Flashback October 09, 2000-2002

[B]October 09, 2000[/B] [I]On WASC accreditation, NMC urged to implement changes[/I]

The Northern Marianas College has been advised to integrate its strategic planning and implementation processes with its resource allocation and distribution to improve its institutional records and establish transparency that will allow open-communication with the whole college community. This was the primary recommendation offered by the seven-member team from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, who recently concluded a four-day accreditation of CNMI’s lone postsecondary institution.

[I]CPA tackles Navy’s seaport concerns[/I]

Citing its significant contributions to the revival of the CNMI’s economy, the Commonwealth Ports Authority is intensifying efforts to improve facilities and services provided to visiting vessels by the United States Navy at the Saipan International Harbor. Board Chair Roman S. Palacios disclosed a delegation of CPA officials recently met with U.S. Navy officials in Guam where issues surrounding the vessels’ needs and problems upon docking at the Saipan seaport were discussed.

[I]Tax credit in exchange for hiring persons with disability OK’d[/I]

The House of Representatives has finally passed legislation providing tax credits to employers who hire persons with disabilities after initial deliberation on the floor courted opposition from some members. HB 12-17, authored by Rep. Jesus T. Attao, will deduct up to $10,000 from the business gross receipt tax paid by companies for each person with disabilities they employ.

[B]October 09, 2001[/B] [I]CNMI placed on highest alert[/I]

The CNMI was placed on the highest level of alert as the United States and its allies yesterday attacked Afghanistan’s Taliban, which reportedly coddles terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. Department of Public Safety Commissioner Charles Ingram Jr. said that his command will implement the unofficial recommendation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to be at top-level alert, although he said that police operations will be modified.

[I]US-Vietnam trade pact may impair NMI’s competitiveness[/I]

Even as the demand for Saipan-made garments continue to fall due to a slowdown in the US economy, another shadow looms in the horizon-the expected resurgence of Vietnam as a major supplier of US retailers. Vietnam is predicted to emerge as a major new supplier of goods, including garments, after the US Senate voted to normalize trade relations with Hanoi, a precondition for applying the bilateral trade agreement concluded in July 2000 by the US and Vietnam.

[I]Task Force seeks private sector empowerment[/I]

With America now officially at war, Rota Mayor Benjamin T. Manglona urged CNMI leaders to take decisive action at once to protect and revive the private sector, provide for a leaner but still efficient and effective government, and take steps to protect the public should events take a turn for the worst. Jumping the gun on the CNMI government, Manglona submitted the recommendations made by a task force he created on the emergency steps that can be taken to avert financial ruin and protect the public in the face of possible disruptions in transportation and shipping.

[B]October 09, 2002[/B] [I]Debts strangle referral program [/I]

Members of the Group Health and Life Insurance Program are at risk of being turned away from on- and off-island medical providers because of unpaid medical referral claims amounting to approximately $1.4 million. With about $600,000 in claims that are already 90 days overdue, Group Health’s third-party administrator, Hawaii Pacific Medical Referral, has warned it would suspend its contract with the Northern Mariana Islands Retirement Fund by October 15 unless Group Health coughs up $600,000 just so it could keep the doors of medical providers open for CNMI patients.

[I]CDA inks agreement with CUC[/I]

The Commonwealth Development Authority has signed a Memorandum of Agreement that aims to settle the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation’s $104 million accumulated debt with the government’s lending arm. “The CDA has signed it. It [agreement] was forwarded to the CUC. We’re waiting now for them to sanction the MOA,” CDA Executive Director MaryLou Ada said in an interview yesterday.

[I]NMI, Guam discuss mutual concerns[/I]

A delegation of CNMI House lawmakers met with their counterparts at the Guam Legislature over the weekend to discuss issues of mutual concern–particularly on the Compact-Impact reimbursement, as well as the port lockout predicament currently plaguing the West Coast.