Group holds rally, dares Fitial to talk to them

The community group Taotao Tano held a rally outside the administration building yesterday to demand the resignation of Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and all of his appointees.

About 15 Taotao Tano members, their children in tow, stood for four hours in front of the Governor’s Office, shouting calls for the governor to step down, or at least to come out and speak to them. Fitial and his police escorts reportedly left the building through the back door without addressing the small crowd.

“It’s very disappointing he had to get four police officers to escort him. We are not a radical group; we even came with kids. We just wanted to talk to him about the CUC [Commonwealth Utilities Corp.] contracts,” said Taotao Tano leader Gregorio Cruz.

Taotao Tano has questioned CUC’s $5.1 million contract with the Guam-based DCM Group for the repair of Saipan’s Power Plant I, and the $885,000 contract with the Commonwealth Industrial Supply Co. Inc. for the repair of Power Plant II. Both companies have failed to complete their work on schedule. The continuing repair at the power plants has prompted CUC to hire the U.K.-based Aggreko International to provide temporary power to Saipan at a cost of $6 million.

“Where is the rehabilitation that was supposed to take place? What is the administration going to do with those contracts? Are we going to continue spending money to repair something that should have fixed already?” Cruz asked.

“If these officials can’t do their job, they don’t belong in office. They should step down,” he added.

The Saipan Tribune tried to get comments from CUC executive director Tony Muna, but he has not responded at press time. Muna has called the DCM contract “a mistake.” He has also reported that CISCO’s work, which was supposed to have been completed in 2006, has been put on hold.

It is not clear what CUC’s next step will be on DCM or CISCO.

Press secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr. Reyes said he knew little about the March 2006 contract with CISCO, which had been given 120 days to fix Power Plant II. But he played down the contractors’ faults.

“Maybe the engines are in a worse state than they expected. Those engines had been neglected for many years. Unfortunately, the mistakes of the past are coming back to haunt us. We’re just trying to deal with the bad circumstances,” he said.

Reyes also called Taotao Tano’s rally “a publicity stunt.”

“They’re exercising their right to free speech. That’s all right as long as they do it peacefully and they are not disturbing the peace,” he said.