the tourism situation? i am not an expert in this area but there are many persons out there who maybe because, unlike MVA, they all (for the most part) think ‘outside.’ contrary to the marketing campaign (past & current) disclosed publicly in the NMI, the challenge of ‘tourism’ is case sensitive. for instance, the Japanese love ‘Ninja Warriors,’ a sports/reality game show televised locally on ‘G4′ (channel 39). if MVA or you don’t know of this then that’s the problem. some believe the secret of success lies in what the target market or audience desires. some say what we think they want is stupid–it is meaningless since evidence of any real effect is n/a. why can’t we negotiate with the owner of such businesses to bring their product here. the offer means selling their product in paradise, with a catch, say a ‘Japanese’ celebrity challenge or a business/investor challenge (for those top dogs resembling Donald Trump). the theme and the target market is endless, but it depands on what ‘they’ want & not what we think they want (like the current media campaign). and payfor the Japanese media all the way. (as we just saw they can be driven here.) set them up since they bring the stories back to their viewers. we need some investors to put satelites, directly to Japan 24/7. some say what they see is what they can expect. if so let’s start puttng our money in things we know they really, really like.

Dear Rep. Sablan,

After carefully reviewing House Legislative Initiative No. 16-05, posted below herewith for your information and review are my personal thoughts.

House Legislative Initiative 16-5 seeks to “amend Section 4 of Article X of the Constitution of the Northern Mariana Islands,” to allow the CNMI government to incur public indebtedness for the purpose of addressing many of commonwealth’s imminent problems like the present power crisis.

Indisputably (and in agreement with the Legislature’s findings), a power crisis at Commonwealth Utilities Corporation does in fact exist, which in effect, warrants the introduction of this legislative initiative. In other words, absent this crisis, there would probably be no Initiative. Nonetheless and before I proceed further with my comments on this Act, please allow me to share with you a brief and very true story.

Over the weekend and during one of the unpopular “regular” power outages plaguing Saipan, my nine-year-old son approached my wife and said: “Mom, are we paying our power bills?” To her surprise, she responded: “Yes son, we are paying our utility bills.” My son’s curious mind then formulated the ensuing follow-up question (naturally): “Then why is CUC turning off our power?” This is when I placed the textbook that I was reading at the time down and decided to intervene in this interesting dialogue. Basically, I told my son that, “CUC, the party we pay for utility services, is responsible for the power outages and not us (the consumers).” Unsatisfied with my response, he followed with this inquiry: “But dad, if we’re paying our bills, then why is it that CUC continues to turn off our power?” Alas, I don’t have an answer to this “million dollar” question, which apparently is coming from a nine-year-old.

Fortunately for us, the Sixteenth CNMI Legislature has a solution in the form of H.L.I. No. 16-05. Although I strongly support this Initiative, there are just a few areas that I believe need to be addressed:

First, I think that the phrase “extreme situations” must be clearly defined since “operating expenses” may include personnel costs. In the case of CUC, I do not think that “personnel payroll” is an issue at the aforesaid agency and as such, this in itself should not fall under the definition of “extreme situations.” In fact, I find it extremely perplexing that even with the exhorbitant salaries paid out to the executives working for this government corporation, a gross oversight like the delay in the delivery of fuel continues to occur to this day. > This is simply unacceptable, really. Furthermore, we don’t want to allow the government to go on a “borrowing spree,” hence, a clear definition (of “extreme situations”) may be in order.

Second, a complete audit of CUC’s finances should be performed prior to the disbursement of funds realized through this Act (should it be ratified by the voters). Furthermore, a cost analysis on future engine maintenance should also be considered; comparing how much it would cost CUC to maintain these new engines if such services were to be, say, privatized. In my opinion, failing to perform these much-needed changes would put CUC right back to the predicament it is currently in.

Lastly, excess monies (savings) realized from privatization of some of its services (if not all) and other cost saving measures should be considered as an “additional” payment mode and used strictly for the repayment of the debt incurred by the CNMI government OR to future fuel purchases.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this important piece of legislation and I look forward to the House Standing Committee’s favorable action.

/s/ Kimo Mafnas Rosario