Power to our people: A call to action

Once again, the CNMI public is being misinformed and misled by our CNMI leaders. Certain House representatives are now supporting the CUC-Aggreko contract so that it will end our power outages and supply the “much needed back-up generators so we all can enjoy 24-hour power once again.”

Yes, it would be nice to have 24-hour power again. But guess what? Someone has to pay for it. And who will it be? You and me and the rest of the general public. Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us a hundred times? Shame on us…

Here are some questions that our House leaders have a hard time in answering with regard to the Aggreko contract:

-Why won’t you pressure the Fitial Administration to put together a new RFP so that we can find the most affordable back-up generators?

-How do you know the Aggreko contract will only be for one year? Is that coming from the same people that told us that there would be no more power outages in June? Is that coming from the same people who said there was no DCM penalty clause and is now changing their tune and saying they won’t pursue the penalty clause?

-Why would you opt for high-speed generators that consume more fuel instead of going for more efficient medium-speed generators?

-Why would you hand over a blank check to CUC after all of their lies, deception, and mismanagement?

-How can you trust CUC to pay back a loan when they are barely capable of paying for fuel?

-How can you support this Aggreko contract when there are better alternatives out there?

-How can you forget to mention all of the underlying and hidden costs associated with the Aggreko contract, which ultimately will be passed on to the CNMI utility rate payers in the form of another increase in our already over-inflated CUC bill?

-How can you completely ignore the fact that CUC will have no choice but to increase our utility rates by a minimum of 10 cents to pay for the Aggreko back-up generators if it ever decides to honor paying back its loan?

Come on already. Let’s look at the very best alternatives at hand. We could buy a back-up generator for only $3 million, yet our leaders insist on renting back-up generators. No, we would rather rent than own, even if it means we would save money.

We could put out another RFP and get the lowest bidder for the back-up generators. Nope, that would make too much sense.

We could push to have CISCO honor its $1 million contract to repair Power Plant 2 and put that money into quickly restoring it! And we would have Power Plant 2 back online again! Nope, that would be logical. We don’t deal in logic.

Our leaders’ answer? It would be better to bail out CUC once again and put the burden on our utility rate payers. Come on people. What’s another 10 cent increase per kilowatt hour?

Mark my words. If the CUC-Aggreko contract pushes through, we may get 24-hour power again. But we will all end up paying for it through another unnecessary utility increase. With the rising cost of world oil, would this really be prudent? Can we afford to raise rates because of incompetence? Are you okay with this?

The increasing cost of oil is the easiest scapegoat for CUC. What they fail to mention is that a fair portion of our excessive surcharges are a direct result of mismanagement and incompetence mixed in with a dose of biba koruption sole-source “emergency” contracts. Could you imagine how much better off we would be right now if the Fitial administration had originally hired the most competent and qualified company to fix our generators instead of sole-sourcing and handing over a $5 million sweetheart deal to DCM?

It is time the CNMI public gets riled up and actually do something about this injustice. We need to send a clear message to this administration that the CNMI is fed up with this abuse and we need to launch the greatest protest in the history of the CNMI led by V-O-T-E-R-S! I’m sorry to say this, but the reason why our leaders showed no concern over last year’s Unity March is because it consisted mostly of non-voters, so they never felt threatened. But imagine if this time around, 95 percent of our protesters are voters… uncles, aunties, cousins, primos, primas, kumpaires, kumaires, and in-laws… Do you honestly think they would ignore us and do nothing? Hell, no! Their livelihood depends on us voters, and they will be compelled to move to action once they see such a massive protest!

We don’t need to march. We just need to assemble and protest. Where should we protest? How about at Governor Fitial’s office? Or CUC’s doorsteps? Fifteen people won’t have much impact. But how about 1,500 people? Once again, do you honestly think our leaders will ignore this? They will be shaking in their shoes, and deservedly so! I am not calling for anarchy. I am calling for a peaceful protest! I am calling for a revolution, and it can only happen if you are willing to spend two hours and change the course of history. My brothers and sisters, are you willing to do this? Do you love your islands enough to make a two-hour sacrifice of your time and show our leaders once and for all that we will no longer take this abuse? We need to stand together on this issue. Can we really afford not to? Can you afford your next power increase? Would you rather remain silent and do nothing or show courage and do something that will change our destiny?

The time is to act is now! I urge every person who reads this to rise against the old ways of doing things and join us! We cannot afford another bad decision, such as this Aggreko contract, which will ultimately lead to more business closures and more disconnections because we cannot afford to pay for power.

We must do more than just change the players of politics. We must change the game!

Let us once and for all show our leaders who really is in charge of the CNMI. It is you and me and every common person who has the ability to unite and change the course of history forever! If we want a future for our children, then we must stop asking for better leadership and start demanding it!

Power to our people! No more lies! No mas!