Rep. Francisco S. Dela Cruz (R-Saipan) hopes that whoever Gov. Ralph DLG Torres appoints to the new Commonwealth Utilities Corp. board would be more transparent in implementing its advisory functions over the autonomous government agency.<\/p>\n
Dela Cruz, who chairs the House Committee on Public Utilities and Communications, said this would be among his recommendations if ever Torres asks him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe governor must appoint individuals that are business- and technically-inclined. He must appoint members who are ethical, transparent, as well as individuals who understand not only how to make policy decisions but most importantly, the state of CUC and how to improve it,\u201d said Dela Cruz.<\/p>\n
His committee held an oversight hearing last month on the CUC board and, based on their findings, had recommended that either the board members resign or for Torres to fire them.<\/p>\n
Torres, on Thursday, asked for the resignation of the board members and all of them complied, submitting their respective notices on Monday.<\/p>\n
Dela Cruz said that Torres made the right decision. \u201cAs the House PUC [committee] chair, I strongly feel that Gov. Torres made the right decision in asking the board members of CUC for their resignations.\u201d<\/p>\n
He believes that there won\u2019t be any power vacuum at CUC since it would still function under the leadership of executive director Gary Camacho and his entire management staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t believe there\u2019ll be any repercussions on the governor\u2019s decision. I trust that the governor will expeditiously begin the process of appointing individuals for the CUC board. As you know, CUC was without a board prior to this set of board members who have recently resigned,\u201d said Dela Cruz.<\/p>\n
CUC board chair Adelina C. Roberto, vice chair Eric C. San Nicolas, secretary Albert A. Taitano, treasurer Joseph T. Torres, and David J. Sablan were gubernatorial appointees. Ignacio L. Perez occupies the slot reserved for the Commonwealth Development Authority.<\/p>\n
Dela Cruz, however, wished for Torres to retain Sablan. \u201cGov. Torres can still re-appoint Mr. Dave Sablan if he wishes to in the near future. That is his prerogative.<\/p>\n
He also added that Torres must appoint new Commonwealth Public Utilities Commission members. \u201cI also believe that the governor is in the process of appointing [CPUC] members. The [CNMI] needs this regulatory body to keep our utilities, telecommunications, and cable companies in check with regards to rates.\u201d
\n\u00a0
\nEthics complaint<\/p>\n
Rep. Edwin K. Propst (Ind-Saipan) filed yesterday an ethics complaint against Sen. James Espaldon of Guam. He addressed the letter to 34th Guam Legislature Speaker Benjamin J. F. Cruz.<\/p>\n
Propst, in the letter said, that Espaldon\u2019s actions have left him with no choice but to file the ethics complaint. \u201cIt is unfortunate that I am compelled to file an ethics complaint regarding one of your colleagues.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut as a representative of the people of the CNMI and as a CUC ratepayer, Sen. Espaldon\u2019s actions leave me with no other choice. Aside from submitting a formal ethics complaint, it is my hope that you and your senators will ask the many questions that have yet to be answered.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said Espaldon\u2019s role and relationship with General Pacific Services Marianas Inc., which had been awarded CUC contract to procure an engine, is at the core of his ethics complaint.<\/p>\n
Propst added that the \u201chighly controversial [request for quotation] submitted and nearly awarded to GPSM\u201d launched several investigations by the Senate Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation, and Communications; House Committee on Public Utilities and Communications; Office of the Attorney General; and the Office of the Public Auditor.<\/p>\n
The project, RFQ-PG17-001, was later canceled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe findings and conclusions from these investigations led to CNMI Gov. Ralph DLG Torres calling for the resignation of five CUC board members on Friday,\u201d said Propst.<\/p>\n
\u201cGPSM president Amelia Toelkes claimed in her company\u2019s RFQ submission that GPM and Fairbanks Morse were a team and that they had \u2018an established relationship with multiple successful projects.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n
He added this were also the same claims made by Espaldon to the CUC management and CUC legal counsel Jim Sirok. The Guam senator acted as chief negotiator for GPSM\u2019s RFQ.<\/p>\n
Propst said it was later revealed that Fairbanks Morse does not have any form of partnership with GPSM as stated by FM Power Generation segment manager David McCallum where he clarified that they were not a signatory to the agreement between GPSM and CUC.<\/p>\n
\u201cYet GPSM\u2019s RFQ submittal uses a joint letterhead with Fairbanks Morse and even has David McCallum\u2019s signature at the bottom of the page, right next to the signature of GPSM president Amelia Toelkes,\u201d Propst said.
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rep. Francisco S. Dela Cruz (R-Saipan) hopes that whoever Gov. Ralph DLG Torres appoints to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[900],"tags":[49,191,16310,16157],"class_list":["post-252442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","tag-cuc","tag-dela-cruz","tag-fairbanks-morse","tag-gpsm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252442","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\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252442\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}