Flashback June 07, 1999-2001

Bond float eyed to retire deficit[/B]

The Commonwealth government is mulling over a plan to use a portion of the proceeds from the proposed $60 million bond flotation for deficit reduction in earlier appropriation of capital improvement project funds, according to the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. Rep. Karl T. Reyes said the move will push other infrastructure projects that have stalled due to lack of funds as well as allow transfer of balance from those that have been completed.

The Foreign Investment Office of the Department of Commerce only issued three new business permits for 1998, a strong indication on how Asia’s financial crisis has battered the island’s economy. Of the total 596 business licenses issued last year, 130 were one-time 90-day permits, 220 were renewals of one-year permits (a category which no longer exists), and 249 were two-year permits. Some 246 of the two-year permits were renewals.

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio is expected to sign into law a fresh infusion of Capital Improvement Project funds after the House of Representatives approved on Friday a minor amendment to the bill appropriating more than $24 million in construction grants. House members were obviously relieved that the Senate did not press its attempts to alter provisions of the measure, including handing expenditure and reprogramming authority to mayors, which would have further delayed the governor’s approval.

CUC wants tougher laws[/B]

The Commonwealth Utilities Corporation has sought stricter penalties against illegal tapping of power and water services, saying the practice has deprived the agency hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential revenues every year. Imposing fines is the only effective deterrent to the unlawful practice, unlike criminal penalties which would not allow the government-owned utility firm to recover the lost earnings and could only burden the justice system, according to CUC Executive Director Timothy P. Villagomez.

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio has thrown his support to the protest filed by the Commonwealth Ports Authority against Continental Micronesia’s continued treatment of Saipan and Guam as co-terminals that has reportedly worked to the disadvantage of the CNMI tourism industry. In his draft letter to the United States Department of Transportation, Mr. Tenorio said recent decisions by Continental Micronesia with regards to its connecting flights created difficulty among travelers going to the Northern Marianas.

Air-conditioned rooms, recreational facilities, automatic equipment and state-of-the-art and energy-efficient design will be some of the features of a new prison in Susupe and a juvenile detention in Kagman which the CNMI government will construct by next year. The Prison Task Force yesterday unveiled the blueprints for the two projects during a meeting with Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio, Lt. Gov. Jesus R. Sablan and other government officials as well as U.S.-based engineers and architects who drew up the plan.

Pierce says gov’t must cut payroll[/B]

In the midst of what he calls “the reality of the CNMI economic maelstrom” and election year, newly-sworn Saipan Chamber of Commerce President Richard A. Pierce suggested that the government reduces its payroll by 10 percent. Pierce said the business sector, being the one which essentially provides the means to support government payroll, must insist that the local government takes action on this issue.

Marianas Visitors Authority is set to sign an advertising and promotions agreement with Honolulu-based company Starr Siegle Communications. The contract would be for $2.6 million and will cover the rest of fiscal year 2001 and the whole of fiscal year 2002, according to