Why is there such discontentment and distrust in government? The answer is obvious and voters won\u2019t have any second thoughts revealing their true sentiments this year. Yep! It\u2019s the trashing of the public interest while waltzing with rich partners that has cemented total distrust in public officials.<\/p>\n
Coincidently, the dangerous relationship mirrors exactly the disconnect nationwide between the average citizen who\u2019re tired of being stampeded by their elected representatives who instantly slide into corporate partnership that offer them comfortable future after leaving office. Trump\u2019s meteoritic rise attests to the large following he\u2019s pulled from both establishment parties.<\/p>\n
These are the folks who promise brighter tomorrows but started singing a different tune upon officially taking their oath of office. The interest of \u201cwe the people\u201d was trashed in favor of their new boss who\u2019s turned them into lapdogs in both chambers and the administration.<\/p>\n
Middle Finger: Furthermore, voters from both sides of the Pacific Divide have ably raised a huge flag via their fat middle fingers declaring, \u201cNo Mas.\u201d Ooops! \u201cIt\u2019s our turn!\u201d Yes siree! Enough promises riddled with staples of negligence and demagoguery!<\/p>\n
Perplexing the promises made on issues by our so-called representatives. Yet they now are struggling to recall if they said what they said or thought they said. How convenient the shift in paradigm! Eh, our IQ is still above average lai!<\/p>\n
A good example what happens to an island community where there\u2019s too much of a good thing is in the Republic of Belau. Local businesses have been displaced when the Chinese came in even with their bus system. Small Palauan businesses are now outside of Koror. Would they survive competition from sophisticated financing and business operations?<\/p>\n
This is exactly the path the blurred eyed so-called representatives have opted for \u201cwe the people\u201d with such arrogance that they end up ignoring who placed them in office. Well, we may not have the money but sufficiently equipped with the power of the pencil to oust them from office this November. It has come down to \u201cnow or never\u201d in our collective effort to retain the traditional heritage of the indigenous people.<\/p>\n
Development: It may sound politically correct to ring the alarm bell on development specifically how much does the NMI needs. Realistically though the issue is left floating in air exacerbated by the lack of a fully thought-out plan how this administration addresses rebuilding a devastated and heavily stagnated economy.<\/p>\n
The billions of dollars we\u2019ve seen published are still in the planning stages waiting in the wings. There\u2019s Best Sunshine\u2019s \u201cintegrated resort\u201d that must have disintegrated given the muted voices of the firm what the plan entails from A-Z. Would the plan follow emplacement of basic infrastructure in remote places? Does the NMI have the CIP funds for this purpose and hasn\u2019t it already started dipping into CIP money to pay its $30-plus million in utility debts?<\/p>\n
Would Chinese investment boldly descend or wouldn\u2019t escalating regional tension with the U.S. turn their plans into a contingency until further notice?<\/p>\n
While I\u2019m pro-growth given the heavy revenue losses we\u2019ve seen here since the shutter of the apparel industry and exodus of Nippon investments, the issue still merits thorough review to ensure they fall within what we could afford via CIP funds and paced growth.<\/p>\n
The loss: The NMI\u2019s loss is about $7 billion. Without proper infrastructural emplacement nothing moves. Sure, a half-cocked politician could assert we could have capitalism if we feed the poor. It\u2019s the complete opposite in that we need fresh investments (capital) first to provide jobs where people could be employed and live decently with their families meeting basic needs.<\/p>\n
Recalled some 8-10 years ago when our people simply upped and left home for greener pasture elsewhere because they were jobless and couldn\u2019t pay for the first family home. More than 3,000 families did this forcibly given the wraths of the lack of job opportunities. Those who took loans to build office space and businesses had to endure foreclosures when business took a nosedive. It was hard all the way around. I also came close to losing the only family home.<\/p>\n
If we stay closer to home and critically address and resolve issues responsibly it could trigger the beginning of rebuilding a long stagnated economy as difficult as it may be. It\u2019s our responsibility to do so.<\/p>\n
KUMHO deal: There\u2019s the glaring example of the KUMHO (Laulau Bay) deal where the indigenous people were screwed royally, too. Top brass granted KUMHO some $26 million in Qualifying Certificate (tax break) in addition to dirt cheap land lease that was appraised as though raw land. DPL paid for basically all other expenses that should have been shouldered by the firm.<\/p>\n
Shortly thereafter KUMHO sold the development and left. What did we get out of this deal as permanent landowners of the property? None! I call the decision fecal leadership where our interest was prostituted by top guns o the hill! It\u2019s a case of glaring and humiliating ineptitude!<\/p>\n
It is for this reason that I\u2019ve advocated revisiting the QC Law to ensure that we don\u2019t end up as servile bystanders on investments that should be founded on the basis of lasting partnership.<\/p>\n
For all we know BSI\u2019s IR plan (provided it is right-sized) may be good for the island. Nonetheless, we still need to see its breadth or size so it stays within our prism of paced growth! Saipan is an island and I\u2019d like to keep it that way rather than see it change into a metropolis that effectively emasculates our people of their traditional heritage.<\/p>\n
Be it BSI, Alter City. and others proposing huge projects here it\u2019s good to know the deal in terms of size, QC deal so we compare it versus investments to see if it\u2019s worth it. The elected elite must buckle down to real time home planning for the entire nine yards requires the participation of all sectors of the community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Why is there such discontentment and distrust in government? The answer is obvious and voters…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1311,89,10306,67],"class_list":["post-223153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","tag-bsi","tag-cip","tag-kumho","tag-people"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223153\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}