Latest emergency declaration one of many

Since Gov. Benigno Fitial assumed office in January 2006, he has declared or extended more than a dozen states of emergency for government agencies.

The CNMI is currently under three states of emergency: one for the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. (see related story on front page), one for the lack of a full-time pharmacist at the Commonwealth Health Center, and one for the island of Anatahan, which experienced a volcanic eruption in 2003.

Charles Reyes, press secretary for the Governor’s Office, said each of the executive orders have been necessary under the circumstances.

“The Governor would rather not have to declare such emergencies or invoke his constitutional powers so often, but the situation demands it. The architects of our Constitution contemplated such emergency situations and empowered the Governor to take extraordinary actions to meet crisis situations of this kind,” he said.

During Fitial’s nearly three years in office, CUC has been under a disaster emergency on three separate occasions, adding up to more than nine months.

On Jan. 27, 2006, Fitial declared CUC under a state of emergency because the utility company could not provide reliable power and it was experiencing financial woes.

In December 2007, acting Gov. Timothy P. Villagomez declared CUC in a state of disaster because of the corporation’s inability to purchase fuel for power generation. That declaration allowed the governor to assume full control of CUC and suspend all regulatory statute provisions and regulations applicable to the utility company Under the declaration, which lasted three months, the governor also had to the power to reprogram all available funds to address CUC’s problems.

CUC’s most recent state of emergency was declared Aug. 1, after Fitial determined CUC ‘s power plant was in such a state of disrepair that a “catastrophic failure” could occur, maiming or killing CUC power plant workers. The executive order suspended procurement, safety, environment and other regulations, speeding up the installation of the emergency Aggreko generators. The declaration was extended for the second time yesterday.

In May, Fitial placed the Commonwealth Ports Authority under a state of emergency to deflect any legal issues that might arise from his takeover of the autonomous agency. The emergency was lifted in September when the Senate confirmed enough new members to CPA’s board of directors to meet quorum requirements.

A bill seeking to limit a governor’s power to declare a state of emergency due to an agency’s financial crisis or hardship is currently in the House of Representatives.

Since May 2003, the island of Anatahan has been under a continuous state of emergency because of volcanic eruptions and seismic phenomena, making it unsafe for human habitation.

These emergency declarations do not include two others declared by Tinian Mayor Jose San Nicolas to expedite the repair of the island’s dilapidated harbor and the transfer of its existing landfill to another site.

While Gov. Juan Babauta, Fitial’s predecessor, was in office, he placed CUC under a state of emergency for seven months, due to its inability to provide reliable power and financial issues.

He also declared the CNMI a state of disaster on three separate occasions due to typhoons. President Bush declared federal emergency states of disaster four times during Babauta’s administration.