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‘Hire Katrina, Rita victims’
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Posted on Sep 29 2005
It appears from Wednesday’s Saipan Tribune that there is a dire need for professional Americans to replace the nonresident workers who have been employed by certain CNMI government agencies against the mandate of local law. It is also very clear that the Public School System needs to hire 50-some professional educators.
It also appears from your Wednesday paper that there are many thousands of professional Americans of all trades who have been displaced by Hurricane Rita in the aftermath of those hundreds of thousands who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
The U.S. Congress has appropriated billions of dollars to support relief efforts for these beleaguered people. Undoubtedly, if the right questions were asked by the right people, sufficient FEMA funds could be identified to pay for a few CNMI officials to travel to one of the Disaster Assistance Areas where the right people could be chosen to fill the specific jobs that need to be filled in the CNMI. It is very likely that the cost of their transportation to the CNMI, along with sufficient funds to provide them with the basic necessities of life once they arrive in the Marianas, could also be identified from FEMA funds. Has anybody even picked up the phone to ask?
If the CNMI turns a deaf ear to the cry for help from the mainland, it would not be surprising if Uncle Sam turns a deaf ear on the CNMI the next time a major typhoon visits Saipan.
Don A. Farrell
Tinian
