Government accounts collectively owe the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. a total of $27.058 million as of Oct. 28, 2014, according to CUC executive director Alan Fletcher.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese include past arrears and payments that haven\u2019t been collected from government agencies,\u201d Fletcher told CUC board members at their last board meeting.<\/p>\n
The central government itself owes a total of $3.607 million, Fletcher said. Of that amount, $3.157 million represents uncollected past arrears. <\/p>\n
The Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. has a total balance of $13.484 million, of which $13.042 million is past arrears.<\/p>\n
The Public School System has a total balance of $8.266 million, with $8.118 million representing past arrears.<\/p>\n
Other government agencies owe a total of $1.7 million, of which $1.025 million is past arrears.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo far, the government agencies are paying some of the past arrears but in little amounts. They have been keeping up monthly but not everything,\u201d Fletcher said.<\/p>\n
Fletcher said that CUC billed government agencies a total of $2.312 million for the month of September but collected only $597,509.75, which is a quarter of what needs to be collected.<\/p>\n
In an earlier interview, Fletcher told Saipan Tribune that they are still struggling financially despite the $10 million infusion from Best Sunshine International that was credited to the accounts of residential customers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe residential and commercial accounts are keeping up and we have been collecting more, but the government still has more to work on paying back,\u201d Fletcher said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe continue to struggle financially due to a struggling economy and with current account receivables of $32 million [$27 million from the government] in unpaid utility bills. CUC has no working capital and no reserves to ride out long periods of non-payment, which results in underfunded operations, such as deferred maintenance, lack of supplies for typhoon readiness, and lack of monies for capital improvements and stipulated order projects,\u201d Fletcher said.<\/p>\n
These fiscal and operational limitations combine to pressure CUC\u2019s operational stability and its ability to meet the requirements of the stipulated orders and puts CUC in a fragile financial position. <\/p>\n
\u201cThese shortfalls create added pressure on operational funding and continue a practice of short-term crisis management to the detriment of consumers and CUC\u2019s ability to meet stipulated order requirements. If we could collect the account receivables quickly, consumers will likely see a decrease in utility bills,\u201d Fletcher said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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