Flashback – July 8, 2011

CRM to conduct study of CNMI’s marine life[/B]

An Ecosystem Management Plan for Saipan Lagoon will be conducted to determine the different types of marine life and recommend the necessary conservation measures. Coastal Resources Management Acting Director Martin Castro yesterday said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer will help conduct the study which has been given federal funding. It is the first time that an Ecosystem Study will be undertaken by CRM. A master plan on Saipan Lagoon has earlier been made by Duenas and Associates, Inc., in association with Dr. Steven S. Amesbury, a marine biologist which recommended ways on how to eliminate pollution specifically the contamination made by the dump site.

Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association executive director Richard Pierce yesterday presented before the Saipan Chamber of Commerce the 19-minute video documentary that depicted the real conditions prevailing in the garment factories in the Northern Marianas. Bishop Tomas Camacho, House Speaker Diego T. Benavente, Labor and Immigration Secretary Mark Zachares, Saipan Chamber of Commerce president Kerry M. Deets, Hyatt Regency Hotel general manager Mustafa Issa, David Burger, director of Burger & Comer, P.C., local resident managers and nonresident workers in the garment industry were featured in the documentary distributed to various media organizations in the U.S. mainland.

DPW wants PCB-treated soil to cover dumpsite[/B]

The Department of Public Works wants to immediately begin with using treated soil from the PCB-treatment site in Tanapag to cover the Puerto Rico dumpsite. Public Works Secretary Juan S. Reyes said the demand for soil to cover the dumpsite is even much greater than the supply that treated soil can generate. Reyes said this would allow the department to cut costs, as the Babauta administration has yet to meet the financial mechanism requirement to finally close the dumpsite. The secretary issued the statement after learning of the opinion of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, through its PCB treatment site coordinator Michelle Rogow.

Sen. David M. Cing has questioned the recent adoption of the Official Rules of the Senate, saying a provision there directly contradicts the intent and meaning of the Open Government Act. Cing said that Rule No. 8 of the Official Rules of the Senate provides that no official journals, records, or tapes of Senate proceedings can be made available without the express consent and permission of the leadership. “That means any minority member cannot just go to the Legislative Bureau and access these public documents without seeking the approval of the leadership. That directly opposes the meaning and the intent of the Open Government Act, which is a law,” said Cing on Friday. The upper chamber adopted the Senate Rules during a special session on Wednesday last week.

Judge denies TRO petition in land dispute[/B]

Ruling that a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction is properly issued when the one requesting it would suffer irreparable harm, the Superior Court yesterday denied the request of a businessman for such legal relief, in connection with a land dispute. Associate Judge David Wiseman said Wan Jin Yoon, who has filed a counterclaim against the Saipan Achugao Resort Members’ Association, was not entitled to a TRO or injunction because the damage that he seeks to prevent is quantifiable and, thus, not irreparable. The association had first sued Yoon in the civil action. Yoon, as counter-plaintiff, filed with the court a motion for the issuance of the TRO and preliminary injunction.

The Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s in-house investigation on its alleged violations of water regulations is now dead after the CUC board took over the responsibility of handling the probe. “It ceased. It has to stop because the board has taken over the investigation,” said board member Joseph Torres. CUC executive director Lorraine A. Babauta earlier formed an in-house team to look at the alleged violations of the CUC laboratory, which is managed by her husband, Pete Babauta. The task force, composed of two CUC legal counsels and the assistant laboratory manager, was tasked to get input from the lab manager during the investigation.