made accountable for his or her decision in the questionable expenditure of public funds.
Again, we strongly urge the Office of the Public Auditor to probe concerns raised in the story of first class junkets, hiring 35 people totally ignoring the austerity measure issued by the governor and other excesses to which accountability is seemingly a foreign word. This must be done in order to strengthen accountability of public funds.
If anything, CUC and all other departments and agencies must learn to live in both good and bad times. We’re in the latter situation and it is more the reason to exercise strict adherence to accountability so to guard the public purse from total meltdown as a direct result of irresponsibility. Si Yuus Maase`!
