Business groups have expressed skepticism over the latest decision of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. to junk the fuel surcharge fee, vowing to continue watching the developments on a day-to-day basis.<\/p>\n
Saipan Chamber of Commerce president Alex Sablan believes that the fuel surcharge issue \u201cis far from over.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said it is possible that CUC would simply comply with the legal recommendations of the Attorney General\u2019s Office and then bring the proposal back to the discussion table as soon as CUC vice chair Herman Sablan returns on island.<\/p>\n
CUC\u2019s Sablan, who has been supportive of the fuel surcharge, was not present when the CUC board voted on the fuel surcharge on Tuesday. His vote could have broken the 3-3 tie that overturned the board\u2019s Friday decision and resulted in the nullification of the proposed fuel surcharge regulations.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hoping that they don\u2019t proceed with the fuel surcharge, that CUC will decide to work within the corporation to absorb the fuel price increases,\u201d chamber\u2019s Sablan said. \u201cBut the board has a fiduciary responsibility to keep CUC solvent. It\u2019s possible that there will be another vote when [CUC vice chair] Sablan returns.\u201d<\/p>\n
For her part, Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands president Lynn Knight said CUC\u2019s flip-flopping on the fuel surcharge issue is making the Commonwealth an unstable place to do business.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, the confidence [within the business sector] is low. Power is a basic, essential service that cannot be taken lightly. And the situation is changing drastically everyday. It\u2019s hard to know what to believe anymore,\u201d Knight said.<\/p>\n
She added that a number of hotels are planning to invest in renovations and improvements to their facilities next year. However, the uncertainty about the power costs is making budget planning difficult for them.<\/p>\n
She also noted that there are questions that CUC has yet to answer, particularly in relation to its actual financial standing. These unanswered questions, she said, further reduce the private sector\u2019s confidence that the fuel surcharge is being planned carefully.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think CUC, the Legislature, and representatives of the administration should get together and come up with a consensus on what to do [with the utility firm\u2019s reported financial problems] immediately,\u201d Knight said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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