Fitial: We can bring in new investments

Covenant Party’s gubernatorial candidate Benigno R. Fitial said more revenues would flow into the government’s coffers once he starts bringing in new investments to the CNMI.

During the gubernatorial debate Wednesday, Fitial enumerated the types of business that he would like to promote on the islands, if elected. These include light industries such as microchip processing, call centers, as well as leather goods manufacturing, peanut butter processing, and shoe factories.

Fitial said he would also invite proponents of technical schools and mining companies to invest in the CNMI.

During the debate, he said that in 1999, he left a lucrative private sector job to go back to the government “because of the realization that we need to manage the government better.”

From 1998 to 1999, he was vice president of Tan Holdings Corp. Fitial was a member of the House of Representatives from 1980 to 1988 and from 2000 to the present. He served as speaker during the 3rd Legislature from 1982 to 1984, the 12th Legislature from 2000 to 2002, and the 14th Legislature from 2003 to present.

“I’m prepared to bring about better times. I was afraid that our government would continue to be run by politics, instead of economics,” he said.

In his remarks, Fitial said that back in 1999, he could not imagine that Japan Airlines would leave the CNMI and that Joeten stores would lose 30 percent of its sales due to the JAL pullout. He blamed this on the current Babauta administration.

Unlike Gov. Juan N. Babauta’s “pretty darn good” assessment of the state of the Commonwealth, Fitial sees a bleak CNMI situation.

“Our government can no longer afford to manage its operations. Why? Because the economy is pretty darn bad,” he said.

Independent gubernatorial candidate Heinz S. Hofschneider made a similar argument during the debate. So did former Gov. Froilan C. Tenorio, who is seeking another term under the Democratic Party.

Hofschneider said the Babauta administration terribly failed, as evidenced by JAL pullout, decline in tourist arrivals, and closure of businesses.

He said that, if elected, he would bring back the tourists and that displaced garment workers would be repatriated.

Tenorio agreed and noted that the government “[has] no responsibility in sending them [nonresidents] back.”

Tenorio bragged that the CNMI economy was most vibrant during his term from 1994 to 1998. He said he can revive the economy by making the government “business-friendly.”

For his part, Hofschneider said he would revive the tourism industry by “showing up our face in Japan.”

He said he would create a website, linking all islands—Saipan, Rota, and Tinian—as well as hotels, car rental shops, and other hospitality service providers in the CNMI to make information easily available to tourists.

Meantime, Babauta, who is seeking re-election under the Republican Party, said that his administration is already doing most of the proposals made by his challengers.

He said that his administration has invested and will continue to invest in education, technology, infrastructure development, and destination enhancement.

He said his administration promotes “a new, first-world economy, not a Third World economy of peanut butter and shoe factories” that require the influx of more nonresident workers.

He said he would push for high-tech companies such as call centers, financial service providers, or film studios.

In his remarks, Babauta enumerated his administration’s achievements in the last four years: ending the threat of federal takeover, hospital expansion and several other infrastructure projects, education initiative grants, and removing inter-island phone tolls in the CNMI, among others.

Contrary to criticisms, he said that the number of new businesses has grown by 350 and tourist arrivals grew by 20 percent.

“We’ve had setbacks—Bank of Saipan, JAL, Commonwealth Utilities Corp.—but we acted quickly,” he said.

He said the government got Northwest Airlines to fly daily from a new route, Osaka, in view of the JAL pullout.

At CUC, he said his administration prevented a collapse of the utility firm by declaring a state of emergency.

From a near collapse situation in May this year, he said that CUC power supply has stabilized and now has “excess power.”