- ---------------

arianas %riety~. ~v11e-:ir;JJ}, Micronesia's Leading Newspaper Since 1972 bW

faces m.ost serious threat of 'US takeover'

Teno to attend SPG, will cheer for NMI teams

By Aldwin R. Fajardo Variety News Staff

GOVERNOR Pedro P. . Tenorio is urging the CNMI .

athletes to show a spirit of . camaraderie and • sportsmanship in this year's .

By laldy Dandan Variety News Staff

US HOUSE Resources Chair Don Young (R-Alaska), apparently "feeling the· heat" from the intensified negative publicity about the alleged sweatshop conditions in local garment factories, is now considering a public hearing on the CNMI's labor and immigration policies, h was learned yesterday.

Resident Rep. Juan N. Babauta said Young, who just recently reiterated his opposition against "federal takeover" legislation, is likely to schedule the hearing before the end of the year. In the US Senate, Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Frank H. Murkowski (R-Alaska) has already slated a public hear-

Don Young

ing on the CNMI this summer. Noting the numberofbipartisan

"federal takeover" bills filed in this Congress, as well as the clamor for public hearings, the $1

Juan N. Babauta

billion class action lawsuits against the local garment indus­try, and the series of "negative" reports in the national media, Babauta said the CNMI's control

Gov't building up funds for rebates By Aldwin R. Fajardo Variety News Staff

WITH STILL over five months to go before the October dead­line, Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio dis­closed the government has al­ready started building up t~e trust fund for the payment of tax rebates for the 1998-1999 tax year.

Tenorio said some funds have already been set aside for this

year's refunds without saying exactly how much. H~ only as­sured. CNMI taxpayers that all rebates will be released by Octo­ber.

The governor sa,id the Depart- · ment:.of Finance

1

'has -been in­structed to build up the reserve funds for rebates covering last year's tax time, as well as monitor government expenditures and rev­enues.

"We are working on it. We have already reserved some money in order to distribute the rebates. It is not due until Octo­ber but we assure the public that we have some funding set aside for it," he said.

Tenorio said the government is starting to rebuild the special rebate trust fund which had de­pleted to zero-level when his

Continued on page 36

Miss Botswana Mpule ~we/agobe (right) reacts [!fte_rwinning the Mis_s Univ_e_rse, Page~'!t at the _Universe Center in Chaguaramas, Trinidad Wednesday. At left ,s f,rst runner-up Miss Ph1hppmes Mmam Qwambao. AP

over its immigration and mini­mum wage policies has never been as "imperiled" as it is now.

"We are witnessing the most serious attempt to take away control from us," he said.

Babauta added that even ifnone of the "federal takeover" bills are enacted into law, their introduction is already affecting the local business climate.

"This climate of uncertainty is not helping our economy, which is already in a slump," he said.

Like the rest of the CNMI's highest elected officials, Babauta said he remains opposed to any proposal that would impose fed­eral immigration and minimum wage laws here.

He warned, however, against Continued on page 37

: SouthPacificGamesinGuam. Tenorio is leaving for Guam

on Saturday to attend SPG's opening ceremonies and offer moral support for the CNMI's 200-man delegation to the region's most prestigious games.

Tenorio said the Northern . . Marianas and its people are . • proudoftheCommonwealth's · · fine delegation to SPG, as he

urged them to focus at achieving their goals and be : the best CNMI ambassadors that they can.

He said the athletes will not only compete in their respective field of sports but

Continued on page 37 . ··- .. , -,.----- -,·,.. ·,-·--· --.---· . ·- . ·- -·--·--··- .~. ·--···--· --

NMI must join Guam in suit to see lower prices

By laldy Dandan Variety News Staff

i: THE HOUSE Committees on 1· :! Federal and Fore~gn Relations

and Labor and Immigration

1 yesterday approved, with amendments, a draft joint report

! , endorsing the passage of a bill that would impose residency and immigration restrictions on Freely Associated States citizens.

Federal and Foreign Relations Committee Chair Melvin 0. Faisao (R-Prec. 3, Melvin o. Faisao

) i Saipan) said the bill, H.B. 1 I -[! 294, was also amended to are still supporting the ;' i:; exempt disabled and minor FAS legislation's passage. H citizens from the proposed Faisao said the Office of ; . \: restrictions. Palau President, Rota Mayor · ii Faisao said the final report Benjamin T. Manglona and the i will be out next week. Micronesian Legal Services · i." In an earlier interview, Faisao Corp. (MLSC) raised valid con- . •• i: . 1

1 admitted that the arguments cems against H.B. 11-294 that l: raised against the bill were the committees will address. 1_. "almostconvincing,"butadded Faisao said he was particu-1: thatmembersofthecommittee Continued on page 37 :. l-. ----·· ·,,...-·,···,;·-···'°·"'··,·-··, .-•c-•c·.···:,cs -.-·.·,·.· =···--.··~··-· .. :··_.-···-··- ·=·-.,-... . . -

Palau.fishing ~iant faces suit '

By Malou L. Sayson For the Variety

KOROR (Palau Horizon) -One of the three top players in Palau's fishing industry has been named in a case filed by the Of­fice of the Special Prosecutor for allegedly operating at least 29 foreign fishing vessels in the country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) without valid permits

since June I, I 998. Locally-based Koniyoshi Fish-

. ing Company, owned by Masanori Koniyoshi, a naturalized citizen of Palau, is a defendant in the civil case filed with the Supreme Court.

The complaint was filed by Special Prosecutor Michael Rosenthal last May I 3 alleging that 29 foreign fishing vessels

Continued on page 37

2-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-FRIDAY- MAY 28, 1999

In the Philippines

Thousands protest as VFA undergoes vote

By JIM GOMEZ

MANILA, Philippines (AP)­As thousands demonstrated out­side, the Philippine Senate be­gan voting Thursday on an ac­cord that would allow U.S. troops to resume large-scale war exercises in the former Ameri­can colony.

President Joseph Estrada said ~he approval of the Visiting Forces Agreement appeared "in

· the bag" after a majority of the senators gave their initial ap­proval on Tuesday.

The accord, signed by Philip­pine and U.S. officials last year, would allow the United States to resume major ship visits and large-scale joint military exer­cises in the Philippines which were suspended in I 996.

"I think we have the votes," said Senate majority floor leader Franklin Drilon, a leading VF A supporter. . At least 16 of 23 senators must

support the pact for it to pass. Drilon said 18 senators were

likely to approve it. The vote had been scheduled

for Thursday morning but sena­tors opposed to the accord raised procedural questions, delaying its start until afternoon.

The debate on the VF A has divided Filipinos, with the gov­ernment leading a campaign for its approval and Catholic Church leaders and left-wing groups recalling the Philippines' colonial past in calling for its rejection. ·

Outside the Senate compound about 2,000 activists, nuns and priests yelled slogans against the accord. Nearby, a thousand VFA supporters staged a native dance to the beat of drums.

Riot policemen and soldiers formed a wall around the Sen­ate building with their shields. Some readied boxes of tear gas

canisters. Anti- VF A protests were

planned in other cities nation­wide.

In recent weeks, protests have been held almost daily at the Senate· and the U.S. Embassy.

Estrada said a strong military alliance with the United States would help bolster Philippine security and help its economic recovery by improving trade ties with Washington.

Under the VFA, the United States would generally have le­gal jurisdiction over U.S. sol­diers who commit crimes while on duty in the Philippines. The Philippines would have juris­diction over those who commit crimes while off duty.

Critics say the pact would limit the Philippine government's right to prosecute American soldiers who commit crimes and would drag the Phil­ippines into conflicts with the United States' enemies.

The presence of U.S. troops would also encourage prostitu­tion, they say.

The Philippines signed a Mu­tual Defense Treaty with Wash­ington in 1951. Officials say joint exercises are needed to ensure good cooperation and communication between the two militaries.

A separate agreement shield­ing U.S. military personnel from prosecution for crimes commit­ted in the Philippines was can­celed by Manila in December 1996, prompting the United States to halt major military exercises.

Military ties with the United States, which ruled the Philip­pines for nearly half a century, have remained a sensitive issue since the Philippine Senate forced the closure of the last U.S. base in I 992.

UNTIL MAY 31, 1999

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Host Jack Wagner announces the five finalists remaining in the Miss Universe Pageant in Chaguaramas, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago Wednesday. From left are Miss South Africa Sonia Raciti, Miss Botswana Mpule Kwelaflobe, Miss Pht1ippines Miriam Quiambao, Miss Spain Diana Nogueira and Miss Venezuela Carolina lndnago. AP

Botswana beauty is Miss Universe

By TIM McDONALD PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) - Miss Botswana became the last Miss Universe of this cen­tury on Wednesday - a coup for her southern African nation with its first-ever contestant at the beauty pageant.

Shock, surprise and then joy­expressed in a huge, crooked grin - were the immediate reactions of19-year-oldMpuleKwelagobe.

She was announced the winner after responding to a final ques­tion on whether Miss Universe should be allowed to continue her reign if she got pregnant.

"Personally, I think it should not in any way interrupt her du­ties. She should celebrateherferni­ninity," Kwelagobe said to wild applause and yells of approval from the audience.

In second place was Miss Phil­ippines, Miriam Quiambao, a 23-year-old physical therapist who also won the prize for having the best style.

Miss Spain, 24-year-old Diana Nogueria, 24, took third place.

The prize for the mostphotoge-

nic beauty queen went to Miss Puerto Rico, Brenda Liz Lopez, 23, and the Miss Congeniality award went to Marisa Ferreira, a 21-year-old student from Portu­gal.

Kwelagobe's prize means she no longer will she have to fill in "unemployed," as she did on the pageant entrance list, where she said she was awaiting further stud­ies and hoped to become an elec­tronic engineer.

Miss Universe 99 prizes in­clude a $40,000 salary, a $10,000 scholarship, a year's mentoring to help her career goal, along with a mountain of cash, a plush apartment in Man­hattan for the year and a bo­nanza of designer clothes, jew­elry, luggage and makeup.

She was chosen from five fi­nalists including beauty queens from the Philippines, South Af­rica, Spain, and Venezuela. Ten semifinalists, from among the 83 contestants, were chosen af­ter parading in swimsuits and evening gowns by designer Diane van Furstenberg.

The winner was announced by host Jack Wagner- whose "Melrose Place" ended its long run on American television .on Monday.

Kwelagobe was crowned by her predecessor, Trinidad and Tobago's Wendy Fitzwilliam­and announced her intention to continue the Caribbean beauty queen's work in fighting AIDS.

Fitzwilliam comes from a re­gion with the second-highest in­cidence of AIDS in the world.

At a news conference before her coronation ball, K welagobe noted that sub-Saharan Africa has the world's highest inci-

. dence of AIDS. "I intend to focus on the vic­

tims of AIDS, particularly chil­dren ... I plan to focus on edu­cating the young about AIDS."

She said she expected her vic­tory to "open up Botswana to the world" and help bring devel­opment and more foreign invest­ment to the oldest democracy in Africa, which boasts fabulous wildlife reserves and diamond mines.

'._., ..

According to ex-lt. gov.:

Takeover m.ay By Zaldy Damian Variety News Slaff

FORMER lieutenant governor Pedro A. Tenorio warns that the extension of federal immigration and minimum wage laws to the islands may result in the local private sector's filing oflawsuits against the CNMI government.

Tenorio, in a six-page letter to US Sen. Daniel K. Akaka (D-

. Hawaii), said any sudden change in the CNMI's manpower and business investment practices will only expose the commonwealth to "massive litigation" from com­panies that will be left bankrupt

by the enactment of"federal take­over" legislation.

He added, however, that if Con­gress can recommend alternative investments for the CNMI to re­place its garment industry, pref­erably orie that will not require a large workforce, "we would like to know about them."

Tenorio said if there is no such recommendation and if Congress will still decide to pass "federal takeover" legislation, the CNMI may have to again "beg" Wash­ington, D.C. for "handouts."

However, he added, the CNMI refuses to beg, and considers it

"undignified ... especially when we have previously tackled ... the problem of dependency on the federal government."

Tenorio said the more practical solution to federal concerns re­garding local labor and immigra­tion policies is for Congress to "help [the CNMI] correct [its] problems ... [by] providing more federal manpower" to train local enforcement officers, and by as­sisting the islands get more in­vestments.

Tenorio maintained that the CNMI should always be treated "differently" in the application of

From left Speaker Diego Benavente, Rep. Heinz Hofschneider & Education Commissioner Rita H. /nos listen closely to the discussions of the Board of Education during the final bond closing Wednesday.

· Photo by Marta C. Alonso

Hofschneider to PSS_:", Set prioriti~s·· . . . . . . .· .' "

By Louie C. Alonso Variety News Staff

REP RES ENT A TIVE Heinz Hofschneider is asking the Board of Education to set its priority on how to use its $32 million re­sources which came from the re­cent CNMI's general obligation bond and the local matching fund.

Hofschneider said the Legislature's Health, Education and Welfare committee is wait-

ing for the BOE' s final decision if it wants to split up two high schools and convert Marianas High School into a junior high school.

He added the legislature and the board need to come up a joint meeting to thoroughly look into the project.

"Because it will be fruitless for us to build all the schools in one time and then we don't have the

money to appropriate for the fund­ing ofits staff and operation costs," Hofschneider said.

The legislator said the govern­ment worked hard to get the $16 million general obligation bond.

"It is comforting to know that investors look at the Common­weal th and find it confident enough to give us a triple A rating as supposed to other regions in

Continued on page 33

DOF asked to keep track of expenses in hosting illegals

By Aldwin R. Fajardo Variety News Staff

GOVERNOR Pedro P. Tenorio has asked the finance department to keep track of the expenses in­curred by theCNMI government in hosting around 500 illegal im­migrants on Tinian, in order to expedite reimbursement from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).

The CNMI is yet to come up . with an actual figure on the extent of payments advanced by the Commonwealth.for the detention Pedro P. Tenorio

ofundocumented aliens in a facil­ity manned by federal personnel in North Field.

Tenorio is worried that finan­cial constraints will eventually get in the way of effectively hosting illegal immigrants from China on Tinian, although he remains opti­mistic that INS will reimburse the CNMI promptly.

But he said the Department of Finance is now coordinating with INS officials who are now on Tinian to facilitate reimbursement.

Continued on page 33

FRIDAY, MAY 28, 1999 -MARIANAS V ARIE1Y NEWS AND VIEWs-3

spt1r suits

federal laws. He said the US will be commit­

ting an "act of bad faith" if the federal government ignores its 1976 Covenant with the islands

and its guarantee of full self-gov­ernment to the CNMI.

Tenorio was a member of the Marianas Political Status Com­mission whose negotiations with Washington,D.C. led to the draft­ing of the Covenant that made the islands part of the US.

Tenorio urged Akaka to treat the CNMI with compassion and give the commonwealth leaders the chance to correct his concerns.

Akaka and US Sen. Frank H. Murkowski (R-Alaska), who chairs the Senate committee that has jurisdiction over the islands, recently introduced legislation that could lead to the scrapping of CNMI's control over its immi­gration policies.

CDC to study extent of Tanapag contamination

By Haidee V. Eugenio Variety News Staff

A REPRESENTATIVE from the San Francisco office of the Centers for Communicable Dis­ease (CDC) is set to arrive in Saipan next month to conduct a thorough assessment of possible health hazards to humans caused by abandoned war chemicals in the Tanapag area.

CDC's main office in Atlanta referred the official to the CNMI Department of Public Health fol­lowing the latter's request for assistance, considering the CNMI' slack of necessary equip­ment and expertise to do its own impact study.

Gwendolyn Eng, CDC repre­sentative who is also working with the U.S. Public Health Ser­vices' Agency for Toxic Sub- ·

stances and Disease Registry, will be here during the week of June 21 to work closely with concerned local agencies on the possible health hazards alleg­edly caused by polychlorinated biphenyl(PCB)toTanapagresi­dents.

PCB is a cancer-causing syn­thetic chemical used under the US Nike-Zeus missile program.

Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez, who is cur­rently on vacation, is also set to meet with Eng next week on his way to San Francisco to finalize plans of action.

"She said she wants to work closely with us to address this possible contamination, particu­larly on the medical aspect," said Villagomez before going

Continued on page 35

Sports development needs boost in NMI

AFfER the workouts, the rigid training, the practice games, the CNMI contingent to the South Pacific Games will now experience the thrill that they have longed for---competition.

As the Games open in Guam tomorrow, the NMI's top athletes will stand proud under the Commonwealth flag, eager to pit their talents against the best athletes of the Pacific.

Hopes are high especially for the fastpitch softball team, which boasts of an almost all-veteran lineup, and of course, the. tennis contingent. But nevertheless, everyone in the CNMI delegation deserve mention as they spent long hours of prepa­rations to mount a decent showing at this most prestigious regional event.

The expectation of excellence in sports is not only borne by the athletes but by the community they represent. There is always a thrill to seeing your very own lording over interna­tional rivals. You feel a sense of victory and belonging when a compatriot makes sports history.

But while any community wants to see its athletes win in international sports competitions, there seems to be little being done by its government to help them. Such seems to be the problem facing the CNMI athlete.

While the private sector has been relatively generous in giving, the amount of financial support is just not enough to mount a viable sports development program that would pro­duce top caliber athletes.

This is sad especially for the people who are proudly there to represent the islands and carry the CNMI colors in interna­tional competitions. ·

More needs to be done in this respect. While the economic posture of the CNMI government is not

as rosy as to actually afford spending big on sports develop­ment, leaders should at least explore some avenues that could help hone the talents and skills of the local athletes.

True, the CNMI is nowhere near the likes of China, Russia or the U.S. in terms of the vast financial resources they dedicated to sports development, but at least government should pay more attention to the needs of its athletes and in uplifting their morale and self-esteem.

Give them importance, treat them as local heroes. Make sports a viable and dignified calling, so that potential

athletes are motivated to come out, train and compete. Build their self-esteem, their morale. Give sports higher

priority. Instead of dedicating resources to political and other non­

essential spending, government leaders should give more focus to sports, not only when international competitions are coming, but year-round.

There are already many daunting challenges out there for the CNMI's athletes.

Let not indifference add on to their woes.

P.O. Box 231. Saipan MP 96950--0231 Tel. (670) 234-6341/7578/9797/9272 Fax: (670) 234-9271

@1998, Marianas Variety All Rights Reserved

Member of The Associated Press (AP)

_....,~,.. TIONAL NEWSPAPER

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Re peal the video tax A PARENT who wants to rent, say, a "Bambi" videotape for her children now has to pay 15-cents more so the govern­ment can build community centers wh.ere the youth can be supposedly safe from delinquency. In other words, to ensure that our children do. not do bad things, we should make it more expensive to rent videos they can watch at home, where they are usually under our supervision. Such is the implicit promise of Saipan Local Law 11-1, which, by imposing a tax on videos and movie tickets, aims to fund the devel­opment, construction, maintenance and improvement of all youth centers on the island. The law seemingly assures us that if we pay 15-cents more for every video­tape we rent and every movie ticket we buy, the government will see to it that our children behave better.

Honestly now; do you believe that? Me neither. Which is why to save the government

from further embarrassment, we should continue signing those petitions urging for the repeal of S.L.L. 11-1, which we should continue sending to the incumbent Saipan legislators seeking reelection.

There is a local bill calling for the repeal of the tax, and it was introduced by Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider, a Precinct 3 Re­publican, several months ago. House Lo­cal Bill 11-15 has already appeared three times on the session calendar of the House of Representatives, which means that Saipan 's legislative delegation could act on it if the members want to. The delega­tion chair, Mr. Hofschneider has seen the petitions signed by numerous residents asking for the repeal of the tax. Clearly, he told me in an earlier interview, the tax is unpopular, particularly for those in ~il­lages not reached by MCV's cable TV services.

In any case, why should the government tax a family activity to prevent young fam­ily members from committing misdeeds? Isn't taking the wife and kids to watch a movie, or to the video shop to rent "101

Dalmatians" preferable to allowing our teenagers to be out there, chugging down Budweiser they bought with a fake ID, while gambling and smoking a pack of Marlboro? Aren't these the activities the youth should stay away from? So why can't the government finance the con­struction of youth centers by taxing such activities? Probably because the owners of video shops and the island's lone movie house do not have the same clout as big businessmen who consider it the end of the free world as we know it if a legislator would dare consider imposing even an additional 1-cent tax on their products and services.

Proponents of S .L.L. 11-1 say 15-cents is "not too much." But it is for most of us who, unlike some government officials, cannot afford to play golf in the weekend or visit Ermita, Manila from time to time. Let me reiterate: the 15-cents tax is im­posed on those for whom every penny counts, particularly now that not so much of it is going around. As I've also said before, the "logic" behind this tax is as

· illogical as the reason for slapping a "fee" on tourists who visit Mafiagaha. That "fee" is supposed to fund the construction of a cultural center that would, it is hoped, attract more tourists. That is, to lure more tourists, we should make it more expen­sive for them to visit our tourist spots.

S.L.L. 11-1, moreover, places too much faith on youth centers, as if their creation will help curb youth-related crimes. But as our grandparents would tell us, there is a better and a more effective way to. do so without resorting to taxation. It is called good parenting. Our children, as every­one used to know, can only learn about discipline and a sense of worth from good parents, not from government programs.

Now if the Saipan legislative delegation will still insist that youth centers could also help parents do a better job in raising their children, then build them by all means. But do so without making family activities more expensive.

I

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JACKANDERSONandJANMOLLER ..

WASHINGTON MERRY:Go·ROUND

War ·is heaven for organized crime

War is. hell, they say - except for those who profit from it. According to our sources, the folks reaping the most benefits in the' Kosovo conflict are organized crime syndicates in Albania and M_a~edonia, who are making a pretty penny from the tragic refugee Cf!SIS.

These sources say that Balkan gangs, strapped for cash because the bombing has disrupted their heroin trade, are making up for their l?sses by abducting young women and forcing them into prostitu­tion.

"This is a very good situation for them because most of the refugees are women," says Marco Gramegna, coordinator for Inter­national Organization for Migration's Task Force on Trafficking in Migrants. "They are easy prey for traffickers."

Gramegna put the number of criminal operatives inside the refugee camps "in the tens," but declined to elaborate.

Sometimes the gangs aren't even waiting for the women to arrive at the camps. Press accounts are emerging of armed bands of Albanians holding up refugee convoys and abducting young women.

The flood of refugees has created so many shady "job opportuni­ties" for the region's undesirables that one Albanian journalist said it has become "like the Klondike during the Gold Rush."

Says Jim Boyle, a media-relations officer for the U.S. Army in the Balkans; "Albania's organized crime groups are a recognized threat that we take seriously. Soldiers and officers are provided awareness training prior to their deployment, and while the force is deployed, they take app~opriate force protection measures against that threat."

Boyle declined to specify how the Army combats the threat, but said he knew of no recent altercations between U.S. forces and Albanian organized crime groups.

That very lack of conflict has allowed organized crime to thrive on the chaos. News accounts describe Western aid shipments being diverted into the black market, customs "agents" demanding bribes and gang-run taxi firms charging as much as 30 times their normal fare to transport refugees less than eight miles from the Kosovo border to nearby Albanian towns.

According to one Albanian journalist interviewed by the San Francisco Chronicle, the gangs have traditionally played the role of Robin Hood, redistributing their profits to the nation's poor.

"When Rugova (former head of the Kosovo liberation movement) held sway and the object was a peaceful settlement, the drug proceeds of Kosovo clans were at least invested in growth, in things like better housing and health care," said the journalist. "It was a form of social taxation in a sense, and the more illegal the activities, the more that their 'businessmen' were expected to pay."

The Kosovar drug trade underwent a rapid expansion in 1997 after a financial crisis that wiped out the savings of millions of Albanians, causing widespread rioting which culminated in the overthrow of the national government.

Later that year, Interpol, the international police agency, reported that "Kosovo Albanians hold the largest share of the heroin market in Switzerland, in Austria, in Belgium, in Germany, in Hungary, in the Czech Republic, in Norway and in Sweden."

The riots had also been accompanied by looting, which emptied the nation's armories. A follow-up study by the United Nations found that at least 200,000 assault weapons stolen from the armories wound up in the Kosovo Liberation Army's arsenal.

U.S. officials have been raising concerns about alleged tics between narcotics syndicates and the Kosovo liberation movement for years. A 1995 report by the Drug Enforcement Administration worried that "certain members of the ethnic Albanian community in the Serbian region of Kosovo have turned to d111g trafficking in order to finance their separatist activities."

INTELLIGENCE BREAKDOWN - Reports of security break­downs at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the mistaken bomb­ing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade aren't the only recent failures of U.S. intelligence:

- Last May, the United States mistakenly bombed a pharmaceu­tical plant in Sudan, thinking it belonged to terrorist Osama bin Laden. A lawsuit by the plant's owner forced the Treasury Depart­ment to release more than $24 million in frozen assets.

- In 1998, newly elected Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee assured both Bill Richardson and Sandy Berger that his country had no intention of exploding a nuclear warhead, de­spite his having run on a platform that promised nuclear tests. An elaborate campaign of misinformation left U.S. officials watching phony missile test site until two hours before the actual test.

These and other high-profile mishaps might lead reasonable Americans to wonder if we 're getting enough bang for our $30 billion-a-year intelligence buck. Retiring Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N. Y., once suggested we could trim $10 billion a year in intelligence spending and Americans wouldn't notice a thing. A decade after he first suggested it, that idea sounds better than ever.

FRIDAY, MAY28, 1999-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-5

No 'adios' from. Govendo Dear Editor:

"Oh, stop whining again, you statesidcr! If you don't like it here, go to the airport, get on a plane

· and go home" is what I've been hearing lately everytime I com­plain about the garment indus­try."

Most local people understand the concept of freedom of speech and are quite comfortable with it. Others, like the garment industry's writers or relatives of criticized politicians, want a very limited freedom of speech.

They would like it so that only

Chamorros and Carolinians can complain. Everyone else is con­sidered to be a guest and should be required to leave the island at the first sign of disenchantment.

For people who think that way my response is for you to go down to the Civic Center and check the flags. If the stars and stripes are · no longer there, then I shall re­spect your wishes and be on the first plane out of here.

On the other hand, if the flag is still flying, get ready amigos, be­

. cause I'll still be complaining whether you like it or not! No adios, sayonara or good-bye from

tne! Speaking of freed.9m of speech,

be sure to watch ABC'3 20/20this Monday night on Channel 14. Don't listen to reviews by your politicians. The show has already been aired in the states and l oaks at the garment industry and pros­titution on Saipan.

It's an eye-opener and if you love Saipan like ldo, you will feel disgusted, ashamed and angry about what is allowed to happen here.

KENNETH L. GOVENDO

'Don't bite the hand that feeds you' Dear Editor:

For quite a lengthy period now, I've been analyzing how our gov­ernmental system and policies are, or rather the perception it illumi­nates. First off, let me start with our local residents/US citizens and

· their concerns which continues to go unanswered by our elected of­ficials. Let's not also forget how bills are introduced then passed into law only to delay the enforce­ment of such a law for unspeci­fied periods because of questions left unanswered when the bill was introduced and then enacted into law. Below are major issues of our people left unresolved, which tends to suggest that our elected officials had in some way lost track of who actually put them into office and who they work for; which are the constituents.

Education -Our policy makers can't appropriate enough schol­arship funding because they state that there's no additional money to be found; yet a bill was passed into law to provide $15,000.00 to each of our scholars annually. In

. addition, theirfavoritecxcusc was to blanket themselves using the Asian economic crisis as a factor which is partially true but in gen­eral the blame has to be shared equally with respect to their policy making decisions as well.

Earned Income Credit - This money which is rightfully owed to the people has been continu­ously delayed because our policy makers can't locate or identify areas where certain amount of funding can be redirected to pay these well deserving people of the CNMI.

Annual Pay Increment/Gov­ernment Employees -This right-

ful and well deserved money owed to the various government em­ployees since 1991, has been held back for almost ten years now and our policy makers have not empted to located enough fund­ing to pay these employees who could've used these monies owed to supplement supporting their needs, or their family's needs. And although some of those em­ployees are already deceased; their loved ones could have, and still can, benefit from the money owed.

Compensation for Resident Employees - Herc again our policymakcrssawitfittohavean · amended bill passed, which be­came PL 11-74, only to have the enforcement of such a law de­layed because of lack of prior planning to resolve the impend­ing confusion as to how and what amount is to be decided upon by employers. However, local resi­dent employees on the other hand are being sacrificed to wait as always until who knows when before they receive their compen­sation within the private sector employment while nonresident workers continue to receive their benefits undisturbed.

TI1erefore, if funding for our people's concerns listed above could not be addressed because of the government's lack of avail­able funds, then why are our policy makers very quick to locate fund­ing for issues such as ......

Millions of Dollars for CIPs -Millions of dollars are being ap­propriated for CIPs. ls appropri­ating millions of dollars for infra­structure projects more important

· than the immediate concerns of our citizens such as education, money owed to them etc; or are the policies of our current elected

officials display somewhat of a lack of prioritation where fund­ing prioritization are impacted.

Support for Tinian Illegals -Although the support for the ille­gal Chinese nationals detained in Tinian is a humane gesture, the fact still remains that the people of the commonwealth never asked for such nationals to get .. them­selves into the CNMI thereby de­pleting our government's funds even more. Nevertheless, it's cost­ing the CN.MI $9,000 plus each day. And to date, millions of dol 0

Jars have already been spent feed- · ing, housing, securing and pro­viding healthcare to these people without any actual assur~nce of reimbursement by the US Immi­gration, Naturalization Service.

Unnecessary use of Taxpay­ers Money - Not too long ago, some elected officials took a trip to a golf event in Texas to meet with a US dignitary because it was believed that by meeting this individual, it would make a dif­ference; thedecisionofthelmmi­gration and Labor takeover bill. To date, another bill is currently being introduced with respect to takeover legislation however, large amount of dollars was spent for the trip not to mention hotel accommodations and transporta­tion.

Recently, I read an article in the Marianas Variety with respect to comments made by seine of our elected officials as to who had intentions of vying for Speaker of the House. ln my opinion, these officials should first concentrate on the immediate concerns of our people and our current situation rather than discussing the issue of who's bucking for the

Continued on page 36

Kudos from Tinian Junior & High School Dear Editor;

Tinian Junior & High School would like to thank Ray Tebutcd, thecoordinatorofthc all schools track & field meet, for allow­ing us participate in the event.

We would like also rccog-

nize people who helped Mr. Tebuted in organizing this event-Elias Rangamar, Missy, Lou Wabol, Ray Kapileo, Bobby Winkfield Joe Mettao, Sue Lizama, Barb Rudy and all the other hard working vol­unteers too numerous to re-

member. We the Tinian Junior & High

School would like to say that we had a great time compet­ing against other schools.

JONATHAN SAN NICOLAS

LETTER.S to the editor must carry the full name of. the writer and sifinature: with a telephone number (in case of faxed or mailed letters) for veri/1cat1on. Letters addressed to other pub/lcat1ons or to third parties and those endorsing particular pol1ticat candidates are discouraged. All letters are subject to editing. The Variety reserves the right to reject any letters. Name withheld and unsigned letters will not s@ print.

6-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-FRIDAY- MAY 28 1999

SNM controversy 'almost resolved'

By Zaldy Dandan Variety News Staff

THE CONTROVERSY over a Rota hotel's land lease renewal is almost resolved, with key sena­tors yesterday saying that the Leg­islature is likely to approve the extension before the end of June.

Sen. Juan P. Tenorio (R­Saipan), the chair of the Senate Committee on Resources, Devel­opment and Program, said at least '"70 percent" of the differences over SNM's 15-year land lease extension proposal has already been settled.

the land leased to the hotel. Both Tenorio and Maratita said

the defunct Marianas Public Land Corp. has to be blamed for "fail­ing to do its homework" before awarding the land lease to SNM in 1990.

Still, Maratita added, DPL is now willing to waive the require­ment on SNM to have at least 200 rooms. He said SNM already has

. 192 rooms and needs only to build a few more to comply.

Tenorio, forhis part, noted that SNM also had to wait 18 months for homesteaders in the land lease area to move out, which caused delay in the construction of more hotel rooms.

Sen. Edward U. Maratita (R­Rota), ina separate inteiview, said SNM and the Division of Public Lands (DPL) are expected to come up----0n or before June 15-with a solution to the main concern regarding the lease proposal: the lawsuit filed by a Rota resident claiming ownership over a part of

Maratita said the meeting Wednesday between DPL and the members of the House Commit­tee on Natural Resources, the Sen­ate Committee on Resources,

Evidence of learning. Third {lrade students from Dandan Elementary School ponder on a Mathematics question during an examination yesterday. Photo by Marla c. Alonso

Continued on page 35

Jones bats for payment of 900 ex-IT employees

House colllDlittees to OK report endorsing FAS bill

By Zaldy Dandan Variety News Staff

HOUSE Minority Leader Dino M. Jones (D-Prec. 4, Saipan) has requested the CNMI's represen­tative to Washington, D.C. to as­sist the 900 former Trust Terri­tory government employees in securing the $20.36 million in back wages the federal govern­ment allegedly owes them.-

Jones, in a letter to Resident Rep. Juan N. Babauta, said he is currently "exploring possible ad­mini~trative remedies" to the

claim, which has already been dismissed by the Ninth Circuit Court.

Jones suggested that approach­ing Congress and the appropriate federal agencies may help the former ITG employees "correct the injustice made against them."

At the same time, he said he will solicit the endorsement of the Association of Pacific Island Leg­islatures (APIL) by placing the claim as an agenda item at the meeting on Guam.

Continued on page 35

By Zaldy Dandan Variety News Staff

THE HOUSE Committees on Federal and Foreign Relations and Labor and Immigration yesterday approved, with amendments, a draft.joint re­port endorsing the passage of a bill that would impose resi­dency and immigration re­strictions on Freely Associ­ated States citizens.

Federal and Foreign Rela­tions (FFR) Chair Melvin 0. Faisao (R-Prec. 3, Saipan) said the bill, H.B. 11-294, was also amended to exempt disabled and minor FAS citizens from the

proposed restrictions. Faisao said the final report will

be out next week. In an earlier interview, he ad­

mitted that the arguments raised against the bill "almost convinc­ing," but added that members of the committees are still "all out" for the legislation's passage.

Faisao said the Office of the Palau President, Rota Mayor Ben­jamin T. Manglona and the Micronesian Legal Seivices Corp. (MLSC) raised valid concerns againstH.B. l 1-294thatthecom­mittees will address.

Faisao said he was pm1icularly impressed by the highly critical

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legal analysis submitted by MLSC to his committee.

However, he added, most leg­islators believe that because the CNMI controls its own immi­gration policies, it can impose restrictions.

Like the Office of the Palau President, and Mayor Manglona, MLSC is opposed to the passage of H.B. 11-294, saying that it is discriminatory, uncharitable and could create tension with the federal govern­ment.

H.B. 11-294 is supported by most, if not all, commonwealth government agencies.

Man convicted on gun charge

By Ferdie de la Torre Variety News Staff

A MAN was convicted in Supe­riorCourt forcarrying a gun with­out an identification card in 1997.

Presiding Judge Edward Manibusan said the imposition of sentence for defendant John Jo­seph V. Salas shall be suspended for a period of five years.

Following a plea agreement, Manibusan placed Salas on five years' probation and required him to perform 192 hours of commu­nity work service and pay $200 fine.

The judge said judgment of con­viction shall be vacated upon suc­cessful completion of the tenns and conditions.

Salas was charged with carry­ing a firearm without an ID card and illegal possession of firearm and ammunition.

Each offense carries a maxi­mum penalty ofup to five years' imprisonment and $5,000 fine or both.

Salas and counsel Assistant Public Defender Masood Karimi pour entered a plea agree­ment with the government repre­sented by Assistant Atty. Gen. Kevin Lynch.

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FRIDAY MAY 28 1999 -MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-7 , ,

Piailug to share his er By Louie C. Alonso Variety News Staff

AITER the historic Makali'i voyage in April, Saipan's mas­ter navigator Mau Piailug will go back to Hawaii next month to teach students how to sail using the traditional navigation method.

The traditional method uses the sun, the moon, the stars, the wind, and ocean currents as guide in navigating.

The master navigator will leave Saipan on Sunday to ful­fill his commitment to teach traditional navigation in Hawaii.

Piailug, who will teach from June to July, wants to pass this ancient knowledge to the next generation.

The Bertlemann brothers who spearheaded the Makali'i voy­age last month plan to continue teaching the interested people in Hawaii on the traditional method of navigation.

Piailug and some other crew membersofMakali'i last month visited different public schools to teach the importance of tradi­tional navigation in the cultural heritage of the people of the Mariana Islands.

Last week, the Carolinian Af­fairs Office represented by Piailug and Lino Olopai turned over the 41-year old Waherak Maihar canoe to the CNMI Museum as part of the cultural preservation campaign.

Yesterday, Piailug and his lo­cal crew members are finishing the construction of one-man outrigger canoe which they will be giving to the master navigator's supporter Frances Sablan.

Palacios: Ask -first before .. Ja~hig_ ·:er9~~t:f~,:·, THECHAIRofthe House Com­mittee on Labor and Immigra­tion is calling on all employers to remind their Chinese work­ers not to take fruits and veg­etable from private farms and gardens.

Rep. Herman T. Palacios (R­Prec. 1, Saipan) said there may have been a "misunderstanding of local customs and traditions" on the part of certain Chinese workers due to the "language barrier."

Palacios said he is requesting employers to remind their work­ers to ask permission from the farm owners before taking their produce.

Otherwise, he added, there could be "unnecessary confron­tations" leading to "bad feel­ings" between the local and Chinese communities.

"This is a small island, and it's important that we all re­spect each others customs and ways," Palacios said.

"By doing so, we can con­tinue to enjoy the many benefits ofliving in a multicultural soci-ety," he said. (zd)

Mau Piailug (right) poses for camera while members of his crew are doing finishing touches on the outrigger canoe yesterday. Photo by Marla c. Alonso

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Saipan, Tinian arrivals up By Haidee V. Eugenio Variety News Staff

arrival and a 92 percent increase in Korean arrivals.

SAIP AN arrivals registered its second increase in April after 19 months of decline due to the Asian economic crisis.

a seven percent to 38,451 growth in Saipan visitors for April, com­pared to the same period last year.

"This growth from Saipan con­tributed to the island's overall growth," MV A said, adding that the increase was fuelled by a mere two percent decline in Japanese

Of any industry in the CNMI, the tourism business is the hard­est hit by the Asian economic crisis as its prime markets include Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Records from the Marianas

Visitors Authority (MVA) reveal Tinian attracted a larger num-

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berof visitors as it welcomed 135 visitors last month, compared to only 35 in April 1998.

Meanwhile, Rota - which is touted as haven for eco-tourism enthusiasts. - experienced a 38 percent decline due to losses from the U.S. (41 percent) and Japan (32 percent) markets.

From I, 147 visitors in April 1998, Rota arrivals went down to 708 last month.

MV A reported a total of39,294 visitors in April, up by six percent

from mere 37,065 recorded dur­ing the same month last year.

April is the second month for CNMI to witness a positive growth in arrivals, the first being in March with a marginal two percent increase.

The FYTD arrivals, however, is still 12 percent lower than the arrivals recorded during the same period last fiscal year.

MVA 's conservative arrival target for fiscal year 1999 is 520,000.

Housing allowance for non-locals may be cut

By Aldwin R. Fajardo Variety News Staff

HOUSING allowance of civil ser­vice employees hired from out­side the Northern Marianas could be trimmed down particularly when they start moving out of the government's housing facilities, according to Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio.

But it will depend on the cur­rent average of apartment rental fees in the islands, said Tenorio. He added that rental fees have been declining since the onset of the Asian financial contraction due to the increasing number of vacancies.

The governor said legislators are now reviewing the average rental of private buildings or apart­ments since monthly housing al­lowance of government workers who will be asked to go to private sector housing will be based on the existing market rate.

"The Legislature will base the allowance on the average rental fees for private housing. I think they are reviewing it now," he told reporters yesterday.

He pointed out that proposals to grant off-island public sector employees housing allowance in-

stead of accommodating them in government buildings would help alleviate the Commonwealth's depleting resources.

Tenorio explained that the move is not only aimed at trimming down the government's man­power-related expenses but to also allow off-island hires the oppor­tunity to get themselves a place where they would feel comfort­able at.

The CNMI chief executive pointed out that buildings or hous­ing units owned by the govern­ment had been constructed ages ago and that most of them need immediate repair which would cost more than granting off-is­land hires cash-equivalents.

Tenorio said renovation of the existing structures would be too costly and restrictive in a way that the current level of government revenues is not enough to fund such an undertaking.

Public Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez has disclosed that all off-island hires like doc­tors, nurses and other medical staff of the department have been be­ing asked to either move out of dilapidated government housing

Continued on page 35

FRIDAY, MAY 28, 1999 ·-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-9

DOF reviews $2.3M Y2K funding By Haldee V. Eugenio Variety News Staff

THE U.S. Department of Interior is currently reviewing CNMI's $2.3 million funding request to address technology problems as­sociated with the Year2000com­'puter glitch, commonly known as Y2K.

A recent report prepared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Graduate School for the Interior noted the CNMI's high aware­ness of Y2K issues, and most of its major agencies have been building towards Y2K compli­ance over the past year.

"As a result of the recognition of the issues and general good management, the remaining costs of remediation of most of these systems has either already been absorbed in the operating budget or are relatively small," said the report, entitled Insular Year 2000 Assessment and Skills Develop-

ment Project Report. · Bob Webb, CNMI special as­sistant for telecommunications, yesterday disclosed the DOI is expected to decide immediately whether to grant the CNMI the whole amount it requested or just portions of it given the limited budget and time for the project.

"We expect the Interior to de­cide on it in a couple of weeks; they cannot be late on this,'.' Webb said, referring to the date-sensi­tiveness of addressing the tech­nology problem.

Webb also expressed hopes that the federal government will be able to appropriate enough amount of funding for the CNMI.

Under the $2.3 million request, $1.3 million will go to govern­ment operations covering the Pub­lic School System's accounting, tax system, Retirement Fund ac­counting system, Nutrition As­sistance Program, and the North-

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certain the actual amount of fund­Continued on page 35

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10-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-FRIDAY- MAY 28, 1999

Couple gets 133-mo. jail sentence for 'ice'

Vietnam PM steps into Hillblom project dispute

By Ferdie de la Torre Variety News Staff

THE FEDERAL Court yester­day sentenced a couple to a com­bined 133 months' jail term and placed another woman in five years' probation in connection with a 1998 drug trafficking charges.

US District Court for the NMI Judge Alex R. Munson ordered Rizalinda L. Remoket to spend 87 months' imprisonment.

Munson also sentenced Rizalinda's husband, Johnny I. Remoket, to 46 months in jail.

The judge handed a probation sentence to the couple's co-de­fendant Jacqueline Aichi Remoket who admitted the of­fense of misprision of a felony (for not reporting importation of ·'ice").

Munson said while in jail, the Remoketcouple shall participate in a drug treatment program ap­proved by the Board of Prisons.

The sentence, according to the judge, is appropriate considering the huge amount of "ice" seized from the defendants and to deter other individuals who might oth­erwise be inclined to use CNMI for drug distribution.

Meanwhile,Jacquelinewasre­quired during the probation pe­riod to perform 200 hours com­munity work service, submit to

randomdrugtest,andobeycrimi­nal laws.

Before the judge announced the sentence, the couple and Jacquelineapologiz.edtothecourt for committing the offenses and promised "not to do it again."

Munson ordered the couple to start serving the jail term on June 17 upon the defendants' request to settle some personal problems.

The three defendants along with Felix I. Remoket and Daniel A. Atalig were charged with con­spiracytocommitimportationand distribution of "ice" and importa­tion of controlled substance.

In addition, Johnny and Atalig were charged with distribution of controlled substance.

The Remokets signed a plea agreement with the government

Atalig was found guilty during a jury trial and is awaiting the sentencing. The sentencing of Felix was set today.

Court documents showed that last April 24, defendants Felix, Rizalinda, Johnny and Atalig im­ported 20 grams of "ice."

Rizalinda arranged the source of supply in the Philippines while Johnny remitted funds to the Phil­ippines and picked up the "ice" from shipping company DHL.

Felix lent his vehicle to pick up and deliver the drugs. He also

Continued on page 33

x BOAT CHARTER

By Ferdie de la Torre Variety News Staff

TIIE VIETNAM Prime Minister has stepped into the legal dispute between a Thailand-based con­struction firm and Larry Hillblom's company operating the late businessman's multi­million projects in the country.

According to documents ob­tained by the Variety yesterday, Prime Minister Phan Van Kai issued an opinion in favor of Bangplee Golf Course Con­struction Co., Ltd. (BGCC).

The prime minister, the pa­pers said, asked the chairman of Binh Thuan Province's Com-

mittee to complete the award to BGCC pursuant to a ruling of the Appeal Court of the People's Supreme Court.

The government official as­signed the Ministry of Justice guide and control the enforcing proceeding, said the documents dated May 20, I 999.

The People's Supreme Court in Vietnam has issued a final order requiring Hill bl om 's firm Phan Thiel Golf Links and Club Co., Ltd. (PTC) to pay $966,080 in losses to BGCC.

PTC signed with BGCC in 1994 a package contract amounting to $5.6 million for

construction and development of 18-hole Phan Thiet Golf Course located in Phan Thiet Town.

PTC suspended the contract and turned over the project to another firm, prompting BGCC to sue demanding for damages.

The court issued a decision in favor of BGCC, but the ruling was appealed several times. As a result, the case has been dragged on for more than three years in different courts.

Tony C.P. Ng, managing di­rector for BGCC, has urged for investigation into Hillblom 's company in Vietnam.

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Rate of common crimes dips By Rene P. Acosta · The agency does not have com-Variety News Staff pilation on the more serious crimes

INDEX crimes dipped a little bit in of murder and homicide as well as the end of 1997 when compared to rape and kidnapping since it does the official figure of the same pe- have records. riod inl 996, the Criminal Justice Based on the official 3,136 total Planning Agency had revealed in number of crimes reported during its statistics. the last half of 1996, the figure

Basedontheagency'sdata,three trickled down to 2,942 during the of the island's top five crimes same period of 1997. namely, criminal mischief, bur- 'This was made possible by the glary, and theft, had plummeted slight decrease in the number of down during the last six months of theft and burglary cases which has 1997. among the highest figure in 1996.

This, with the exception of as- The statistics also showed that saultanddisturbingthepeacecases more than half of the crime re-which were officially reported to ported, except criminal mischief have picked up during the year and disturbing the peace cases indicated. Continued on page 34

I • I

FRIDAY, MAY 28, 1999-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-11

Slippery floor triggers lawsuit By Ferdie de la Torre Variety News Staff

A WOMAN yesterday sued the National Office Supply Store were after she allegedly fractured her hip when she fell down at the establishment's "slippery" en­trance.

Tomoko Aldan, through coun­sel Paul A. Lawlor, sought dam­ages for negligence against de­fendant Sun and Surf, Limited, doing business as National Of­fice Supply.

Aldan also included as defen­dant Century Insurance Co., Ltd.,

the insurer of National Office Sup­ply.

Plaintiff said the accident hap­pened on the front entrance of the National Office Supply's Store along Beach Road in Garapan on May 8, 1998.

Lawlor in the complaint stated that Aldan while proceeding to the store, she slipped and fell heavily to the surface of the entranceway, "thereby suffering the injuries, damage and loss."

The lawyer said plaintiff experi­enced a fractured right hip, loss of bodily function, and impairment of

her general health. Aldan had to seek medical,

hospital, and surgical attention and had to undergo a major op­eration in an attempt to have her fractured hip repaired, Lawlor said. ·

"National Office Supply was negligent in having constructing the entranceway to its store using an inappropriate surfacing mate­rial and on an inclining plane when the defendant knew, or should have known that said material caused the surface to be slick and slippery," he pointed out

.. ·.•· .. - ........ -.-·.·.

12-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-FRIDAY- MAY 28, 1999

Guam airport is Y2K test case Variety News Staff

THE GUAM International Air­port will be the focus of attention of the Federal Aviation Adminis­tration (FAA) and the rest of America on New Year's Eve.

During yesterday's Guam In­ternational Airport Authority

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"They were concerned with the Y2K issue so we briefed them and assured them that the Guam air-

port is close to compliance," GIAA Executive Manager Gerald Yingling said.

"They also asked about our se­curity system and we briefed them on that. We just finished testing our security systems and they are now compliant," Yingling added.

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The FAA officials, in turn, in­formed GIAA that come Dec. 31, 1999, FAA and the rest of the U.S. will be closely monitoring the Guam airport so that if any Y2K-related problems occur, mainland airports can immedi­ately move to correct their own systems.

The officials also assured Yingling that FAA is in compli­ance with Y2K and that there wi 11 be no problems with any of the airport hubs connected to Guam.

According to Yingling, only the building automated system and the outbound baggage system is

left for the Guam airport to be fully Y2K-compliant.

"We 're still determining the compliance of these two systems," Yingling said.

Although the airport expects the two to be made Y2K-compliant soon, it has also adopted contin­gency measures to prepare for any eventuality.

In a briefing paper distributed to all U.S.airportauthorities,FAA warned that if not properly ad­dressed, the Y2K bug may create significant problems resulting in the interruption of airport opera-

Continued on page 34

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FRIDAY, MAY 28, 1999-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-13

Dandan school gears for SY 2000 By Louie C. Alonso Variety News Staff

THE present school year has yet to close but the new Dandan Elementary School · is already preparing for the next school opening in August.

The new school is expecting to accommodate some 421 stu-

dents According to DES Principal

Frances Taimanao, the school administration has already iden­tified the names of the students who will be transfered to DES in next school year.

The students will come from various schools such as Garapan

Elementary School, Oleai El­ementary School, William S. Reyes Elementary School and Koblerville Elementary School.

Students who will transfer to DES are those residing in be Dandan.

At present, DES has 16 class­rooms with a total of 370 stu-

Vicente classroom, we brought it over here. So the lessons went on and it didn't· bother the classes at all," Taimanao said.

Cherlyn Cabrera relates her Trinidad-Tobago experience Frances Taimanao

DES has just finished admin­istering the make-up test for Stanford Achievement Test 9th Edition and the students are now preparing for the mastery skills test next week.

Unlike other public schools in the CNMI, the new school did not experience difficulty with the non-renewal of some non-certified employees of the Public School System.

Cherlyn in one of her promotional photos.

PRE-PAGEANT activities for the Miss Universe event at Trinidad and Tobago were fun­filled but a lot of work, says Miss NMI candidate Cherlyn Brei Cabrera. But joining the prestigious pageant which con­cluded yesterday is, of course, something she would remem­ber for the rest of her life.

"It's been so many things; some good and some I would Ii ke to forget," Cabrera tells her friends on Saipan.

She keeps in touch with her family, friends and relatives in the island via e-mail while she's in Trinidad and Tobago.

Cabrera competed with 84 other Miss Universe candidates from all over the world.

"Most of the women here are so beautiful," she confides to one of her friends on Saipan. "I don't know how I stand next to them."

She was not left unnoticed, though. "They say I look ex­otic," she says.

"I've been in the newspapers, interviewed on TV and of course been online chatting with people around the world," she adds.

Being in the pageant, how­ever, is not all play, Cabrera confesses.

"We have been rehearsing until we are sick and tired. Our day usually starts at 7 a.m. and we don't get back until 10:30 or so at night," Cabrera says.

The girls, she says, barely get to sleep and are rushed through breakfast, lunch and dinner. But they have all they can eat for snacks such as oreos, nutter but-

ter cookies, cheese puffs, po­tato chips, muffins and coke. For women who have to watch their weight, Cabrera says it "is scary."

"You'd think they feed us only with fruits, but no. They test our will power which is not that

strong with barely any sleep and aching feet from wearing super high heels all day and night," she says.

But Cabrera is not complain­ing ..

"Mostly it's been wonderful," she says. (Mar-Vic C. Munar)

dents from the yellow track of San Vicente Elementary School.

Taimanao said the transition period of the yellow track stu­dents to the new school was very smooth.

"Whatever instructional ma­terials we are using in the San

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The capital improvement projects in DES, Taimanao added, is expected to be com­pleted next month.

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BDC to hold small business workshop

By Rene P-Acosta Variety News Staff

THE BUSINESS Development Center of the Northern Mariana College is holding a monthly workshop for prospective small businesses be ginning June.

The workshop is part ofBDC's effort to helpfuuire business own­ers gain insights on entreprenuership.

The seminar is patterned after the same workshop being admin­istered every Friday by the Uni­versity of Guam through its Small Business Development Center which has been attracting a good number of participants.

The first session themed ''Thinking about Starting Your Own Business" will be held on June 11 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at

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the center's conference room and will kick off the Small Business Development Month. ·

In a press statement, the BDC said its main purpose is to "present to entreprenuers what services the B DC provides and the importance of planning."

For starter, the statement said the audience will hear something about being an entreprenuer, its risks and rewards, and in evaluat­ing a business idea including com­ing up with a good business plan.

The workshop which will be held monthly will be conducted by BDC's two staff consultants Eric Plinske and Dirk Sharer.

"The timing is right for this workshop as it leads into the 2nd Annual Business Expo which is

Continued on page 16

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Stella Wang, representing the staff of Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino presents Neil Clark, INS acting officer in charge of Tinian, the donated goods for the Chinese immigrants held on Tinian.

Dynasty donates to IDigrants THE STAFF ofTinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino donated cloth­ing and personal items to the Chinese refugees on Tinian last Wednesday.

According to a news release from Dynasty, the money was collected first from the staff members ofTinian Dynasty and was then sent to Hong Kong to

purchase 520 sets of sports shorts and polo shirts.

Stella Wang, the assistant per­sonnel manager and the staff representative of Tinian Dy­nasty, presented the goods to Neil Clark, the INS Acting Of­ficer In-Charge in Tinian on behalf of the Chinese refugees.

"We truly appreciate the of-

ferings (Tinian Dynasty) bought for them," said Clark. "It's go­ing to be a great help in assist­ing the needs of these Chinese refugees."

Tinian Dynasty has also been · recognized for making contri­butions toward the local com­munity especially aiding youth programs.

GES Students of the Week

April Crisostomo, sixth grade from Mr. Roberts' class was se­lected as Student of the Week by her classmates. She is a popular because she is helpful to her classmates and teacher.

Larra Ramos, first grade from Ms. Geraghty's class is a won­derful little girl. She is always caring, thoughtful, and a good friend to all her classmates. She has been on the "A" Honor Roll every quarter.

Florence Mizutani, fifth grade from Ms. Riva's class is a"Student of the Week''becauseofthemany .characteristics she possesses. She is hard-working, cheerful and portrays a positive attitude.

Sean Santos, third grade from Mr. Aldrich's class is a bright young man. He is a leader who also doesn't mind helping other students when they need help. Sean is an excellent reader who always comes to school we/l~pre- · pared.

Jessie Mae Sonoda, second grade from Mrs. Weimer and Ms. Aldan's class always has a good attitude. She is helpful, kind, smart and very respon­sible. Jessie loves to read and write stories.

Willow Guerrero, fourth grade from Mrs. Castro's class is an excellent student. He is very re­sponsible, helpful and friendly, willing to do things to help his teacher and classmates. A posi­tive attitude iri and out of the classroom.

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l_f1"_!A~l~:r-,IAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-FRIDAY- MAY 28, 1999

According to CRM:

MVA to repair park staircase at Grotto

By Jojo Dass Variety News Staff

THE MARIANAS Visitors Au­thority (MV A) is upgrading the Grotto Sunken Pool tourist site in Marpi to make it more user­friendly.

The move came following the approval by the Coastal Re­source Management (CRM) of :i required permit MV A applied for.

Specifically. MVA will be contracting a form to do repair jobs on the staircase leading down to the Grotto park. -

"Those stairs over there have deteriorated over time and needs co be rebuilt for safety of the

visitors." said acting CRM Direc­tor Peter Barias. in an interview.

The landing area of the stairs, according to the proposal. will likewise be increased.

The move is part of ongoing MV A efforts to develop and up­grade the commonwealth's tour­ism facilities.

Sometime last year, MV A hired a contractor that developed a jogger's lane that stretches from the Last Command Post up to Suicide Cliff in Marpi.

The lane has different equip­ment situated along the sides for joggers to use.

However, observers said the lane is seldom used by joggers.

The Grotto Park, according toanMV Aadvisory,isa"beau­tiful sunken pool connected to the sea by underwater pas­sages."

"The sunlight shinning on the ocean outside," MVA said, "gives the Grotto Park water its deep blue color during the day."

The MV A however warns tourists and local frolickers alike to refrain from swimming out into the ocean as it may b~ difficult to swim back due to the string currents and the pow­erful surge of water roaring back and forth the park.

The Grotto Park is one of Continued on page 34

MEMORIAL DAV Monday May 31, 1999, 9:00 a.m. fo 4:00 p.m.

AMERICAN MEMORIAL PARK

Palau has used up over 34% of Compact money

By Eileen 0. Orelro For the Variety

KOROR (Palau Horizon) The government has already used 34 percent of the total funds from the Compact of Free Association (COFA),UMDAandK-BBridge in the first halfoffiscal year 1999, the Bureau of National Treasury has reported.

The Ministry of Administration has appropriated $44.48 million total compact, UMDA and K-B Bridge settlement funds for the whole fiscal year of 1999, $15.44 million of which had been with­drawn in the first two quarters of this year.

For FY 1999, the government allotted $9.362 million funds for the K-B bridge project, but only $3.89 million had been used up as of the end of March 31 this year.

A total of $5.47 million worth of funds has to be expended for

the rest of the year. Total cash withdrawn from the

UMDA funds stood at $1.3 mil­lion, or 40 percent of the total allotted amount of $3.25 million.

The BNT report also indicated that total cash drawdown from the national government's cur­rent account already reached more than half of the appropriated amount pegged at $3.54 million.

This figure comprised more than 50 percent of the total ap­propriated amount of $7 mil­lion.

The national government had also withdrawn $1.92 million from its investment earnings during the six-month period. A total of $83,332 worth of funds from this source remained un­touched.

Data also showed that funds withdrawn from the government's special block grants already reached $990,000, almost half of the to­tal $2 million appropriated for the whole year. .

It would be noted that tliere was no cash drawdown made in energy production, communi­cations, maritime surveillance, military option, and educational special grant.

In a related development. to­tal accounts receivables for the national government stood at over $6 million. This figure includes receivables for the hos­pital that are dated back to FY 1995.

BNT Director Elbuchel Sadang explained that the total amount of receivables for U.S. Federal Grants and Department oflnteriorCapital Improvement Projects is mostly for the K-B Bridge temporary project and various water and sewer projects.

There were also equipment purchased for the hospital as well water and sewer operations in which we are currently work­ing with the appropriate agen­cies to collect what is owed to the national government, Sadang said.

Sadang further reported that total encumbrances or funds re­served for goods or services which have not been delivered or rendered amounted to $5.336 million.

This large amount, according to Sadang, was due to major projects funded with COPA money and contracted out to vendors.

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FRIDAY, MAY 28, 1999-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-17

cue ready to submit new desalination RFP

By Jojo Dass Variety News Staff

THE COMMONWEALTH Utili­ties Corp. (CUC) is set to submit a proposed request for proposal on a water desalination project before its Board for approval, according to CUC Executive Director Timo­thy Villagomez.

In an interview, Villagomez said the utility agency is now "fine­tuning" the proposal to ensure that the project complies with existing commonwealth and federal gov­ernment regulations.

"We will present it over to the Board. We are preparing a request forproposal, makingsomechanges and fine-tuning it to make sure that it is in compliance with CNMI rules and regulations," said Villagomez.

He added that a finalized RFP will likewise be sent to the steering

Timothy Villagomez

committee on the desalination project headed by former CUC Board chair Benjamin Sablan for review.

In an earlier interview, Sablan disclosed that a team of foreign engineers was working on coming up with a proposal for a low-cost, state-of-the-art water desalination

facility. Sablan said the engineers were

tasked to make recommendations on the "best and right-sized (de­salination) plant"

Sablan said CUC has opted to ask its engineers to study the matter followingoppositionraisedbycon­sumers about the increased bills they will be having should a desali­nation plant is finally put into place.

Sablan expressed hopes that with the advancement in desalination technology a plant may now cost less than it used to be some three years ago or when the first RFP was issued under the previous administration's water emergency task force.

CUC has tied up with the US Geological Survey il)volving the drilling of at least IO water wells to address Saipan 's growing need for the time being.

Bid to exempt Palau state from procurement law By MALOU L. SAYSON For the Variety

KOROR (Palau Horizon)­There is an attempt at the Palau Senate sneak in a new provi­sion which seeks to retroac­tively exempt Ngeremlengui governor from the procure­ment law of the Republic in a controversial supplement bud-

get bill. Senate Committee Chairman

on Resources and Development Roman Yano told Palau Hori­zon that at first he did not notice the last minute insertion made until he paid attention to a Stand­ing Committee Report submit­ted to Senate President Isidoro Rudimch last May 18.

During earlier deliberations at the Senate, Section 10. Amendment to retroactively exempt appropriation for Ngeremlengui State. office building from procurement law, according to Yano, was non­existent.

Yano noted that the Ngeremlengui State govern-

ment expended close to $400,000 for building the new capital state building using proceeds from the Palau Or­ganic farms.

But the state government asked the Olbiil Era Kelulau to appropriate some $150,000 after said capitol building was

Continued on page 34

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18-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-FRIDAY- MAY 28, 1999 .

By Giff Johnson For the Variety

HONOLULU -The bad news for travelers living in the Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia is that the U.S. Air Force does not want to allow Aloha Airlines - which

Air Force's refusal snags new Micronesia flights is planning to launch new air service to this central Pacific region -to refuel at its Johnston Island military facility.

The good news is that the Air Force says if it's ordered by the

Secretary of Defense to provide the service to Aloha Airlines, it will do it.

Start-up of weekly air service connecting Honolulu with Majuro, Kwajalein and Pohnpei has been delayed by at least two months - and may be put-off even further - because of the unwillingness of the Air Force to follow a directive of the De­fense Department issued in Feb­ruary that grants two additional stop-offs at Johnston for Aloha Airlines.

mail and cargo traffic has often been bottlenecked from Hono­lulu to the islands.

Johnston, where the U.S. mili­tary is in the final stages of incinerating World.War II vin­tage nerve gas and chemical weapons, is located nearly mid­way between Hawai'i and the Marshall Islands. Because Aloha operates Boeing737s, the ability to refuel at Johnston is essential to the new route.

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The Marshall Islands govern­ment and local business com­munity has warmly welcomed Aloha's plan to to become the first U.S.-based carrier to com­pete with Continental Micronesia in more than 12 years on this island hopper route. Since Continental reduced ser­vice to just two flights weekly · last year, passenger travel and

"It's not a positive answer as to when we 'II start the service," Jim King, Aloha's vice presi­dent for marketing and devel­opment, said in Honolulu today (Monday) of the Air Force let­ter. But, he said, at least the Air Force has put its position on paper so there is something to respond to.

Paradise Hotel (Across CHC) Garapan, Saipan The Air Force letter was issued late last week after Aloha - tired of seeing the landing rights is-

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sue stalled for months within the military bureaucracy -called for help from Hawai'i's Congressional delegation in Washington. King indicated

. that the reason the Air Force had responded was the result of "immense pressure from the Marshall Islands, (Hawai 'i ) Senator Daniel Inouye, and the Secretary of Defense."

King indicated that Aloha's revised target date of July for starting the service is still pos­sible if the Secretary of Defense issues an order to the Air Force this week, an action that is ex­pected.

"I understand that the Secre­tary of Defense will order the Air Force (to provide refueling services for Aloha)," King said. He is hopeful that will happen later this week, so the Honolulu­based airline can get service go­ing within two months.

"We'd like to make it in July," he said. 'That depends on bow quickly they respond (to the Air Force). If the DOD comes back this week, we can probably still do July."

Earlier this month, a survey . team from Aloha flew one of the earner's Boeing737 aircraft to its three planned new Micronesian destinations to prepare for the weekly air service. "The intent of the visit," King said, "was for the survey team to see what it needs to do to start the service." ·

He indicated that the airline would need to provide training in a variety of areas, including tick­eting, ground handling and other airline procedures. While most of these areas are routine, local ground staff will need to become familiar with Aloha's procedures and equipment in order to provide service, he said. King said that survey team found no major ob­stacles to starting service during its visit to Majuro, Kwajalein and Pohnpei.

THE SAIPAN SDA Pacific Winds will be performing their annual spring concert on May 29, Saturday at 7:30 pm. ·

This delightful musical concert will be held at the SDA center on Quartermaster Road, Chalan Lau Lau, Saipan.

Selections will include pieces from Movie Soundtracks, Broad­way, Classical and Jazz musical styles.

Admission is free.

Friends of the Museum meet THE FRIENDS of the Museum will have its Organizational meet­ing at the Museum tomorrow, Sat­urday at 10 am.

Committee selection and dis­cussion of future activities will be taken up.

'·

FRIDAY, MAY 2s, 1999 -MARIANAS v ARIETY Nriws AND vIEws-19

Search still on for Gls' remains By Giff Johnson For the Variety

HONOLULU-AteamofU.S. military investigators left an iso­lated Pacific atoll today (Tues­day) empty handed after a three week search failed to turn up the remains of 21 Marines who were killed in a raid on a Japa­nese base in 1942.

Despite testimony from five elder residents of Makin Atoll in the Republic of Kiribati -including several who said they had participated in the burial of the American Marines in 1942 - a team of officials from the Central Identification Labora­tory in Honolulu were unable to locate any bones despite an ex­haustive excavation of a large area, Lt. Col. Kevin Krejcarek, a public affairs officer with the U.S. Pacific Command in Ho­nolulu, said today.

"Five old timers said they knew where the burial site was, but no remains were discov­ered," Krejcarek said. Makin is the northern-most atoll in the Kiribati group, about 2,300 miles southwest of Honolulu.

The 21 Marines were part of raider group sent into Makin Atoll in the former Gilbert Is­lands by two navy submarines in August 1942 with the objec­tives of destroying the Japanese installation and diverting Japa­nese attention and reinforce-

ments from Guadalcanal to the south. But from the outset, the insertion of the Marines on Makin went badly, the result of rough seas and equipment mal­functions, reported an official account of this Marine Corps incursion against a Japanese gar­rison stationed on the coral atoll.

While the Americans briefly took Makin from the Japanese, it cost the Marines the lives of 30 men. The withdrawal of the raider party after two days was so disorganized that it wasn't until after the war-more than three years later - that the Marine Corps discovered "that nine of the (30) missing raiders had been left alive on the is­land," the account reported. With the help of native Makin islanders, the nine managed to evade capture for about two weeks after the Japanese re-took the atoll. ·

They were eventually captured by the Japanese soldiers who ar­rived shortly after the withdrawal of the raider group to reestablish Japanese control on Makin.

The nine Marines were taken to Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands and beheaded a short time later, Krejcarek said .

The killing of the nine at Kwajalein - scene of bloody fighting in 1944 and now a cen­ter for anti-ballistic missile test­ing by the U.S. - was likely

because the Japanese were run­ning out of food under pressure of American attacks, he noted, adding that the Japanese "con­sidered this an honorable way for a soldier to die."

Among the survivors in the Marine raider group that at­tacked Makin was President Franklyn D. Roosevelt's son, a major.

The attack on Makin may have played a part in the subsequent decision by the Japanese mili­tary to heavily fortify such is­land bases as Tarawa Atoll, now the capital of Kiribati, "the scene of a costly amphibious assault later in the war," reported the official account of the battle.

The historical account noted that "despite the trumpeted suc­cess of the (Makin). operation, the Navy never again attempted to use submarines to conduct raids behind enemy lines."

Kre jcarek said that the De­fense Department's Central Identification Laboratory, which is currently sponsoring investigations for the remains of American soldiers in N. Ko­rea and Germany, will continue to investigate the location of the burial area on Makin Atoll. Whether another dig will be scheduled on Makin will de­pend on what new information they can learn from eyewit­nesses on the atoll, he said.

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20-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-FRIDAY- MAY 28, 1999

Vanuatu happy with state bank restructure PORT VILA (Pacnews)-The Vanuatu Government is happy with the positive transfonnation of the state-owed National Bank of Vanuatu since new managers were appointed six months ago as part of a major restructure of the bank.

The MinisterofFinance & Eco­nomic Management, Sela Molisa made the comment during an of-

ficial visit to the bank's new pre­mises in the capital, Port Vila.

Molisa is confident the bank has established a sound base that will help it grow.

The state bank's new Manag­ing Director, Ken McArthur, briefed the Ministeron the bank's new Corporate Plan, which sets out its new vision, mission state-

__ . Continued on page 30

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New- Fiji PM to ask banks to lo-wer housing loan rates SUVA(Pacnews)-Fiji'snewly elected Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry will meet with senior banking and financial officials this week to discuss lowering interest rates on housing loans.

"I don't see why our people should be paying 11 per cent in­terest rate, it doesn't make sense," he told journalists in the capital, Suva, yesterday.

Prime Minister Chaudhry said he would meet with officials from the Reserve Bank of Fiji, Fiji Development Bank and the Fiji National Provident Fund to dis­cuss how the interest rate can be reduced from 1 I per cent to six

Samoa-PM tells students: Quit smoking

APIA (Pacnews) - Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi says smoking has re­sulted in a number of Samoans admitted in hospitals and many more seeking medical treatment in New Zealand.

The Prime Minister was address­ing college students at the opening of the Smoke free rugby union tournament

He told the audience not to be easily misled into starting smoking and asked those who have taken up the habit to stop immediately.

"Some of you have long been consuming tobacco secretly inside of classrooms during breaks, in

Continued on page 24

per cent. "On term deposits, I'm told that

the interest rate is two per cent," he said.

"So, looking at the spread, I don't think the six per cent (inter­est on housing loans) is unrea­sonable. I think it can be done."

Asked by Pacnews whether his Government would consider bringing in regulation to force financial institutions to comply with the reduction, Chaudhry said he wouldn't regulate the industry unless it was neces­sary.

"I hope they will exercise dis­cipline by themselves and that

as good corporate citizens realise they have a social re­sponsibilit:,, to the people."

Prime Minister Chaudhry also said the Government was plan­ning to deliver a mini-budget that will address new policies including the exemption of Value Added Tax (VAT) from basic food :items, medicine and educational equipment.

He said the Government would lose close to $FJ30 mil­lion ($US 15.9 million) in rev­enue from the exemption of VAT on t:hese items, but to make-up for this it would tighten-up on tax collection.

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World Bank report:

Palau not investment-friendly By MALOU L. SA YSON Far the Variety

KOROR (Palau Horizon) -The growth of foreign investments on Palau could have been dy­namic were it not for a policy environment and an approvals process that are "highly regt1la­tory, lacking in transparency, dis­cretionary, discriminatory, time consuming, cumbersome, costly and uncertain," according to a World Bank (WB) report.

fu a document entitled "A Re­view of the fuvestrnent Environ­ment" of the Republic furnished to the Pal.au Horizon, the current policy environment and an ap­provals process are but a "disin­centive" to foreign investments.

The March 1999 report pre­pared by the Foreign fuvestment Advisory Service (FIAS), a joint service of the International Fi­nance Corporation and the World Bank (IFC-WB), was submitted. by FIAS Regional Program Man­ager Andrew Proctor early last month to State Minister Sabino Anastacio for consideration.

fu turn, the state minister called on Senate President Isidoro Rudimch and House Speaker Ignacio Anastacio early last month

to look close! y into and consider the recommendations made which include the formulation of an in­formal working group to address the basic issues affecting Palau's investment environment.

The report also pointed out the prevailing protectionist environ­ment which is rather hurting the growth of investment on the is­land.

Though foreign investment re­strictions are a commonplace in many countries, the report has noted of the "shortcomings" of Palau's restrictions which run counter to the government's de­velopment objectives.

These restrictions pockmark the areas of foreign direct investments (FDis}, joint ventures (Ns), du­ration of Foreign fuvestment Ap­proval Certificates (FIA Cs), com­pulsory bank deposits and addi­tional investment conditions.

The report has noted that since 198 I, there are over I 50 foreign business permits (FBPs) or FIA Cs issued. But not all have actually invested and a number have ceased operating.

Most foreign investments, ac­cording to the report, has been in the tourism or tourism related sec-

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tors; while very little has occurred in manufacturing or export re­lated activities.

Since January 1997, there have been 29 FIAcs awarded, 48 per­cent in tourism; 24 percent in pro­fessional services, 17 percent in

construction, 7 .0 percent in agri­culture, and 7.0 percent in other endeavors. ·

The IFC-WB Report thus strongly recommended to the gov­ernment of Palau to undertake measures designed to maximize

e

the quantity and quality of for­eign investment on the island.

The IFC-WB strongly called for the replacement of current

. regulatory approach with a regis­tration process for foreign inves­

Continued on page 34

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Hawaiian Rock Products • Midway Motors • The Water Company

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22-!\!ARI..\NAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-FRIDAY- MAY 28. 1999

Manila's new ties with US may upset China

By Ruben Alabastro \IA'\ILA (Reuters)-1l1e sink­ing of a Chine,<' boat in the South Clmu Sea ha, heightened ten,ions l~tween China and rhe Philippines anJ reinforced M:mil:i ',; need for t ·.s. protection. officials and ana­h·sts said on \Vednesdav. - The expected appro;al by the

Philippines this week of a new military accord with the United State, may allay Manila's fears of Bei_iing but possibly at the price of damaging ties with its giant com­munist neighbor.

·111e return of U.S. forces to the Philippines would strengthen the :\mcrican t0ch0Id :11 a time when t · .S.-China relations were worsen­in!! after char~es in Washin!!ton of alleged Chi;1ese theft of U.S. nucle:u· s<.:crets.

Nelson Navarro told Reuters. This drags us automatically into

the fray ... because the VFA puts us squarely into the comer of America. Our hopes of adopting an equidis­tant position between the two world powers is shot.

China has accused the Philip­pine Navy of ramming and sinking one of its fishing boats near a dis­puted rock. called Scarborough Shoal. in the South China Sea atthe weekend and violating Chinese sovereignty and demanded com­pensation.

Manila on Wednesday insisted it was an accident and shifted the bbme on to China.

This could put a chill in our rela­tions ,,ith China. political analyst

.. We believe that the unfortunate accident could have been avoided had the Chinese fishermen re­spected ourterritory and our laws," the Philippine Foreign Office said in a statement.

Philippine President Joseph Estrada sits on the gunner's pQsition as he tries an aTJti-aircraft rnachinegun mounted on the bow of a new Philippine Navy patrol craft during the Navy's 101 st anniversary . WedTJ,esday. . AP

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RP court .. affirmsjail · sentence on Japanese ·

MANILA,Philippines (AP)-A Philippine co~l'taffirmed Wednes­day its decision to sentence a Japa-. nese rrum to 42 years in prison for sexually molesting Filipino chil­dren.

Hisayoshi Maruyama, 47, a doc­tor from Tokyo, was convicted on Jan. 8, 1998, on seven counts of sexual molestation.

He was arrested in 1991 after six children - five boys and one girl, all under 12 years of age - filed complaints of sexual a)Juse in Pasay City in metropolitan Manila.

JudgeMilagrosBezaofthePasay City Municipal Trial Court rejected Maruyama's defense as ·'mainly denials."

Maruyama filed a motion for reconsideration with the Regional Trial Court, which ruled that his appeal should be decided by the original court.

On Wednesday, Beza reaffirmed her decision. There was no imme­diate word on whether Maruyama would appeal further.

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T FRIDAY, MAY 28. 1999 -MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-23 ---·~------

Manila tells Beijing:

spect our sovereignty' MANILA, Philippines (AP) -The Philippine government asked China Wednesday not to intrude into a South China Sea shoal to avoid accidents like the recent sink­ing of a Chinese fishing boat.

On Sunday, a Philippine navy patrol ship fired a warning shot at three Chinese fishing boats it sighted near Scarborough Shoal and then pursued them. The patrol craft collided with one of the boats because of rough seas, causing it to sink, Philippine Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado said.

All of the Chinese fisherrnen were rescued by the patrol ship and the two other boats.

"The Philippine government calls on the Chinese government to respect Philippine exercise of sov­ereignty over Philippine territory to avoid a repeat of this unfortunate incident," aDepartmentofForeign Affairs statement said.

On Tuesday, China condemned the sinking of the boat as an attack on its sovereignty and demanded an investigation and compensation.

Chinese officials summoned Philippine Ambassador Romualdo Ong in Beijing and relayed their "strong displeasure" overrhe sink­ing.

The sinking of the Chinese boat is the latest in a series of incidents involving te1Titorial disputes in the

occurred if the Chinese fishermen had not intruded into the area.

. The rock outcrop, surrounded by rich fishing grounds, lies about 215 kilometers(l 30miles)offthe west­ern Philippine province of

. Zambales. Bari can said Filipinos have fished

in the area for centuries. conducted scientific studies and military live­fire exercises. and built a light-

house on the shoal. proving Manila's control over it.

Chinese oflicials say the shoal has belonged to them since ancient times.

Philippine officials have sought international support to halt what they say is China's gradual occu­pation of the South China Sea. where some of the world's busiest sea lanes are located.

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Defence Secretary Orlando Mercado gestures as he stresses- in a speech that the Philippines will continue to assert its sovereign right over a disputed shoal and will accost any intruder. AP·

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South China Sea that have strained relations between China and the Philippines.

Tensions between Beijing and Manila have _flared repeatedly since the mid- I 99Ds, when China began

building pe1manent strnctures on a reef in the Spratly Islands. another contested South China Sea area.

Presidential spokesman Je1Ty Barican said the accident in Scm·borough Shoal wou Id not haw

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.. " , . . '' , .. ' , ' .... '' 2-t-\L\Rl.\N.\S \"ARIETY NEWS AND YIEWS-FRID,~~~-MA Y 28. 1999 ___ -----·

svote TOKYO (Reuters) - fapan·s ruling Libaal Democr:nic Pan) \ LOP\ is I ikely to call early pany 1-:aJt'rship elections. in a mm·e that :111:d, srs saiJ ,,·mIIJ result in Prime \ linis1er Keizo Obuchi \ re-elec­til1n :1s p:u1y pre,iJem without op­po,ition.

.\major faction within the LOP that haj been opposing an early k:aJershipelection has now agreed 10 mow up the September poll by abom a month. Kyodonews agency reported on Wednesday. quoting unnamed p:my sources.

The decision came during a rnomin ~ meet ins! of senior mem­bers of the faction-headed by former LOP Sec reran -General Koichi Kato. 1\·ho had ·declared his inten-1ion to run for the LOP presidency in September. Kyodo said.

Some LOP members had been

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Foley (left) smiles while listening to Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara during a courtesy call at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building Wednesday. AP

seeking to bring forward the elec­tion to quell any factional infight­ing and to avoid a political vacuum at -a time when Obuchi was faced with the task of putting the nation's economy back on track.

Because of the LDP's control of the more powerful Lower House of parliament, the party president au­tomatically becomes prime minis­ter.

Taku Yamasaki, who has also announced his intention to run for the LOP presidency and had op­posed early elections, was quoted by the financial daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun as saying on Wednesday, "There's no need to strictly follow the rules (on elections)."

While neither Kato nor Yamasaki have said they would give up their bids, analysts said Wednesday's moves indicated that Obuchi was

most likely to be re-elected uncon­tested.

"Obuchi will be re-elected since the entire party is leaning in sup­port of Obuchi, who now enjoys high public support ratings," said political analyst Kichiya Kobayashi.

"Kato realises there is no chance of winning the LDP presidency now and sees more damage than good by running," Kobayashi said. "I think Kato will eventually with­draw."

Obuchi, dismissed by many ana­lysts as a lacklustre party operative when he took power last summer, is enjoying a steady rise in his popularity ratings.

A newspaper poll on Tuesday put the approval ratingforObuchi 's cabinet at 41 percent, the highest level since the government was formed last July.

The gains have come despite a lack of any clear signs that the economy is improving, and at the top of the list of reasons for sup­porting Obuchi's government. 21 percent said it was "for no real reason."

The final schedule for the LOP election is expected to be set by Obuchi and senior LOP officials afterthe current parliamentary ses­sion ends in June.

LOPpanel delays bond· discussions

TOKYO (Reuters) - A ruling party panel studying the Japanese government bond (JGB) market has postponed a discussion with central bank officials, a source close to the panel said on Wednesday.

The delay was due to a time conflict with the panel's meeting with Nippon Telegraph and Tele­phone officials on Friday, the source said.

The Liberal Democratic Party panel was to have met Bank of Japan officials to discuss the possi­bility of the central bank raising its ouoightJGB buying operations and directly underwritingJGBs as well as buying them from the secondary market.

The source told Reuters that the meeting was postponed until next week or later. but did not give a S!)ecific date.

There are strong concerns in the LDP that bond yields could rise sharply if the government enacts a supplementary budget for the fis­cal year that staned on April I. sources say.

Samoa • • • C::~n_!i_n_ued from page 20 toilets, and back of classrooms dur­ing the time when the teacher's back is turned." Tuilaepa said.

He said some students feel chal­lenged to break every rule in the school because of peer pressure.

Tuilaepa said actor Yul Bryner and radio personality Pat Mamaia both expressed regret at having started the habit before they died from cancer.

FRIDAY, MAY 28. 1999 -MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-25

Supplemental Japan budget said possible

'Cut or suspend sales tax' TOKYO (Reuters)- The pos­sibility that Japan will enact a supplementary budget for this business year cannot be entirely ruled out, a top aide to the prime minister said on Wednesday.

"Tm not denying the possi­bility of some budgetary action in the future. The possibility shouldn't be ruled out," said Akitaka Saiki, press secretary to Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi.

But he declined to discuss the scale of extra spending or whether it would be part of spe­cial employment-boosting mea-

KUROSAWA. !ETS((V~ & SAKAKiBARA,JAKASHI & KUROSAWA, REI SAKAlaMRA. TOYOMI

sures set to be announced on June 11.

Although the government has yet to decide whether it will enact a supplementary budget for this business year, which started on April I, some cabinet members have said such a bud­get might be considered if it is aimed at addressing rising un­employment.

Japan's jobless rate hit a record high 4.8 percent in March as companies mired in reces­sion increased lay-offs and cut back on hiring.

KONNO, TAKASHI & KONNO, KYOKU

SHIRAISHI, YUZA & NAKAHIRA, SATORU & MASH\MO, TAKUYA & SHmAISHI, SHIZUKA NAKAHIRA. NANAMI MASHIMO, TAMAMI

TOKYO (Reuters) - Ichiro Ozawa, the head of the ruling coalition's junior partner Lib­eral Party, said on Wednesday the government must cut or suspend Japan's consumption tax to spur the economy.

Ozawa was addressing a regular news conference.

Rumours of a cut in the con­sumption tax pushed down Japanese government bond prices and the dollar earlieron Wednesday, but the head of the government's Tax Com­mission told Reuters he was not considering a cut. The Lib-

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.SASAKI, JUNNOSUI<E & . SASAKJ)IUKO

erals have called for a tempo­rary suspension of the five percent tax to boost the reces­sion-bound economy, to be followed by a staged increase in the levy.

But the party did not insist on the tax suspension when it joined the ruling Liberal Demo­cratic Party, which opposes cutting or suspending the tax, in the coalition in January.

"For the Japanese economy to recover, bold measures are needed, including a reduction or suspension of the consump­tion tax," Ozawa said.

SANAE, SASAK & SANAE, YUICHIRO

MASUMi, KIMU~i'&; •· ,YAMANAKA,SEIYA& IMAZATc°,MASAYA& IMAZATO, MIYO MASUMI, KEICHI YAMANAKA, MAKI

BANNAI, TAKAFUMI & HASEGAWA, ATSUSHI & YAMAKI, YOSHIHIKO & BANNAl, YUKO HASEGAWA, SEKEO YAMAKI, AKIKO

·t.·· ··-<•-·······-··--····

2b-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-FRIDAY- MAY 28, 1999

Vietnam, Japan accord each other MFN status HANOI(Reuters)-Viemarnand Japan have agreed to accord each other Most Favoured Nation (MFN) trade status in a bid to boost commercial ties, official media re­ported on Wednesday.

The Thanh Nien (Youth) news­paper and other dailies said the agreement would take effect from Wednesday and followed talks held by Viemarn Prime Minister Phan Van Khai in Tokyo last March. Vietnamese officials and Japanese diplomats were not immediately available to confirm the reports.

'The exchange ofMFN status is a good opportunity for Viemam to increase its exports to Japan," the Thanh Nien newspaper said.

It was unclear exactly how Viet­nam would benefit from MFN sta­tus with Tokyo, although Japan is a key trade partner and investor in the communist-ruled country.

For Japan, the agreement is likely to mean permanent waiver of a 50 percent tariff increase on imports that Viemam slapped on all coun­tries that did not accord Hanoi with MFN status.

That tariff surcharge took effect from January 1, although Viemam had already agreed to waive the increase on Japanese goods forone year.

Two-way trade with Japan was worth $2.85 billion last year from $3 .04 billion in 1997.

Vietnam is locked in negotia­tions with the United States on trying to reach a bilateral trade agreement that would incorporate what Washington calls Normal Trade Relations, a status previously known as MFN.

Hanoi has declined to say which countries do not accord Viemam with MFN status.

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PROCUREMENT AND SUPPLY CNMJ GOVERNMENT

INVITATION TO BID ITB99-0041

Governor Pedro P. Tenorio and Lt. Governor Jesus R. Sablan·, through the Director of Procurement and Supply, are soliciting scaled bids for the prepa­ration. deployment and maintenance of Fish Aggregating Devices (FADS) in the waters around Saipan, Tinian. and Rota, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

One (I) original ancl four ( 4) copies of scaled bids must be submitted to the Office of the Director, Division of Procurement & Supply, Lower Base. Saipan, no later than 2:00 p.m. local time, Friday, June 04, 1999. 1l1e outside of the sealed bid package must be marked: ITB99-0041 l'reparation, De­ployment and Maintenance of Fish Aggregating Devices (FADS) in the waters around Saipan, Tinian, and Rota, Commonwealth of the North­ern Mariana Islands.

No Pre-Bid Conference will be held for this project. All questions/inquiries for this project must be submitted in writing no later than 4:30 p.m. Thurs­day, May 19, 1999 to the Director, Division of Fish and Wildlife, Lower Base, Saipan.

The Government reserves the right to reject any or all bids and to waive any imperfection in any bid if to do so shall be in the best interest of the CNMl Government. All bids shall become the sole property of the CNMl Govern­ment.

Isl DR. J.OAQUIN TENORIO /s/ HERMAN S. SABLAN Secretary of Lands & Natural Resources Director, Procurement & Supply

; Crown Prince Naruhito {second from left) and Crown Princess Masako, accompanied by K?tsuji Ebisawa, chairman of Japan's public _broadc_aste: (NHK~, react a~ the~r ~our to Tokyo·~ NHK Broadcasting Technology Research Center is aired /,ve nationwide dunng the high v,s,on news ftlm1ng Tuesday. AP

Japan needs to push labor market reform

By Yoko Nishikawa TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan needs to address its unemploy­ment problems through labor market reforms rather than spend­ing money to protect jobs, the head of a government panel on working conditions and top labour market academic says.

Atsushi Seike, a professor of labor economics at Tokyo's Keio University, told Reuters in a re­cent interview that a government scheme which gives subsidies to firms keeping excess workers is the wrong approach.

"We have an employment ad­justment fund for curbing unem­ployment, but that will delay struc­tural reforms which help reallo­cate labor from declining sectors to growing sectors," he said.

He said the Japanese govern­ment is also thought to be mulling boosting jobs through extra hir­ing by government agencies, but that was also a misguided way of

tackling worsening job conditions. Japan's jobless rate hit a record ·

high 4.8 percent in March as com­panies mired in recession in­creased layoffs and cut back on hiring, turning up the political heat on the government.

The rate is expected to rise fur­ther due to aggressive corporate restructuring in the months ahead and the government is to announce special measures to boost employ­ment and industry competitive­ness on June 11.

Although the government has yet to decide whether it will enact an extra budget for this business year, which started on April I, some cabinet members have said such a budget might be consid­ered if it is aimed at addressing rising unemployment.

Seike said if the government was willing to use more public money for job measures, it should spend it on improving infrastructure in fast-growing

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sectors such as telecommunica­tions and welfare services.

The key problems were a_rise in the number of people forced to quit their jobs, especially middle-aged breadwinners, and a decline in the number of jobs available.

"If we thin~ of the jobless as water overflowing from a glass, now the glass itself is getting smaller."

He added that private con­sumption was being battered by falling incomes and worsening consumer sentiment overshad­owed by worries about losing jobs.

A rise in the nation's jobless rate to five percent, he said, would have a substantial psy­chological impact on the pub­lic.

Seike said further deregula­tion of temporary staff agencies and job placement agencies was vital, noting that bills related to this are currently being debated in parliament, although certain rules to protect the rights of tem­porary workers are necessary.

Lengthening the period of government financial support for middle-aged workers who take re-training programmes would also help promote flex­ibility in the market.

"There are not many jobs avail­able that middle-aged jobless. people want. But they should now brush up skills that will be useful when the economy recovers."

He added that Japan should pro­hibit age discrimination by firms, citing a report released by the Labour Ministry last week which showed that people aged over 35 were unable to find a new job mainly because companies had set a lower age range.

But what Japan's jobless rsally needed was for the economy to recover from its worst postwar recession.

"The bottom line is ... we need an economic recovery. Job mea­sures that the Labour Ministry may take will have only limited effects, and we shqulc!n 't expect too much from them."

!

FRIDAY, MAY 28, l 999 -MARIANAS V ARJETY NEWS AND VJEWS-27

China JDoves alert Taiwan TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP)-Tai­wanese officials said Wednes­day that they are watching China's military expansion but do not believe the mainland will aim its nuclear warheads at the island.

"We will stay highly alert against any of the Chinese com­munists' military moves," gov­ernment spokesman Chen Chien-jen said.

Findings of a U.S. congres­sional report accusing China of stealing U.S. nuclear arms se­crets indicate that China's lead­ers have "resorted to all means possible to harass their neigh­boring countries," Chen said.

The report said the spying ef­fort positioned China to develop modem mobile nuclear war-

heads as sophisticated as America's.

China's gains in nuclear ca­pat:lity have many Taiwanese feeling uneasy, leading to occa­sional calls for Taiwan to de­velop its own nuclear weapons.

Defense Ministry spokesman Kung Fan-ting reiterated that Taiwan wi II not develop nuclear weapons. As a precaution, Tai­wan will step up measures to minimize damage in the event of a nuclear attack, such as bury­ing milita1y infrastructure and equipping troops with radiation protection suits, he said.

But Lin Chong-pin, vice chairman of the cabinet's Main­land Affairs Council, said he believed China upgraded its nuclear capability to serve as a

warning to the United States of the consequences of getting in­volved in Taiwan's affairs.

"It is unlikely that the Chi­nese communists will use nuclear weapons against Tai­wan," Lin, also a military ex­pert, told reporters. China may not want to destroy the wealthy island if it wishes to rule it some day, he added.

China and Taiwan split po­litically amid a civil war in 1949.

China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and refuses to renounce the use of force to reunify the island with the mainland.

Lin said that by using the threat of a nuclear attack on the United States to keep Washing­ton out of a conflict over Tai­wan, China could have a free

Report: China detains more than 50 dissidents ahead of June 4th BEIJING (AP) - Chinese po­lice have detained two more dis­sidents who were planning to mark next week's 10th anniver­sary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, a human rights group said Wednesday.

Police have rounded up more than 50 democracy activists in the past month for planning to commemorate the anniversary of the military assault that crushed democracy protests on Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989, the Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said.

Many were released, but 14 dissidents were still being held Wednesday, the Hong Kong­based group said.

They included Wang Wenjiang and Wang Zechen. Police picked them up on Tues­day in the steel town of Anshan, 550 kilometers (340 miles) northeast of Beijing, the Infor­mation Center said.

It said the two Wangs, who are not related, had helped or­ganize a petition being planned by more than I 00 dissidents to demand that the government overturn its verdict that the Tiananmen democracy move­ment was an anti-government rebellion that needed to be crushed.

Hundreds were killed ·when troops and tanks shot their way into Beijing on the night of June 3-4, 1989. The government has never apologized or given a credible death toll and has sup­pressed attempts by victims' families and dissidents to mark anniversaries of the crackdown.

Chinese leaders fear that pub-

Construction ... Continued from page 20

and to develop sustainably". Donors for the project are Aus­

tralia (ST2.4 million), New Zealand (STl .6 million), United States (ST600000), China(ST300 000), France (ST300 000) and Papua New Guinea (STl 12 000).

lie commemorations of the 10th anniversary could spark open dissent over mounting unem­ployment and other issues of discontent. The government wants to prevent any protests that might mar celebrations of 50 years ()f Communist Party rule in China this year.

At a meeting Wednesday, a senior party official, Wang Shengjun, called for strength­ened efforts to protect social and political stability, the state­run Xinhua News Agency said.

Wang said China was gener­ally stable. But he also warned that "unstable factors which af­fect social and political stab·il­ity still exist, some of them quite pronounced," Xinhua said.

Police took Wang Wenjiang; a lawyer, away from his home Tuesday afternoon and told his family that evening that he was being formally detained. They told his family to bring Wang

clothes, but did not give a rea­son for his detention, the Infor­mation Center said.

Wang Zechen also was de­tained Tuesday and was being held in a guesthouse, the group said. It did not expect them to be released until afternext Friday's anniversary.

Meanwhile, 10 dissidents from central Xi'an city de­manded in a letter released Wednesday by the New York­based group Human Rights in China that the government free all political prisoners and "im­mediately stop the political per­secution of democracy activ­ists."

They also condemned the de­tention of dissident Jiang Qisheng, who was taken away by police May 18. Jiang was among activists who had called on Chinese to light candles to commemorate those killed in the military assault in 1989.

PROCUREMENT AND SUPPLY CNMI GOVERNMENT

INVITATION TO BID ITB99·0044

Governor Pedro P. Tenorio and Lt. Governor Jesus R. Sablan, through the Director of Procurement and Supply, are requesting bids from qualified indi­viduals or firms to assemble three (s) 3-foot diameter by 12 foot long and

fifteen (15) 2-foot diameter by 12 foot long net-less foam filled vessel fend­ers and hardware.

The scope of work is to provide all labor and equipemnt necessary to pick up and transport the vessel fenders from the Saipan Commercial Port and to install these fenders to the Outer Cove Marina slips as directed by the Outer Cove Marina Operator, Marine Revitalization Corporation (MRC). inter­ested parties may inspect two of 2 foot by 12 foot fenders currently assembled and instalkd at the south end of the Outer Cove Marina loading unloading dock. The fender hardware consists of pad eyes, steel bolts, nuts and wash­ers, stud link chains and shackles.

One (I) original and six (6) copies of sealed bids must be submitted to the Division of Procurement and Supply in a sealed envelope marked Vessel Fender Assembly. The opening of bids will be on June II, 1999 at 10:00 a.m. Any bids r~ceived after 10:00 a.m. on June 11, 1999 will not be accepted. _

The CNMI Government reserves the right to reject any or all bids and to waive any defects if it is in the best interest of the government. All inquiries should be directed to Paul Hamilton. Smiling Cove Marina at 233-1679.

is/ HERMAN s: SABLAN /s/ DR. JOAQUIN TENORIO , Director, Procurement & Supply Secretary of Lands & Natural Resources

hand to deal with the island militarily.

Most likely that would involve launching what he called "acu­puncture warfare": using ballistic and cruise missiles to precisely destroy strategic targets instead of wreaking widespread damage.

That strategy also involves use of computer viruses and "electro-magnetic pulses" to

Wow! It is easy to start!

damageTaiwan'smilitarycom­mand center and cause a melt­down of military computers, he said.

"The warfare could lead to social chaos without killing any­one or destroying any build­ings," he said.

China is expected to master the skills required by the new warfare by 2010, he said.

Saipan A1kikai is celebrating their 5th year anniver­sary by offering the following ''THANK YOU SPECIAL DISCOUNT" For 6 months from May 1.fil to October 31~.,_ Don't miss this chance!!!

FIRST MONTH:

Monthly Fees: s35 (regularly s55) for 3 classes per week s50 (regularly sso) for 4 classes or more

Uniform: s25-35 (50% refundable when returned) Registration Fees: Waved

I Sl;:COND MONTH: until October 31 51

Monthly Fees: Registration Fees:

ANNUAL FEES:

SAME AS THE 1sr MONTH s30 (ONE TIME ONLY)

Pay 12 months, and the 13th month free.

~it\ rJ'.l ii.. ... A•fJlf1J"

SAIPAN AIKIDO ASSOCIATION (SAIPAN AIKIKAI) MUTSUKO MINEGISHI, CHIEF INSTRUCTOR, 6th DEGREE

P.O. Box 5543 CHRB, Saipan 96950 TEUFAX: (670) 322-0567 Tel: 235-6660 E-Mail minegishi@saipan.com • Home Page: http://geocities.com/Colosseum/Ring/9907

COMMONWEALTH PORTS AUTHORITY 0 PUBLIC. NOTICE

NOTICE Of ABANDONED ITEMS The following is a list of Vehicles that appear to have been aban­doned on CPA property at the Saipan Internationa/Airport Impound Lot:

I. Dark Blue 4-dr Mercury Topaz Sedan, License #AAB992 2. Blue Nissan Stanza 4-dr Sedan, License #AAU021 3. Maroon Subaru GLC, License #AAK615 4. Gold 1987 4-dr Nissan Maxima License #ABD665 5. White 1989 4-dr Toyota Camry, License #AAJ974

The legal owners must claim the aboe items no later than May 31, 1999. All unclaimed vehicles will be sold to interested individuals "As Is" after. the final date. Please contact the undersigned at tele­phone #664-3531 or fax us at 234-5962 to make arrangement for inspection.

ls/Herman R. Bermudes Enforcement/Lease Compliance Officer

.. [ . . . .... ., .. ., ........ -..... .

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The.two Koreas reinaintechfd ?

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Northern M~·::. ~nas College Board of ;ae~ents

PUBLIC NOTICE The Northern l>t'farianns College Board of Regents, are hereby giving notice that a regu­lar meeting of tl1e Board of Rc•cnts will be held on Friday.May 28, 1999 at I 0:00 a.m. in the Board of Regents Confer~ncc room. As Terlajc Campus, Saipan.

I. Opening Procedures A. Welcoming Remarks by Chair B. Review/ Approval of Agenda C. Review/ Approval of Drnft Minutes-April 30, 1999

11. Committee Reports A. Pro':!.ram Committee B. FisCal-Lc.g.islativc Committl!c C. Personnel Committee D. Financial Statements

· III. President's Reports A. Adult School/ Adule Basic Education B. Travel Reports C. Le.,vc Report D. Purchases for May E. Contracts Sig.ncd for May F. Personnel Anivitics G. Monthly Rq,orts

IV. Faculty Senate Prl'sidl!nCs Report V. Old Business

A. Recnnsitkration of Sabbatical Lca\'r.; B. Budget Manual C. Flna'nce & Procun:mcnt Policy D. Classification & Compensation E. Recruiting anci Hirin!:! Practic~s F. 1'MA Mc;110randum of Understanding

VI. New Business A. Gift Policy B. LctterofCrcdit C. BOR Annual Organization D. Board Policy 1000. Article 12 E. Robert's Rules of Order

VII. Executive Session VIII. Miscellaneous IX. Adjournment

Micronesian Seminar would like to announce the opening of its new

discussion forum, and invite Micronesians and other interested persons from across the Pacific to

participate in our first topic, 'Traditional Leadership in Micronesian",

from May I to June 30.

Please visit our website at <http:!lwww.micsem.org> for further information.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -North Korean leader Kim Jong I1 received a letter from U.S. Presi­dent Bill Clinton on Wednesday, earned by U.S. envoy William Perry on his trip to the isolated communist state.

The lenerwas delivered through Kirn Yong Nam, head of North Korea's legislative Supreme People's Assembly, whom Perry met Wednesday, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency, which was moni­tored in Seoul.

KCNA did not say what the letter said or whether the enig­matic North Korean leader planned to meet Perry in person. Washing ton hopes for such a meeting.

Perry anived in North Korea on Tuesday for talks meant to persuade it to abandon its sus­pected nuclear arms and missile

development programs. On Wednesday,Kim Yong Nam,

who is also North Korea's second highest ranking official in the rul­ing Workers' Party, met Perry and his party and hosted a.luncheon at North Korea's legislative Mansudae Assembly Hall.

Attending the luncheon on the North's side were, among others, Choe Tae Bok, a Workers' Party secretary, and first vice minister of foreign affairs Kang Sok Ju, vice foreign minister Kim Kye Gwan, and Maj. Gen. Ri Sang U, KCNA said.

The report did not elaborate on what else happened at the function.

Before heading for North Korea, Perry met officials from Japan and South Korea and agreed on a mes­sage to send to Pyongyang.

South Korean news media have speculated that in his personal let­ter, Clinton urged Kim Jong II to

make concessions on weapons pro­liferation, promising the famine­stricken North both· economic as­sistance and improved relations with Washington as rewards.

Perry heads the highest-level U.S. delegation. to travel to the secretive country during the rule of Kim Jong Il, the son 6flongtime ruler Kim II Sung, who died in ·1994.

Fonner U.S. President Jimmy , Carter and congressional delega­

tions have visited North Korea, but no one before Perry has made an official visit representing the U.S. president

Titis week, a U.S. nuclear in­spection team took a look at an underground facility outside Pyongyang. U.S. officials suspect that the· site was used by North Korea to revive its nuclear weap­ons program, which was suspended under a 1994 accord with Wash­ington.

U.S. envoy William Perry (3rd left) poses for photo with Kim Yong Nam, head of North Korea's legislative Supreme People's Assembly (4th right) on Wednesday in Pyongyang. North Korean leader Kim Jong II received a letter from U.S. President Bill Clinton on Wednesday carried by Perry. AP

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On the ccasion of your graduation from junior high school

May 30, 1999

From Mom and Dad

Kashmir _f1gbting concerns the us WASHING TON (Reuters) -The United States said on Wednesday it was concerned over the resurgence of fighting between India and Pakistan in Kashmir following India's air strikes on insurgents in the dis·­pu ted territory.

A State Department official said U.S. embassies in New Delhi and Islamabad had been instructed to "express concern tlbout the fighting that had been going on for several days al­ready."

The official added, "The lat­est fighting underlines the press­ing need for India and Pakistan to resolve their differences. We hope they will be able co do this quickly in the context of the (February India-Pakistan) sum­mit."

India launched two rounds of strikes in northern Kashmir on Wednesday,usinghelicoptergun­ships backed by fighter jets .

11 FRIDAY, MAY 28. 1999-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-29 ----·-----~-~--------------------------------

Report: Milosevic indicted

Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic waves as he boards a plane at the Belgrade airport in this Oct. 31, 1995 file photo. The Yugoslav leader has reportedly been indicted for atrocities in his homeland. AP

By Janet McBride AMSTERDAM (Reuters) The United Nations war crimes tribunal has indicted Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, a court source said on Wednes­day.

There was no official com­ment. But tribunal chief pros­ecutor Louise Arbour scheduled a news conference for Thursday and a spokesman said she would make an '"important announce­ment."

The court source, who de­clined to be named, would not reve:il the contents of the charge sheet, which could range from the most serious crime of geno­cide to breaches of the Geneva Conventions. In Brussels, a source close to the court said the indictment against the Serbian nationalist strongman, who has kindled three Balkan wars this decade. related to the Kosovo conflict.

""The arrest warrant is already signed." he told Reuters.

Serbian security forces have driven more than a million Kosovo Albanians from their homes in the province, forced hundreds of thousands of them to flee abroad. and killed an unknown number of men.

The war crimes court source said the build-up to the indict­ment had been tortuous. Arbour has come under tremendous in­ternaiional pressure to move against Milosevic this year as the Kosovo conflict escalated.

Refusing to be drawn on spe­cific cases, Arbour has persis­tently followed a policy of pur­suing gui It as far up the chain of command as the evidence per­mits.

If she confirms the warrant for Milosevic at a 1200 GMT news conference in The Hague on Thursday, the Yugoslav leader will join former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and military commander Ratko Mladic on the court's ''most wanted" list.

Milosevic would be the first sitting head of state to come under international indictment for war crimes.

The indictment of Milosevic marks a turning point in the Kosovo crisis, Western diplo­mats said. It could strengthen the West's hands in rejecting any compromise with Belgrade.

But it could also complicate negotiations for an end to NATO's two-month-old air war against Yugoslavia since one of Milosevic's demands in talks with Russian envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin has been immu­nity from prosecution, they said.

The indictment may raise pressure from hawks such as British Prime Minister Tony Blair for a NATO ground offen­sive to drive Serbian forces out of Kosovo rather than make any deal with a wanted war crimi­nal, they said.

"'I don't see how anyone can negotate with Milosevic on be­halfof the West now, other than to take his surrendrr," one Eu­ropean diplomat said.

The indictment means Milosevic may never be able to leave Yugoslavia again for fear of being arrested and taken to The Hague for trial.

In 1995, the West refused to negotiate with Karadzic and Mladic because they were in­dicted war criminals.

Instead, Milosevic became the Americans' chosen interlocutor, negotiating on behalf of the Bosnian Serbs atthe Dayton peace talks and avoiding indictment over the 1992-95 Bosnia war.

CNN television, which first broke news of the indictment,

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said others could be named along with Milosevic.

The tribunal has yet to file any indictments stemming from the conflict in Kosovo. But on Tuesday, a prosecution spokes­man said investigators had gath­ered evidence of massive war

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crimes by Serbian forces in Kosovo.

NATO planes began bomb­ing Yugoslavia on March 24 after Milosevic refused to bow to alliance demands to end "eth­nic cleansing" in the southern Serbian province of Kosovo.

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M. IC t· at the corner of Beach Road and I cro O rp Or a IO n Chalan Mnsr. Guerrero in San Jose. Call us at 234-5911 or

An Inchcape Motors Company Fax us at 234-6514

··,·· ...• ., ............. .

30-\1.-\Rl.-\'1 . .\S \' c\RlETY NEWS AND VIEWS-PR IDA Y- MAY?~. 1999

1\vo kids killed in NATO hit-- report BELGRADE (Reuters)-Two children were killed on Wednes­day when NATO planes bombed a village in southwest Kosovo, and the economy minister ap­pealed for an end to strikes on the country's power grid, Yugoslav Serb media said.

Daylight raids were reported throughout southern Serbiaas well as Yugoslavia's second republic, Montenegro, while witnesses said NATO planes struck Serbian tar­gets close to the major border crossing between Kosovo and Albania.

The state news agency Tanjug said the children were kille·d after a bomb hit the village ofRadosti, west of Orahovac, at 8:30 a.m. (0630 GMT). It said another child was wounded.

The Serb-run Pristina Media Centre, monitored by the British Broadcasting Corporation, said a 13-year-old was killed at the scene and the other child died on the way to hospital.

Yugoslav Economy Minister Rade Filipovic asked European energy associations to help stop the attacks, the independent

f g1JU /[liJWij t~,~ Ii j i !1 j ! j iMH jj rn i II NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED

OUTER COVE MARINA RULES AND REGULATIONS The Department of Lands and Natural Resources will

be conducting a public hearing on May 28, 1999 at 7:30 p.m. in the Garapan Elementary School Cafeteria, to hear oral and written comments on the proposed permanent Outer Cove Marina rules and regulations, published in the March 1999 Commonwealth Register. Copies of the rules and regulations are available for pick up at the Division of Fish and Wildlife Office, DLNR located at Lower

Base, Saipan.

May 13, 1999

Joaquin A. Tenorio Secretary, DLNR

Norrhem Marianas Co!lege Departmenr of Conrinuing Education

Corrununiry Programs

Serbian news agency Beta re­ported.

"We hope that you understand the comprehensive risk from fur­ther attacks on the power system, and we appeal to your profes­sional and human conscience to use your influence to stop this type of warfare against the civil­ian population," said Filipovic's appeal, cited by the Yugoslav In­fonnation Ministry.

NATOaircraftearlierthisweek attacked Serbia's power distribu­tion network, depriving millions of Yugoslavs of electricity and

water as pumps failed or worked only intennittently.

Beta said two NATO missiles struck a residential area in Zajecar, eastern Serbia, at 1: 15 p.m. ( 1115 GMT). There were no reports of casualties, but TV Studio 8 said about 50 houses were damaged.

At around 8 p.rn. ( 1800 GMT) Serbian state television RTS went off air the unex:pecte.dly in Belgrade. The signal was lost during the main evening news.

NATO reported one of its most intensive days of attacks since it started bombing on March 24.

VEHICLES FOR SALf "AS IS"

1992 Hyundai Scoupe LS 199& Toyota 4-Runner 4dr wun

Please contact the Bank of Guam Credit Department at telephone number (670) 233-5000 extension

· 208 or 238 for details. Bids will be closed on May 28, 1999 at 6:00 p.m.

The Bank reserves the right to reject any or all offers.

TJjank of <!?uam :h!' Local Bank. The Peoples' Bank.

Member FDIC

These arc short, practical course, on topics

of interest to all. All you need is the de.sire

to learn.

sUMM:ER yoUTH' C:QU,Rs:es. All courses require a minimum number of

students to begin. H a course is cancelled

due to low enrolhnent, you will be notified

and a full refund issued. Refunds requested

prior \a the first meeting will be =<l a

$5.00 administrative fee. No refunds will be issued after the first meeting of any cla.s.<.

Course Title

COMPUTER APPLTCA TIONS Computer Work.hop for Oiildren (Ages 7-12)

GENERAL INTERESTS We· re Off to Piua-1..aDd !

Basic Woodworking [Age,; 13-18)

Self·De[cn.se for Te<:lll

B,.ic Polynesian Dancing

SPORTS Socxcrfor Kid& (Age.<7-10)

Bowling

Beginning Scuba (Ages 13-18)

FTELDTRTPS Trip to Botanical Garden

ARTS & CRAFTS Summer Crafts for Kids Section 1

Mwarmwar & Ti-Leaf Lei Making

SPECIAL INTERESTS Reading & Writing Slcills

Dates

June 14-July 7

lune 26

July 12-Augusl 2

July 6-29

lune 21 •luly 23

June 21-July 23

June 28-Aui;ust 11

TBA

July 23

June 14-July 2

June 19

June 8,August II

Time

9:00am-l0:30am

10:30am-12Noon

9:00am-10:30am

9:00am-10:00am

9:00am-1 O:OOam

5:00pm-6:00pm

3:00pm-4:00pm

8:00am-S:OOpm

1 l:00am-l:30pm

9:00am-1 O:OOam

9:00am-ll:30am

9:00am-lO:OOam

Days

MWP

Sal

MW!'

T,Th

MWF

MWF

MWF

M·P

Fri.

MWF

Sat.

MWF

Fee

$40

$10

$70

$40

$65

$50

$6S

$150

For inquiries concerning registration and

courses, call Boonie or Daisy at Continuing

Education Office at 234-5498/3690, Ext.

1813/1814.

COMING SOON! SUMMER1999

Begimtlng Typ~yboarding

Basic Auto Mechanic

Electricity

$10-kids First Aid & Basic CPR

$12-parcnl&

$25

SIO

Call !or dttalls

234-3690/5498, Ext. 1813(1814

"No~: The Colltge rese,vu lhe rig hi, wirhour prior noric<, to chang•, dekrt, suppkmtnr or

s9s orhtrwist amend ,u a,ry rimt. rht informa:ion and rtquirtm<nts con rained in this schedu/~

Three explosions were reported from the southern city of Nis, Serbia's third biggest, and four "projectiles" hit the Kosovo pro­vincial capital Pristina.

Tanjug said thick black smoke hung over Crni Rt (Black Cape) near the Montenegrin coastal town of Sutomore after alliance planes targeted the area at noon (1000 GMT). NATO planes had hit the same area on Tuesday afternoon.

The official news agency said NATO fired six missiles at the area ofKremani on Mount Tara in western Serbia a little after 3 p.m. (1300 GMT).

Tanjug said NATO also tar­geted the widerre gion ofUzice in western Serbia and that several strong detonations were heard from the area of Mount Kadinjaca at 3:10 p.m. (1310 GMT). Beta said: 'The assumptions are that Ponikve airport was hit again."

Vanuatu ... Continued from page 20

ments and strategies to restruc­ture and refonn the bank into a commercially viable bank for the people of Y anuatu.

McArthur was formally the Chief Manager of Fiji's state­owned Nationa!Bank, where he successfully implemented a simi­lar restructuring programme and turned the once financially troubled institution into a com­mercially viable entity.

The Y anuatu Minister was ac­companied to the briefing by his Director General, Jeffrey Wilfred and two other senior officials.

Hi\ppy Birfhdi\y

MAX Mi'ty 29

From, Sweetie Pcln

r

t: / ',

------------------·-----··---- -·

SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: Smoking By Pregnant Women May Result in Fetal Injury, Premature Birth, And Low Birth Weight.

FRIDAY. MAY 28, 1999-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-31

., ' .. .- ... ,., ........... ' .. .

32-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-FRIDAY- MAY 28, 1999 ----------------··- - -·-·----

By Randall Mikkelsen WASHING TON (Reuters) -The White House on Wednesday opened fire in the battle over next year's federal budget, saying Con-

gressional Republicans had adopted a "blueprint for chaos" that would cut important and popular programmes.

The Congressional budget out-

lines - which boost or protect de­fence spending while slashing other costs to keep within a 1997 budget-balancing agreement -threaten cuts in spending for

(CNMI Customs Service Relocating)

This is to inform the general public that the Division of Customs Service (Administration, Garment and Seaport) offices will be relocating to Saipan Stevedore Company, Inc. Commercial Port Building "A" Puerto Rico, on June 01, 1999. All telephone and fax numbers remain the same. ·

Furthermore, all inbound containers to the seaport will be inspected at the port area. Inspections at the consignees' premises will be stopped. The location of Airport Customs Service will not change.

• Customs (new) office location: Saipan Stevedore Company, Inc. Commercial Port Building ·'A" Puerto Rico. Telephone: 664-1601

JOSE C. MAFNAS A~ting Director of Customs

The Commonwealth Utilities Corporation (CUC) is soliciting sealed bids for the construction of Lower Navy HiJI Sewer Line Construction and Upgrade of Four Sewage Pump Stations. The project consists of two separate parts: (I) construction of a wastewater collection system; and (2) renovation and upgrade of 4 pump stations in various locations. The wastewater collection system (approximately 0.5 miles in length) is to be constructed in the central part of Saipanjust north of the Navy Hill Intersection with Middle Road. The four lift stations are located in Gualo Rai, Sadog Tasi, and near San Roque, all on Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMIJ.

A non-refundable payment of$250.00 is required for each set of Plans, Specifications, and Proposal Forms at the Wastewater Division Office, located on the 3rd Floor of the Joeten Dandan Commercial Bldg., Saipan. A pre-bid conference for this project is scheduled for 9:30 a.m., local time, on Wednesday, May 19, 1999 at the CUC Conference Room.

A bid guarantee of 10 percent of the total bid price must accompany the bids. The security may be in cash, certified check, cashier's check, or other form acceptable to the CNMI Government made payable to the "Commonwealth Utilities Corporation".

1\vo i2J sets of bids, a copy of the firm's CNMI Business License and CNMJ Business Permit in compliance with the Contractor's Registration and Licensing Laws of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is­lands. must be submitted in a sealed envelope marked CUC-IFB-99-0019 to Mr. Mariano DLG. Fajardo, Supervisor for Procurement & Supply. Bids shall be accepted at the CUC & P&S Office, Rm. #4, 3rd Floor of the Jr •.:ten Dandan Commercial Bldg., Saipan, MP 96950, until 2:00 p.m. local time on Tuesday June 08, 1999. Bids will be publicly opened and read aloud shortly after closing time. Late submissions will not be opened.

This roject is made possible through a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. All work perfo ,ied on this project must comply with Federal regulations.

Atte1 r,n is called to the Labor Standard Provisions for Wage Rate Determination of the CNMI Classification and: ary Structure Plans and that payment of not less than minimum salaries and wages as set forth in the Spec ·2·ions must be paid on this project.

CUC serves the right to reject any or all bids and waive any defect in the bid if, in its sole opinion, to do so is in e best interest of the CUC. All bids shall become the property of CUC.

All ir uiries should be directed to Mr. David Yamartino at telephone number (670) 235-7025 to 7032, ext. I 41.

TIMOTHY P. VILLAGOMEZ Executive Director

programmes such as veterans health, embassy security, orchild­immunisation, White House bud­get director Jack Lew said.

"These are deep cuts from cur­rent levels of funding and step backwards into the past," Lew said in a speech at the Brookings Institution think tank. "The ap­propriations committees are now implementing an untenable bud­get resolution which is a blueprint for chaos," he said.

Influential House Republicans said they had no intention of changing their budget plans, even as the agriculture spending por­tion of the budget slowed to a crawl Wednesday amid debate over budget policy. "The strategy is pretty much spelled out," House Appropriations Committee Chair­man Bill Young of Florida said.

Lew's blast presaged another bruising budget fight this year, as President Clinton and the Repub­lic an-con tro II ed Congress struggle over how to use accumu­lating budget surpluses and how to cope with restrictions of the balanced budget deal.

Lew said Congress should take anew look at proposals by Clinton to raise money by boosting ciga­rette prices, in order to help fund increases the president has sought in social programmes. He also urged lawmakers not to pursue any broad tax cuts before they agree on plans to overhaul the Social Security retirement sys­tem and Medicare old-age health programme.

Lew said the administration was not prepared "at this point" to consider waiving the spending caps adopted under the budget­balancing agreement.

Exceeding the caps would al­low the government to tap into anticipated budget surpluses, something Clinton has said he would not accept until a plan for reforming Social Security had been adopted.

Lew's speech follows actions. by the House and Senate appro­priations committees over the last week that set terms for meeting the $20 billion in spending reduc­tions from current levels as man­dated by the 1997 budget agree­ment for the fiscal year that starts October 1, 1999.

The Senate committee on Tues-

day adopted a plan that would cut non-defence programmes across the board and set total discretion­ary spending at $538 billion, $34 billion less than what Clinton has sought.

Clinton would fund the greater spending with revenue increases such as the tobacco assessment, and user fees. The White House contends these offsetting revenues keep the budget in balance under tenns of the 1997 deal, but the Congressional Budget Office said the fees cannot be counted until approved by Congress.

The House committee's budget plan adopted last Wednesday would shift money from contro­versial domestic spending bills into small, more easily approved bills such as military construction projects and Treasury Department and Postal Service funding. Those bills would be passed first, thus putting a financial squeeze on bills to be considered later.

"A few select (spending) bills are headed for quick action," Lew said. "It appears that the leader­ship plans to proceed with fund­ing for the activities of Congress, defence and military construction, creating untenable choices for the rest of the appropriations bills," Lew said.

The House plan, he said, would force cuts of 18 percent in fund­ing for the departments of Labor, Education and Health and Hu­man Services - crippling programmes such as Head Start which gives poor children an early start on school and the Centres for Disease Control which monitors the nation's health.

The departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development would be cut by 16 percent- threatening medical ser­vices to veterans. The departments of State, Justice, Commerce and Interior also would be cut, he said.

However, Representative Rick Lazio, of New York, a memberof the House Republican leadership, said the White House was making a "phony" argument. "The president's budget is an unrealis­tic budget because it relies on taxes that have not been approved and on tobacco settlement money that's not there. So it's a phony ruse to maintain the (spending) caps," he said.

Rep. Christop~er Cox, R-Ca/if. (right) and Rep. Norman Dicks, D­Wash., c~-.cha,rmen of the House select committee on Chinese espio­nage testdiy before the House International subcommittee in Washing­ton Wednesday. AP

i

( .

Fund ... Continued from page 8

As ofend-FY 1998, Fund mem­bership from the executive branch waspeggedat3,078;PublicSchool

DOF ... Continued from page 3

"We don't have the actual expense incurred but we are already in the process of coming up with an ac­tual period."

The Commonwealth is strictly keeping a track of the expenditures incurred during the operations in what the governor said should be a systematic approach to expedite reimbursement.

At the same time, the CNMI chief executive said the local gov­ernment has been very open in its willingness to assistestablishments on Tinian which have been tapped to provide meals for the 500 un­documented Chinese now being held in a holding facility in North Fieid.

Hofschneider. .. Continued from page 3

the Pacific," Hofschneider said. For the $32 million funding,

the islands of Tinian and Rota will receive $3.5 million each.

Saipan is estimated to receive $23 million share for a new high school and junior high school.

Speaker ... Continued from page 3

bill's stated purpose of ending the current policy, which supposedly discriminates against local hires who are not given housing ben­efits.

But Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider (R-Prec. 3, Saipan, the chairofthe Health, Education and Welfare Committee, said Tuesday that the

Couple ... Continued from page 10

assisted in the distribution, court papers said.

Atalig and Johnny took joint possession of the 20 grams of' ice" on April 24, 1998.

Jacqueline having knowledge of the actual colllITµssion of the felony did conceal the same by helping hus-

South ... Continued from page 28

cause Yeltsin was vacationing in southern Russia.

"Because of that reporting, we had some urgent communications and then it was confirmed there was no problem with meeting the Korean president," Lee said.

The spokesman said the two sides probably would not discuss a Rus­sian proposal for South Korea to buy 2,300-tonne, Ki!o class sub­marines from Russia to clear part

Supreme ... Continued from page 2

Although Estrada has ruled out clemency for rapists, he has said he may forgive those who com­mit crimes out of poverty.

On Feb. 5, prison authorities

System at 1,080; Commonwealth Utilities Corporation at 374; Com­monwealth Ports Authority at 251; Northern Marianas College at 228; Marianas Visitors Authority at 66; and others, less than 40.

No one from among the restau­rant owners have so far requested the CNMI government to ask, on their behalf, the US Immigration and Naturalization Service forpay­ments in the services rendered dur­ing the past two weeks.

"I haven't received any com­plaint so far. But if they are not getting payment from the federal government this time, we will try to help them to make sure that they get paid so that they could continue to buy merchandise to feed the undocumented aliens," Tenorio said.

Restaurant owners on Tinian have been complaining about the apparent turtle-paced processing of payments for the supplies and ser­vices used since day-one of the relief operations.

Officials said both Saipan projects will costs approximately $1 7 million. The remaining money will be used for Anatahan school project and other renova­tion projects on Saipan.

The Capital Improvement Projects committee of BOE is scheduled to meettoday to decide on various projects related to the $32 million funding.

bill may "impact" the Department of Public Health's(DPH) ability to attract off-island doctors.

Hofschneider said DPH may have to request additional funding to pay for its off-island recruits' housing expenses.

The Public School System and the Attorney General's Office, which get most of their teachers and lawyers from the mainland US, will also be affected by the pro­posed law.

band, Felix, attempt to flee to Palau. After receiving tips from an in­

formant, members of the DEA­CNMlTaskForceandCNMICus­toms intercepted such shipment from the Philippines at the DHL Office in Chalan LauLau.

The suspects were arrested and the residence of Felix and Jacqueline in Dandan Homestead was subsequently searched by the raiding team.

of Moscow's $1.7 billion in debts to Seoul.

South Korea said last week it would send a team of experts to Moscow next month to have a look at the subs.

Kim will be the first South Ko­rean president to visit Moscow in five years.

Russia is the last of Kim's visits to South Korea's allies and strategic neighbours since his inauguration 15 months ago. He has already visited Britain, the United States, Japan and China to promote his "Sunshine Policy" with North Korea.

put to death Leo Echegaray, a poor house painter convicted of repeatedly raping his I 0-year-old stepdaughter, in the country's first judicial execution in 23 years.

The Philippines abolished capital punishment in 1987 but brought it back in 1994 in re­sponse to widespread crime.

FRIDAY, MAY 28, 1999 -MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-33

DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF THE.NORTHERN MARIANAS

THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE­

JUNE 30, 1999 IS THE FILING DEADLINE OF

CANDIDACY LEITER OF INTENT FOR SEATS IN THE CNMI HOUSE

OF REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATE FOR THE

NOVEMBER 1999 GENERAL ELECTION.

INTERESTED AND ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS ARE ASKED TO SUBMIT

THEIR LEITER OF INTENT NO LATER THAN JUNE 30, 1999. SUBMISSIONS NOT RECEIVED OR POSTMARKED BY THE

JUNE 30, 1999 DEADLINE WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.

PLEASE SUBMIT (LEITER OF INTENT) TO:

THE PRESIDENT NM! DEMOCRATIC PARTY P.O. BOX 676 CK SAIPAN, MP 96950

lrl ·····1, ·:E···i11! J.· -.,11··· .:II( Ii fir ·11 -;IS' ··1.i ,s· ·., ,' I: i t ·-; :. . ! ·. r . ..·· i , t r \ .. r >· --i ' r • ,. ·· · ' \ · , ' t F ' • ! ! ( ; !.:· : \. :: ~ <· t' '·· t: \ \ ::: \:_ .. ' ~ "< ~ ... !,_, __ . \. ... ~ 1·.-- ~--·····--·"·'' ... ,... ··-· - + ··, ___ ,.. , ..• ,, ~---··· " \ ••••• , •.• ,• ••. ,.. , '. •• • •·" ,'. ·.-..•

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS The NMI Council for the Humanities and the CNMI Council for the Arts and Culture are interested in awarding an art commission to commemorate the millen­nium. We envision a series of historical paintings celebrating the strengtb, endurance and adaptability of the indigenous people of the Northern Mariana Islands. Over the centuries the indigenous people of these islands have demonstrated countless times and in countless ways an extraordinary ability to adapt to profound changes in nearly every aspect of life-religious, economic, political and cultural. And despite all the upheavals and vicissitudes of thousands of years of history the peop]e and their culture are still here intact. We want to celebrate this quality and preserve this unique history for future generations. Respondents should consider these requirements:

II

•

•

• •

The theme for these paintings, the single element that ties them all together is: The Endurance of a People and Their Culture. The paintings must be based in the history and culture of the Mariana Islands. Respondents may consider historical events, folklore, legends, stories, songs, dance or any other appropriate cultural expression to emphasize the theme. The paintings must be painted on a material that will withstand time and the elements. The paintings will be displayed at the CNMI Museum in the recessed arches underneath the covered walkway. These arches are approximately three inches deep, six feet tall, and five feet wide. Paintings will be protected by a transpar­ent barrier. Both paintings and barrier must be removable. (The cost of the bar­rier is not part of the proposal). As many as six paintings may be necessary. Deadline for completion is January 1, 2000 .

Respondents should submit pencil or charcoal sketches, and./ or paint studies of each painting, a brief narrative explaining the overall composition of the paintings, th,e historical and cultural basis for each, how the theme is expressed through out th,e series, and plan for completion including the total cost of the proposed paintings. The Humanities Council and the Arts Council will select the artist or artists based on these submissions. Sealed proposals must be submitted to the Humanities Council office located on the ground floor of King's Plaza in Dandan by the close of business on June 17, 1999. Selection is final and any or all submissions may be rejected. This is a competitive project with a funding range of up to $25,000.

34-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-FRIDAY- MAY 28, 1999

MVA ... Continued from page 16

Saipan's major tourist attraction with most tour agents having it

GIA ... Continued from page 12

tiom; and possible potential op­erating losses.

Some potential consequences are invalid transactions, failure of communication systems as they are unable to recognize message dates, financial sys­tems producing inaccurate in­formation, and elevators, secu­rity systems, lighting and other equipment shutting down.

According to Yingling, GIAA has already made an inventory of all its systems including all computer hardware and soft-

Rate ... Continued from page 11

have been committed within the same shift pattern.

Theft, assault, and burglary

among their list of sites to be vis­ited under a "package tour" plan.

Other major spots include the Bird Island, the SuicideandBanzai Cliffs also in Marpi, the Obyan Bay and the Lau Lau Bays.

ware. It has also contacted and worked with the airport's vari­ous vendors, suppliers, and con­sultants to make sure that the airport's systems are compli­ant.

Other systems that the airport has examined include local area network systems, accounting sys­tems, personnel management sys­tems, elevators, escalators, fuel management systems, beacon sys­tems, and communications sys­tems.

Yingling has also detailed GIAA staff members to the Governor's Year 2000 Council to coordinate with other GovGuam agencies and their Y2K programs.

have been mostly done or com­mitted on hours between 6:00 in the evening and 5:00 in the morning, while criminal mis­chief and disturbing the peace during day time.

Palau • • • Continued from page 21

tors that is "simple, transparent, certain and timely, yet protective of national interest."

The report also calls for the establishment of a "registration model" with following character­istics:

*Foreign investors in sectors open to foreign investment be

issued with a Foreign Invest­ment Registration Certificate (FIRC);

*The PIRC be issued by a Reg­istration Officer making the deci­sion based on conformity with three public and transparent lists;

*The Registration Officer is­sues an FIRC to any proposed foreign investment not on the Negative or Reserve Lists, but on the Restricted List; and

*No economic and financial assessment or credibility checks be made of the proposed invest­ment so that the FIRC would be issued within days (or hours) of the application being received.

In the IFC-WB recommenda­tions, it was noted that the Nega-

live List would embody a list of sectors not open to any foreign or citizen private sector investment or business.

In the Reserved List are sectors or activities reserved solely for citizen investors.

And, in the Restricted List are those activities where foreign in­vestment is allowed, subject to specific conditions being met.

While the IFC-WB strongly encourages the Republic to "pro­tect as few sectors" to allow a reasonable level of competition; it has, however, endorsed the re­moval of currentJV requirements; issuance of all FIRCs in perpetu­ity; and removal of the require­ment for foreign investors to main­tain deposit guarantees.

The report further emphasized that foreign investment monitor­ing on Palau is "currently ineffec­tive" such that the government needs to review the requirements for monitoring.

Besides, the present citizen employment policy, according to the report, is "ineffective and dis­criminates" against foreign inves­tors.

Measures to counter this prob­lem as recommended by the IFC-

@ff tee of tbe Jf ob m:ratntng ~artnersbtp ~ct ®ffice of tbe @obernor

Qeommontuealtb of tbe ~ortbern ~ariana: ]~lanM i.otner ~a~e

QCaller ~ox 10007 ~aipan, :ffltl 96950

PUBllC NOTICE (04/29/99)

IUIIIIEI .Ill This is to inform all High School students (Ages 16 & up) that the Governor's JTPA Office is now accepting applications for the Summer Youth Employment and Train­ing Program for the following islands:

Island

Tinian Rota

Slots

50 50

Contact

Anna Marie Hocog Olen Jacob

Office

Personnel Office Labor & Immig.

Phone

433-0032 532-4003

Furthermore, priority consideration will be accorded to U.S. and CNMI Residents, who are economically disadvantaged pursuant to the Poverty Income Guideline. Depending on the availability oflocal funds, the Program may· -:-.,;, accommodate those students who are considered high income i'~l (within the same age range) to fulfill the 50 slots. ;';. ~

Deadline for application submission is June 04, 1999. To ensure fairness, application will not be accepted after the aforementioned established date.

ls/Felix Nogis Executive Director

WB is for the government to aban-. don foreign worker fee or review the amount of fee and apply it to all foreign employees; and apply minimum wage legislation evenly in the private sector by removing the exemption for work permit holders from the new minimum wage legislation .. Or, s,imply de­leting all reference tO minimum wages from the Foreign Invest­ment Act is.called for.

In the area of taxation, the gov­ernment is urged to adopt the In­ternational Monetary Fund's pro­

. posals for reforming the tax envi­ronment.

The report thus strongly rec­ommends that Palau continue with a policy of"no tax incentives" for

· foreign investors. To further enhance the growth

of FD!, the government, accord­ing to the IFC-WB report, should consider membership of the In­ternational Centre for the Settle­ment of Investment Disputes and the Multilateral Investment Guar­antee Agency.

TWA ... Continued from page 17

plicants "may probably reach 3,000 on the last day."

Camacho failed to give an up­dated tally of amnesty registrants, saying the task force is still work­ing on it.

According to most recent offi­cial records released to media, more than 2,500 overstayers have so far sought "limited immunity" from arrest and deportation. Of this figure, some 800 are still look­ing for jobs while more than 1,500 have found temporary employ­ment working under a TWA pro­gram.

Bid • • • Continued from page 17

built, prompting the senator to raise questions about what he considers a "fast-break" move to insert said amendment intro­duced by Senator Sandra Pierantozzi.

Yano said there was a big de­bate on the floor as he believed that it is not right for the na­tional government to accommo­date such amendment, exempt­ing the appropriation for Ngeremlengui State office building from the country's pro­curement law.

"There was hot debate on the floor for two days. A member claimed that the governor went through the proper bidding pro­cess, but such claims have never been substantiated," Yano pointed out.

Senator Lucius, whose par­en ts were from the Ngeremlengui State, according to Yano, has already called the attention of the Office of the Special Prosecutor to look closely into the matter.

According to Yano, the ex­emption is a gross violation of the procurement law. The pro­cedure is that before anybody in the government can implement a capital improvement project, he must seek first an appropria­tion from the national govern­ment in aid of congressional leg­islation, Y ano said.

Man ... Continued from page 6

Salas pleaded guilty of carrying a fireann without an ID card. In return, the government recom­mended the dismissal of the re-

DOF ... Continued from page 9

ing for each of the U.S. territories, Webb said the U.S. Office of Bud­get and Management already ap­propriated some $21 million for the Y2K compliance project.

The Interior tasked USDA to provide assistance to U.S. territo­ries and Freely Associated States to develop Y2K action plans which address mission-critical systems.

Deborah Milks, USDA's Y2K Task Force member, was here re­cently to collect information on CNMigovemmentagencies' Y2K

CDC ... Continued from page 3

on leave. Among others, Eng will review

the U.S. Army Corps of Engi­neers and the Environmental Pro­tection Agency's earlier studies · on the contamination. The previ-· ous studies, however, did not zero in on possible human health prob­lems associated with the war chemicals.

Eng's arrival will coincide with the two-week training of some 300CNMI policemen, emergency management personnel, customs staff, and health personnel under the auspices of the U.S. Immigra­tion health Service.

Villagomez also said that Eng will work closely with DPH, DEQ, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, EPA and other agencies that may have earlier studies or assessments of the contamination.

DPH has sought CDC's assis­tance following Rep. Dino Jones' personal request as the legislator said his constituents are greatly in a disadvantaged situation.

Jones said while the US Army Corps of Engineers has been very active in studying and disposing war chemicals in Tanapag, people who have already been contami­nated or are prone to contamina­tion have not been given proper medical attention.

CNMI Resident Representative to U.S. Juan N. Babauta earlier raised concerns on cases of "un­usual cancers, an abnormal num­ber of chromosomal defects and high rates of congenital heart dis­ease" among the local populace r---------,

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maining charge. The court accepted the plea as

well as the terms of the agreement. Court information showed that

· on Oct. 27, 1997 Salas was found carrying a.22caliberPhoenix.Arms long rifle without a valid identifi­cation card.

compliance efforts. The CNMI Y2K Task Force has

successfully dealt with government's small networks and desktop systems and has worked closely with the private sector to address Y2K problems.

Experts warned that the Millen­nium bug threatens systems run by old computer programs which will interpret the Year 2000 as 1900, which has the same last two digits.

As a result, any program with a date such as billing, payroll, inven­tory, and bank accounts, among others, could crash or give mis­leading answers starting January l, 2000.

particularly in Tanapag allegedly due to PCB contamination.

Babauta lamented that Saipan has still not been rid of PCB con­tamination 20 years after a the CNMI government first sought federal assistance on the matter.

FRIDAY, MAY 28, 1999-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-35

SNM ... Continued from page 6

Development and Program was "very productive."

"Everyoneexpressed willingness to cooperate and help address all the concerns about the lease," he said

"It was a fruitful meeting," Tenorio said. "We recognize that SNMneedstheextensionsoitcould get capital infusion. We also rec­ognize thatSNMhasinvestedsome $100 million in the CNMI. It is a good business partner for Rota and

Jones ... Continued from page 6

"I hope some fairness would be achieved ... as a result of our work­ingtogetherand/orthroughAPIL's support," Jones said.

In 1982, several TIGemployees filed a class action lawsuit in the federal district court on Saipan against the Trust Tenitory high commissioner for creating a com­pensation schedule they believed

Housing ... Continued from page 8 and receive fixed housing allow­ance, or stay at the government

the commonwealth." The Bureau of Public Lands

(BPL), which supervises the DPL in the management and disposition of public lands, earlier insisted that the Legislature should not approve the land lease extension without allowing DPL to review the lease application.

But key legislators maintain that there is legal opinion stating that the Legislature can go ahead and approve the extension even if the proposal is not reviewed by DPL andBPL.

BPL, in addition, said the pend-

was discriminatory to Micronesians, including residents of the Northern Marianas.

The employees said they shou Id receive the same rate of wages as given to US citizens from Jan. 9, 1978, the date the islands became a US commonwealth.

But TIG argued that the district court had no jurisdiction over the matter. In I 983, the court rejected TIG's motion and, according to Jones, "essentially decided in fa-

housing and pay for the costs of repairing them.

DPH'smoveisinresponsetothe huge amount of money it annually spends to fix government-provided

ing lawsuit involving SNM should first be resolved before any request for lease extension can be heard.

SNM was granted a 25-year land lease in 1990. In 1992 and 1996, SNM applied for a 15-year exten­sion but did not agree with the terms proposed by the Rota legisla­tive delegation.

This time, however, ·the delega­tion has not set out new terms and is fully supporting the extension, which has to be approved by the 3/ 4 vote of the members of the Senate and the House of Representatives in a joint session.

vor of the ... claimants." TIG and the US Interior Depart­

ment appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court, which ruled in their favor by dismissing the lawsuit.

The US Supreme Court then re­fused to entertain an appeal.

"It should be noted," Jones said, "that the Ninth Circuit Court's finding ... was not on the merit of the case, but only that the district court on Saipan had no jurisdiction to hear the matter."

housing that are already beyond repair. The department has report­edly spent around $200,000 total costs of repairs made in its Capitol Hill and Navy Hill housing projects.

®ff tee of tbe Job \!training ~artnersbtp ~ct <l&ffire of tbe ~obernor

Qeommonwealtb of tbe ~ortbern ;ffiariana 3Jslanbs i.otuer ~a:~e

QCaller ~ox 10007 ~aipan, :ffllil 96950

PUBllC NOllCE (04/29/99)

S I ·111 rlll fE ·11 ..1· ·1 ··1 ·.· ,. · .. r; ... '.: [.'.' .. '.· !i, t.·'. ! . . I. ; "' i ' \ .f I . C -.~ -'~ ,: ~ f·; :·· 1-~ :;: I ._. .~ " ~ ( :t t I ¥ '' ·~ t. '- . ·~-' ·~1~.-~ f:..:: ~ fi,... ~ 'I;:.,;, ~-.1- ;, ..... ~~., ·~·, t... '. ,,;, ·,·,, ,, ',. ,,,.,·.~

THIS IS TO INFORM ALL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS SPECIFICALLY FOR SAIPAN (AGES 16 &UP) THAT THE GOVERNOR'S JTPA OFFICE IS NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR THE SUMMER YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING PROGRAlv1.

PRIORITY CONSIDERATION WILL BE ACCORDED TO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WHO ARE BELOW THE POVERTY INCOME GUIDELINE. HOW­EVER, DEPENDING ON THE AVAILABILITY OF LOCAL FUNDS, THE PROGRAM MAY ACCOMMODATE THOSE STUDENTS WHO ARE CONSIDERED HIGH INCOME (WITHIN THE SAME AGE RANGE) TO FULFILL THE 300 SLOTS.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION IS FRIDAY, JUNE 11, 1999. NO APPLICATION WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER THE ESTABLISHED DATE.

APPLICATION CAN BE OBTAINED AT THE MHS COUNSELOR'S OFFICE OR THE JTPA OFFICE LOCATED DIRECTLY ACROSS CUC. FOR INQUIRIES PLEASE

. CONTACT MR. MARTIN PANGELINAN OR MRS. LAURENT T. CHONG AT 664-1700/4.

IS/FELIX NOGIS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

'' '36cMARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS FRIDAY- MAY 28, 1999

Gov't ... Continued from page 1

administration assumed office last year.

"We are building up the reserve fundofrebatesand we are moni­toring very carefully not only our expenditure but the tax: that we generate to make sure chat the rebate money is avail­able," Tenorio said.

He has assured Northern Marianas taxpayers that his

administration is now work­ing at issuing rebate checks as scheduled, in an apparent at­tempt to hinder a repetition of last year's delayed release.

The issuance of rebate checks was delayed for more than two months during the last tax: year. In 1998, the first batch of rebates was released in August when it is normally mailed out during the month of May.

Tenorio said efforts are now underway to improve rebate processing system, adding that

1/Je, tlwJami(!f,[1/the!ate,

PEDRO SABLAN ~ ·... . . ·• .... -- . . . -· . ·.. ,, . '

DELED~N. GUERRERO

better known as "Pedron Lola"

would like to extend our sincere appreciation to all our friends and relatives who unselfishly gave up their time, supported us in one way or another, for your presence at the nightly rosary, the Eucharistic Celebration ol his lile and placing him to rest and most especially ior your oifering of Masses and prayers.

his administration is deter­mined at giving out income tax forms as scheduled to give the Department of Finance enough time to process and release the checks promptly.

Government officials. said the administration has already identified sources of funds for the payment of tax refunds this year. In 1998, the CNMI was hounded by speculations that re bates will not be released because of emptied public cof­fers.

11/e/ e :dend J)ecial f7hank, to;·

Techa Margaret DLG. Santos, CHC Personnel, DPS Personnel, Bishop Tomas A. Camacho, Fr. Gary Bradley, Erny Pelican and group, Mayor's Office, Choir led by Mrs. Erny Camacho and

to all those who assisted that we forgot to mention.

Words cannot adequately express our sincere gratitude and deepest appreciation to all our relatives and friends. We thank you for all the support, show of sympathy, prayers, condolences that you showed during the hour of sorrow. We are eternally grateful to each and everyone of you.

Once again, from all of us, we humbly say ....

g'/zanfv ,Y,llf,l;, Uv 0~ ._;Ya, Jt J/tv u&Jf1a-~ CHILDREN & FAMILY

IN LOVING MEMORY

. .

.

.

J'~ D.O.B.: N~vember 28, 1950 i.{ff!ff}f.,J.~.?l

DIED. May 22, 1999 ~

Lydia Regina Stephen was called to her eternal rest at the age of 48. As she rests, she now joins her: Father: Stephen Jessy, Mother: Rumis Iiba.

~ 6we ad~ «Jilt,~~~ de~ °t fu-:

Son: Jessie John (JJ) Stephen Grandson: Frankie Joe K. Stephen Brother & Sisters: Epel Stephen (Katleen), Chuuk; Misako S. Etemer (Phillip),

Chuuk; Rena S. Sow as (Elaisar), Chuuk: Ema Stephen (Rick), Saipan; Ketsy Stephen (Saipan). Reared Children: Hector Billimon, Niki DLG. Tudela, Leona DLG. Sablan,

Luis Deleon Guerrero, Majesty Stephen, Daisy lgitol, and Melency Stephen. Promise Sister: Julia Raed

Rosary is said nightly at her residence in Garapan, upper MlHA Housing (House No. M-21) at 7:00 p.m. Viewing and last respects may be paid on

Saturday, May 29, I 999 from 8:30a.m.-2:30p.m. Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at

immediately follow at Chalan Kanoa Cemetery.

When the Teno Administration assumed office in January last year, the transitioncommitteehad

Don't ... Continued from page 5

Speakership. Another comment made was to the effect that our elected officials have been and still are, doing a very good job serving the people of the CNMI.

If this claim is so; then why haven't the issues of our CNMI residents who in the first place entrusted their fafrh and confi­dence in our current elected offi­cials, left unanswered?

Why have funds not been found to pay out the EIC owed?

Why haven't the annual pay­increment for government em­ployees been fulfilled as prom­ised?

Why are funds being made available in addition to appearing out of nowhere as soon as illegal Chinese nationals started to in­flux into Tinian. On the other hand however, constituents/US citizens

uncovered that the special trust fund has dipped to $2 million from $31 million as of end-1997.

are constantly being reminded that there's no funds available to sup­port their concerns' and their children's concerns?

Why are.unnecessary off-island trips being taken at taxpayers ex­pense when austerity measures should've been enforced? This is about those trips which really didn't require an entourage of elected officials.

If the current elected officials believe that they can once again fool the constituents by just words alone; If they belief that family ties are all that's needed to stay in office this coming election, then they need to wake up very quickly and realize that the younger gen­eration of CNMI residents along with the residents who have been deceived with empty promises of support regarding their issues of concern in the past have now be­come more aware of the empty words rendered to them.

ieatb anb junttal ijnnouncement

Mariana . Camacho Reyes

Guzman

SURVIVED BY: Childrens: Joseph R. Guzman

David R. Guzman Jason R. Guzman

Grandson: Andrew E. Guzman Husband: Antonio Concepcion Guzman (deceased)

Parents: Jose Cruz Reyes (deceased) Rufina Campus Camacho Reyes (deceased) Sisters: Bernie Camacho Reyes (deceased]

Brother-in-law: Thomas Salas Villagomez (deceased) Brothers/Sisters & Spouse:

Ben C. Reyes & Afuncina; Dolores R. Sablan & Manuel; Petra R. Babauta & Jesus; Terry R. Prosser & Fritz (Fred)·

Margaret R. Tenorio & Jack; ' Pudding R. Villagomez-McGeathey & Willie· Vickie_ R. Maratita; John C. Reyes & Petra;' Rem1 R. Sablan & David; Dora C. Reyes

Brother/Sister-in-law: Petronila & Enrique Pinaula; Francisco & Maria Guzman· . Erinistino & Jose (dtlceasedJ Langas; '

Remed10 (de?eased) & Jes~s Ouinlaanilla; Alejo & Erminia Guzman; Teresita & Jesus Quidachay Cruz; Joseph Quidachay-

David Q. Maratita; Jack B. Cruz ' ~uneral services will be on Friday, May 28, 1999 at Santa Rita Church m Guam from 8:00am-1:00pm. Followed by mass of Christian Burial

Daily mass is being offered at 5:00 am at Kristo Rai Church · Final mass wilt be on June B, 1999 and breakfast will ·

be served after mass. Thank you for your prayers THE FAMILY

..

AUTOMATIC SELLER

~....r1IVIACHINE Busy schedule? You stfll ho~·e plenty or.'

ttmeto place a closslnedod. Just fox your ad j. copy1o 234-9271. lt"so quick and ~osywoy

to sell your u_nwanted Items for quick cash.

j It you don't hove access to a FAX machine. Call 234-9797 /6341 /7578 , . and.a representative will help you place your ad over the phone.

·:<!J,;f arianas %riet~ · FAX your ad to /o'l\ . -- 234-9271 bl\;

, ___ L.

',\

Palau ... Continued from page 1

operating for KFC have engaged in "illegal'' fishing activities that cause damage to Palau's natural resources.

A source told Palau Horizon that the OSP has touched a "sen­sitive cord" by filing a case against KFC owing to the fact that the owner as well as the defendant's counsel areretated to the country's top leader.

The Office of Special Prosercutor and the Office of the General Attorney (AGO) are look­ing into allegations of forged fish­ing permits brought up by Sen. Joshua Koshiba in his April 15, 1998 letter to Rosenthal.

Rosenthal informed Koshiba that evidence so far gathered indi­cates that an individual working as a licensing officer for the PMA forged or altered the signature of the Bureau of Natural Resources

NMI ... Continued from page 1

any "knee-jerk" reaction to what he described as a "smear cam­paign" against the CNMI.

"Instead, we should look for­ward to making our case before Congress, and this opportunity will be available to us when [the Murkowski and Young commit­tees] hold a public hearing," Babauta said.

"That should be the forum where we could make our best case against 'federal takeover.'

"I'm looking forward to work­ing with Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio in that effort."

Babauta said because of the re­cent "escalation" of the contro­versy over local labor and immi­gration policies, even a friend of the C~Mllike Young is now"very concerned."

Babauta said Young can only tum to the CNMI to help him address concerns in Washington, D.C. regarding alleged labor abuses here.

"We have to do that in the hear­ings," he said. "I believe we all feel a sense of obligation to pro­vide him with all the information he needs so he can maintain his

Teno ... Continued from page 1

will also serve as ambassadors of goodwill. "The efforts of rigor­ous training have come to an end and those skills will finally be put to test."

The CN MI chief executives said he expects CNMI athletes to bring home as many golds as they can. But more than the medals, he said the athlete's ability to display ca­maraderie and good sportsman­ship is the best reward they can

NMI ... Continued from page 1

larly impressed by the highly criti­cal legal analysis submitted by MLSC to his committee.

However, he added, most legis­lators believe that because the CNMI controls its own immigra-

· and Development Director Demei Otobed.

The prosecutor has also detected forgeries and alterations in fish­ing permits for Fisheries Asso­ciation of Japan, Palau Maritime Industries Corporation and Palau International Traders, Inc., dis­covering as many as four checks altered.

Otobed refused to comment saying the matter is already under litigation.

Koniyoshi's lawyers, Roman Bedor and Oldiasis Ngiraikelau, earlier filed a motion to quash the service since the OSP delivered the complaint without a summons.

Summons were served only af­ter more than three hours later the defendant filed the motion to quash the service.

On May 19, 1993, Yukio Shmull, Palau Maritime Author­ity chairman and Kuniyoshi en­tered into a five-year foreign fish­ing agreement or so-called "Kuniyoshi Fishing Agreement"

support for the CNMI." Young, Babauta said, is the

commonwealth's "last strong ally" in Congress.

He add~d, however, that the CNMI has become a very politi­cal issue in Washington, D.C.

"And we have been victimized because of it," he said. "On top of that, the trend now in Congress is the introductionofbipartisan 'fed­eral takeover' bills. This is a very serious development."

Since introducing "federal take­over" legislation in the 105th Congress, California's George Miller, Young's Democratic counterpart on the committee, has been "nagging" the Alaskan to hold a hearing on CNMI issues.

Miller recently alleged that his repeated requests for a hearing have been denied because of the "cozy relationship" between key House Republicans and CNMI garment manufacturers, a charge denied by both.

Earlier this week, the Demo­cratic Congressional Campaign Committee faxed letters to mem­bers of Congress, urging them to watch ABC's news program, "20/ 20," which supposedly detailed House Majority Whip Tom De Lay's (R-Texas) "Dealmaking with Lawbreaking Company on Saipan.''

bring home. "We conferourfull support and

remind everyone that participat­ing in these Games is a privilege all by itself," the governor said.

CNMI athletes will be compet­ing for medals in various fields of sports against over 3,000 athletes from several countries in the re­gion.

The athletes underwent rigor­ous training that would prepare them to compete during the most awaited sports event in the South Pacific region.

tion policies, it can impose re­strictions.

Like the Office of the Palau President and Mayor Manglona, MLSC is opposed to the passage of H.B. 11-294, saying is dis­criminatory, uncharitable and could create tension with the fed­eral government.

FRIDAY, MAY 2g, 1999 ~MARIANAS V ARIBTY NEWS AND VIE\VS'-37

which took effect starting June 1, 1993 through May 31, 1998.

OnJune23, 1993,aHouseJoint Resolution was adopted by the Olbiil Era Kelulau approving the proposed agreement. ·

It was learned that Sen. Joshua Koshiba wrote to· Rosenthal last May 11 requesting a report from the OSP regarding the investiga­tion of alleged illegal acts involv­ing KFC and employees of the BNRD.

In his May 14 letter to Koshiba, Rosenthal said the resources and development (!{ and D) minister issued permits to KFC subsequent to the fishing agreement's expira­tion, with the minister advising that the PMA had received appro-

. priate fishing fees for 30 permits, still considered in good standing.

The minister also stated that by his authority he would allow KFC to extend its fishing rights [to conduct fishing activities under the PMA-KFC agreement] until the expiration dates of the issued fishing licenses.

Rosenthal noted though that since the agreement expired ef­fective midnight of May 31, 1998, KFC's fishing activities are no longer covered by the agreement.

He further said the R and D minister does not have the author­ity under the law to make exemp­tions to Title 27 to allow foreign fishing vessels to engage in fish­ing operations without a valid fish­ing agreement.

A letter to the AGO dated Oct. 19, 1998 was also cited informing Otobed that the bureau was not authorized to issue fishin·g per­mits in the absence of a valid fishing agreement.

narily granted where there is "ad­equate remedy" at law.

Defendant's counsel stated "if there is an irreparable injury it is on defendant" since the plaintiff did authorize the defendant to fish and charge/collected the sum of $68,500 for fishing permit li­censes.

Defendant's counsel opposed the motion on arguments that injunctive relief will not be ordi-

Northern Mariana Islands

TIREMENT FUND

PUBLIC NOTICE Pursuant to Public Law 8-41, Section II, Governor Pedro P. Tenorio and Lt. Governor Jesus R. Sablan, through the NM! Retirement Fund Board of Trustees/Workers' Compensation Commission, are hereby giving notice that the Board of Trustees will hold a regular meeting on Tuesday, June\, 1999, at 9:00 a.m. in the Fund Conference Room. Rota.

A. B. c. D. E. F. G. H. ,.

J.

K.

L. M.

CALL TO ORDER ADOPTION OF AGENDA ADOPTION OF MINUTES

AGENDA

REPORT OF THE HEARING OFFICER REPORT OF THE LEGAL COUNSEL REPORT OF THE ADMINISTRATOR REPORT OF THE INVESTMENT COMMl'ITEE CORRESPONDENCE OLD BUSINFJlS I. FY 20000 Budget - GHLI, WCC and NMIRF 2. GHLIP

a) Rules and Regulations -Amendment b) Premium Rates

NEW BUSINESS I. Refund of Contributions 2. Request for Reemployment Exemption 3. Appeals on Bene fits

a) Consolidation of Benefits b) Computation of Annuity

4. MHLP - Request for Approval of New Contractor­MISCELLANEOUS I. Money Managers' Reports Ended 3/31/99 2. IFEBP Article · Investment Manager 3. Article on Entitlement to Life Insurance Proceeds. NEXT MEETING ADJOURNMENT

COMMONWEALTH UTILITIES CORPORATION REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

CUC-RFP-99-0020 May 28, 1999

The Commonwealth Utilities Corporation is soliciting· proposals from qualified NE engineering iirms for providing Construction Management Services for the construction of the Lower Navy Hill Sewer Line and Upgrade of Four Sewage Pump Stations, in Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). The project consists of two separate parts: (1) Construction of a wastewater collection system, and (2) Renovation and upgrade of 4 pump stations in various locations. The wastewater collection system (approximately 0.5 miles in length) is to be constructed in the central part of Saipan just north of the Navy Hill Intersection with Middle Road, The four lift stations are located in Gualo Rai, Sadog Tasi, and near San Roque. The estimated construction period is 200 days from the date of the Notice to Proceed.

All interested firms may pick-up a Scope of Work at the Procurement & Supply Office, Rm. #4, 3rd Floor at the Joeten Dandan Commercial Bldg., during normal working hours, Monday through Friday, except for Government observed holidays. A pre-proposal conference for this project is scheduled for Wednesday, June 16, 1999, at 9:30 a.m., local time at the CUC Conference Room.

The scope of the Construction Management services will include, but not be limited to:

1. Critical review of the plans and specifications for errors, lack of clarification and potential conflicts having impact on the construction activity and schedules.

2. Review contractor's submissions of work schedules, shop drawings, etc. and make appropriate recommendations to CUC.

3. Conduct regular inspections to assure that the construction is in compliance with the approved drawings, specifications and the applicable codes, including submission of daily inspection reports and weekly progress reports.

4. Initiation of any change orders, if needed. 5. Review the Progress Payment Requests from the contractor and forward them with appropriate

recommendations to CUC. 6. Assist CUC in closing out the contract including obtaining the "As Built" drawings.

Offerers shall provide a certification signed by a principle of the company stating that the company has in the past, and is currently, in compliance with all applicable CNMI and federal labor laws. Should the company be enable to provide such certiiication, the company must provide a written explanation as to why, including a description of any violations of such labor laws and any remedial action taken. FAILURE OF THE COMPANY TO PROVIDE THE CERTIFICATION OR EXPleANATION IS GROUNDS TO REJECT THE ENTIRE PROPOSAL.

Proposals will be evaluated and preliminary selection made based on: Qualification of the principal and proposed staff (25 points), Experience in similar projects (25 points), Proposed project approach (20 points), lime frame of the work (15 points), and Completeness of !he proposal (15 points).

The three design firms which receive the highest rating will be invited to submit price proposals. CUC will then enter into negotiation with the one submitting the lowest price.

One (1) original and five (5) copies of the proposals must be submitted in a sealed envelope marked CUC-IFB-99-0020 to Mr. Mariano DLG. Fajardo, Supervisor for Procurement & Supply. Proposals will be accepted at the CUC P&S Office, Rm. #4, 3rd Floor of the Joeten Dandan Commercial Bldg., Saipan, MP 96950, until 2:00 p.m., local lime, on Wednesday, June 30, 1999.

CUC reserves the right to reject any or all bids and waive any defect in the proposal if, in its sole opinion, to do so is in the best interest of the government. All proposals shall become the property of CUC.

All inquiries should be directed to Mr. David Yamartino at telephone number (670) 235-7025-32, ext. 141.

TIMOTHY P. VILLAGOMEZ Executive Director

38-MARIANAS V ARIETI' NEWS AND VIEWS-FRIDAY- MAY 28, 1999

Hollywood movie review:

Connery back in 'Entrapment' parings. "The relationship reminds meofKatherineHepburnandSpen­cer Tracy or Bogart and Bacall in some of their films." She com­ments. "ENrRAPMENT can be watched as an old-fashioned ro­mance, even though it's all bellow the surface."

By Lucite Bentley SCREEN legend and Oscar win­ner Sean Connery plays Mac, a solitary master art thief whose world is rurned upside down when he meets insurance investigator Gin, played by Catherine Zeta­Jones.

ENTRAPMENT is Zeta-Jones' first role since The Mask of Zorro, in which she ignited considerable cinematic fireworks as one of Zorro's daughter and another's future wife.

So when a priceless Rembrandt is stolen in New Yark, the evi­dence points to Mac, Insurance investigator Virginia "Gin" Baker (Catherine Zeta-Jones) persuades her boss, whose company will lose $24 million on the theft, to let her go after the master criminal.

The strong-willed and resource­ful Gin has a plan to entrap Mac, but he proves even more elusive and crafty than she expected. While engaging in an electric pas de deux of wariness and attrac­tion, Mac and Gin form an edgy partnership that takes them from London via the Western Isles of Scotland, to Kuala Lumpur, the high-tech capital of Malaysia. Together the worldly· thief and the beautiful tough insurance in­vestigator out to make a name for herself come up with a daring plan for a multi-billion dollar­heist-billion tied to the dawn of a new millennium.

Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones meticulously execute their ingenious plan in Entrapment. Photo by David Appleby

"Entrapment is a good yam, with wit, and an intriguing ro­mantic element that puts a real sting in the tale" states Connery. It's like a Peking Opera-each char-

acter has an agenda different from the one they initially appear to have."

Connery's appreciation of the screenplay stems from more than an actor's perspective. serving as one of the film's producers, he was heavily involved, with Rhonda Tollefson, in the devel­opment of the script, casting and pre-production.

Returning to the subject of the story and his character, Connery reflects on the changes that Mac undergoes. At first, Mac's agenda is a simple one. "He's a loner," Connery offers, "who appreciates

art and beauty. he is totally pre­pared for every contingency. the one thing he's not prepared for is this woman. in the course of the film, she turns the tables on him a few times."

Catherine Zeta-Jones was the perfect choice to playMac' s wor­thy counterpart in "crime and ro­mance" said Connery. "Catherine is one of the most beautiful women I have ever had the pleasure of working with," confides Connery. "Yet moviegoers in the US may not have the slightest idea where, this star-struck girl from Wales who was British tap-dancing

A . . ; . ·. ··· .. ···· .. ·· ... ·· ... · · .. · ····.··. >.ti?/).•'..t. i.·.•. \ .. •.·· .. •.t .... ,.·•····.•.•·.• .. ·.·· .. ·.r.>.• .. ·.• .. ·.· .. •.·.·.· ... • ... · .. • .. •.•• .. :.··.r .. •.·.·.· .. ··• .. •·.·•· ... •· ... •·.•.• .. ".•·.•.'.• .. ···.····.•••.••.•.·.··.·< ... !.; .. ·.· .. •.i.•.·.·····.··.•·.·•·.··.·· .•. • .. · ..... · .. ' •. ·•.··· .. ·.·.r .•. ·.· .. ··.·.·.·.•· •..•..•... •• ...•. • .. · .. ·····.•.·• non-rou .. 1.n.e·.·~0u1,11ne< AN old burlesque routine, once performed by Abbott and Costello, goes something like this:

Bud and Lou were delivery men for the Padrone Bottled Water Company. Today they were given the task ofdeliver­ing28 bottles of water to 7 fami 0

lies, equally divided. But Lou was not sure how to divide the bottles evenly. Bud said notto worry, and showed him the fol­lowing calculation: ,

You divide 28 by 7, .by first putting the 7 into the 8, and. you get 1:

\:>:t :,-:. -:::-::: ? \: ::::\\: :r

?~111;',,

champ at 131 came from." Several other actresses had been

considered to play Gin, but Connery and producer Tollefson wanted someone relatively new and fresh to take the audience through the twits and turns of the story. Zeta-Jones had this quality, and much more, recalls Tollefson.

"I was attracted by Gin's won­derful sense of adventure and the deep and complex attraction that slowly builds between the char­acters" confided ZetaJ ones.

Zeta-Jones thinks heron-screen chemistry with Connery is remi­niscent of some previous screen

Director Amie! describes the script as "unusual in the context of contemporary movies. It's an ex­citing adventure movie, but has real people who make you believe and care about them. it has charac­ters drawn into situations that~ heightened, but are nonetheless believable. I saw the opportunity here to make a movie I've wanted to see for a long time-an action movie with a brain and a heart"

ENrRAPMENT was filmed at England's famed Pinewood Stu­dios, as well as in London, Scot­land and Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur.

Scotland's Isle of Mull provided thelocalefortheexteriorsofMac's safe house. Castle Duart, ancestral home of the Clan MacLean, doubled for the safe house. The stronghold was once one of a string of seven castles built by the clan chiefs as custodians of the West Coast of Scotland, each able to communicate news of impend­ing Viking or English invasions by way of a series of beacons lit to pass on a warning of danger.

The present lord of the castle, Sir Lachlan MacLean, 28th Chief of the Clan, welcomed the cast and crew. for Sean Connery, whose mother was born a MacLean, the welcome was espe­cially warm.

. /

PROCUREMENT AND SUPPLY CNMI GOVERNMENT

INVITATION TO BID 1TB NO. : lm99-0043 FOR: ISSUANCE AGENT REDEMPTION AGENT AND COUPON PRINTING AGENT OPENING DATE : JUNE 02 1999 TIME : )Q·OO AM

GOVERNOR PEDRO P, TENORIO AND LT. GOVERNOR JESUS R SABLAN THROUGH THE DIVISION OF PROCUREMENT AND SUPPLY. ARE SOLICITING COMPETITIVE SEALED BIDS TO QUALIFIED INDIVIDUALS OR FIRMS FOR ISSU· ANCE AGENT. REDEMPTION AND COUPON PRINTING AGENT. INTERESTED IN· DIVIDUALS OR FIRMS MAY PICK UP FORMS AND SPECIFICATIONS AT THE OF· FICE OF THE DIRECTOR. PROCUREMENT AND SUPPLY, LOWER BASE, SAIPAN, DURING WORKING HOURS (7:30 A.M. TO '1:30 P.M.).

ls/HERMANS SABLAN DIRECTOR. DIVISION OF PROCUREMENT AND SUPPLY

1989 DEVILLE - 4 DOOR SEDAN - WHITE IN COLOR

INSPECTED MAY 1999 -VALID UNTIL MAY 2000 Low MILEAGE - 64,000 MILES

(103,000 KILOMETERS)

GOOD CONDITION - CLEAN INTERIOR

FULLY AUTOMATIC- GOOD AIRCON

U.S. MAINLAND BOOK PRICE $6,600 FOB

SAIPAN PRICE $3,000 GASH ONLY

CONTACT: 322-3929 -AFTER 5 P.M.

- R'SAI._E Coleman Electric Generator/2250 watts, new ......................... $300 Hoover upright vacuum w/tools, good condition ...................... $75 Yellow Scuba Air Tarik ................................................................ $25 Tuo Cotton-Stuffed Double Size Mattresses for ................ $30 $50 Wood Frame Futons, Good Condition 4 Drawer Army Green Metal File Cabinet ................................ $20 White Bookshelves-5 shelf-1 'x2 lfi 'x6' ..................................... $30 Black Bookshelves-5 shelf-1 'x6' long x 5 height ....................... $30 Black Sauder Brand Desk, 2 Drawers (one is file) ................. $100 10 Gallon Fish Tank & Pump & Stuff ....................................... $15 8 Shelf Brackets, New, Zinc Plated, 10" ........................... $4 for lot Bicycle, 10 spd, 24" wheels, w/assorted bits and ....................... $25 pieces; older, needs work Bicycle hard shell helmet, adult, new never worn .................... $10 2 big shelves, 2'x4'x6 1/2 .................................................. $100 each Womens shoes & sandals, size 12AA & l2B, FREE CASH ONLY Tel. 233-1433 or 1432

FOR RE'.\T: Righi on Beach\ iew, 3 Bedroom Apartment. 1160 sq. ft. S750 p~r month. June 2

FOR SALE

NIGHTCLUB & RESTAURANT Located along Beach Road in Chalan Kanoa.

CALL: 234-5520 . Serious hiquiries Only .·

FOR SALE TOYOTA PICK-UP Model 1990, Aircon, Good Condition Price: $4,500.00

CHEVY-TRUCK Price:$soo.oo

CHEVVVAN Aircon, Good Condition Price: $7,000.00

YAMAHA PIANO Price:$2,000.00

KARAOKE SET w/Laser Disc Japanese Song, 10 pcs. English, 1 Chamorro 'Price: $140.00

3 - TELEVISION (24 inches) 2 - TELEVISION (Small) PIONEER LD Video 2 BOSE SPEAKER

CONTACT: 287-6623

Not Running, $200.00 Must sell immed.

Call: Jeff Wright at Tel. 288-1361

• Commercial Space w/ I bedroom I st Floor & 3 rooms 2nd floor nm 10 Sister Remedios School

• 2-UnitsApartment (Furnished) North of PIC

Contact: SALLY AT 234-3694

REWARD $2~~

WEwlD .. ···=·

$250. for the recovery· or our · · (KOHi). Hyou .,. any lnf1i/: Please·( call . s2s-a2es.x

Commercial Space/Apartment FOR RENT

1,475 sq. ft.1st Floor, 2nd Floor Apt. Located in Chalan Kanoa

In front of Smile Market beside Poker Game

Contact: Tel. 235-5047 or 235-5861

APARTMENT FOR RENT • 2-Bdrm near Coral Ocean Point and

Koblerville Elementary School • Fenced location, aircon in each bdrm,

refrigeralor, stove, water healer • Waler, trash collection and sewer paid • Eleclricity nol included. 235-4341 after 5:30 .m.

FOR RENT Ocean View, 2 Bdrm, Fully Furnished, Carpeted, Typhoon Shutters, Trash Service, Security Lighting, 24 hrs. waler, Gas Stove & water Healer, Quie~ East Capital Hill Location. Call: 234-7193 or 235-7151 now only $700.00 per month!

2-Bedroom Concrete a-Bedroom Concrete Nice & Secured Place CALL: 234-lllB (office)

234-8734 (home)

HOUSE FOR RENT • 1 Room, 1 Kitchen, 1 Bathroom • 2 Rooms, Big Dining, Kitchen & Bath • 2 Rooms, 1 Kitchen, 2 Balhroom Located in San Jose, Oleai Contact: 234·9088 / 235-9088

STUDIO TYPE - 8300/MONTH RIRNISIEI, 6000 WATER & POWBI S1116lf OR CDUPlf DNI.Y. Ill NOBlBIVl.lf Ta 288-2222

FOR RENT 1 BEDROOM AVAILABLE

FOR RENT $300.00 MONTHLY LOCATED IN CHALAN KlYA

CONTACT: 236-4306 (PAGER)

It's a whole new WORLD.

ACCOMMODATION INCLUDES: . Fully Furnished • 24 Hour Free water • Free StaD Parking •

On Site Laundry Facilities • Apartments & Grounds Fenced in for Privacy • Spacious & Beautiful Grounds • Emergency Generator • Excenent

Location • Quiet Neighborhood

CALL: @235-8415 • Cell: 483-1922 *ONE YEAR CONTRACT RE UIRED.

SUSUPE: One bedroom/two bedroom fully furnished apartment with back up g~nerato~, telephone and cable ready, laundry facililies, 24 hour water, rnce parking, private and safe.

SAN VICENTE: Two bedro_o~ fully furnished apartment, telephone and cable ready, laundry fac1l1lles, 24 hour water, nice parking, private and safe.

For more information, please call Henry K. Pangelinan at 234-5236 or 235·7080

AP~RTMENT FOR RENT Quiet Two (2) Bedrooms • Swimming Pool Tennis Court

J it+1~1:~rill&lii:,; i ~1 235-5686 (8:30 AM to 5:30 PM, Weekdays)

235-9620 234-5849 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM Eve dav includin Sat. & Sun.

IIOI.JSE F'O.R. R.EN"T (2 UNITS-NEWLY RENOVATED) ,

2-BIG BEDROOM HOUSE, LOCATED IN CHINATOWN SUITABLE FOR HOUSING UPTO 12 EMPLOYEES

24-HRS. WATER SUPPLY, QUIET PLACE

ASK FOR CORA AT TEL. 233-9298/9299

- .

AUTOMATIC SELLER IVIACHINE

Busy schedule? You still have plen!y of t1me to place a classified ad. Just raxyour ad. copy to 23<1-9271. It's a quick and ~asyway

; .. to sell your unwanted Items for quick cash. j ltyou don't have access to a FAX machine. Call 234-9797 /6341/7578 ,. and.a representative will help you place your ad over the phone.

·:dJlf arianas "Vc1riet~ · FAX your ad to IR)~~

-- 234-9271 "~ "'"C,

.,., ' .

idn't get your paper today?

On Guam call: (671) 649-4678 or E-mail us at : yas@gtepacifica.net

Office hours: 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

it~efJ S.a~pa~,i~tter_Ff~e!

40-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-FRIDAY- MAY 28, 1999

Employment Wanted

"lttii . Job Vacancy · Announcement

PUBUC NOTICE All Interested resident workers are

urged to register at the Dept. ol Labor & Immigration,

Division of Employment Services lor the Job/s being adverflS&d In which

you are qualified and available. For further assistance,

please call Alfred A. Pangelinan at Tel. 664·2078.

01 COMMERCIAL CLEANER-Sal­ary:$3.05 per hour 01 GROUNDKEEPER-Salary:$3.05 per hour Contact: D & C CORPORATION Tel. 483-2592(6/4)F78746

01 BARBER-Salary:S3.05 per hour Contact: SUN MEI CORPORATION Tel. 234· 8058(614 )F32291

01 (GENERAL) MANAGER RESTAU­RANT-Salary:$1 ,750.00 per month 01 OFFICE MANAGER-Salary:$3.05-per hour 01 WAITRESS-Salary:S3.05 per hour Contact: ARIRANG ENT. dba Arirang Restaurant Tel. 233-6660(6/4)F31189

01 MAINTENANCE ELECTRICIAN­Salary:S1 ,070.00-1,200.00 per month Contact: J.C.A. INC. dba McDonald's of Saipan Tel. 235-8761(6/4)F78736

01 BUILDING MAINTENANCE RE­PAIR-Salary:$3.05 per hour Contact: KWOK KWUN LEE dba V.I.P. Gilt Shop Tel. 234-1587(6/4)F31181

01 ACCOUNTANT-Salary:$3.05-4.80 per hour 01 MAINTENANCE BUILDING RE­PAIRER-Salary:$3.05-4.60 per hour Contact: MODERN INVESTMENT, INC. dba Saipan Ocean View Hotel Tel. 234-8900(6/4)F78728

01 ACCOUNTANT-Salary:$3.05-3.90 per hour Contact: MODERN STATIONERY & TRADING CO., INC. Tel. 234-6852(6/ 4)F78730

01 BARTENDER-Salary:S3.05 per hour 01 MANAGER (NIGHT CLUB)-Sal­ary:S3.50 per hour 03 WAITRESSES-Salary:S3.05 per hour Contact: XOU CORP. dba Number one Bar Tel. 235-9895(5/28)F31074

01 WAJTRESS-Salary:$3.50 per hour 01 (DISHWASHER) KITCHEN HELPER-Salary:$3.05 per hour 03 WAITRESSES/WAITER-Sal-ary:S4.00-4.50 per hour Contact: JAVA IMPORTS LTD. dba Col­lee Shop Tel. 323-5282(5/28)F31079

01 BEAUT\CIAN-Salary:$3.05 per hour Contact: BRIGIDA B. SOLOMON dba Janine Beauty Salon Tel. 235-1323(51 28)F31070

04 HEAVY EQUIPMENT OPERATOR­Salary:S3.05-3.25 per hour Contact: WESTERN EQUIPMENT, INC. Tel. 322-9561 (5/28)F78624

01 WELDER-Salary:$3.05 per hour 01 (INSTALLER) ALUMINUM FABRI­CATOR-Salary:$3.05 per hour Contact: SAIPAN ALUMINUM & GLASS CO. LTD. Tel. 233-2410(5/28)F31058

02 COOK-Salary:$3.05 per hour Contact: JIN APPAREL, INC. Tel. 234· 3252(5/28)F31060

01 MANAGER-Salary:S3.50 per hour Contact: ANGELITA M. BUNIAG dba Alanar's Enterprises Tel. 234-0695(5/ 28)F30168

01 BEAUTICIAN-Salary:$3.05 per hour Contact: ANGELITA M. BUNIAG dba Alanar's Enterprises Tel. 234-0695(5/ 28)F31067

01 SPORTS INSTRUCTOR-Sal· ary:$800.00 per month Contact: JY CONSTRUCTION dba JY Reef Rider Tel. 234-6564(5/28)F31064

01 MANAGER-Salary:$1,000.00-2,000.00 per month Contact: BYUNG GON HWANG 'dba Byung Gon Enterprises Tel. 234-6465(51 28)F31062

01 OPERATION MANAGER-Sal­ary:$1,000.00-2,000.00 per month 03 TOUR GUIDE-Salary:$3.50 per hour Contact: RAINBOW CORPORATION dba E&F Tour Agency Tel. 234-6564(5/ 28)F31061

05 TRAVEL COUNSELOR-Sal­ary:$800.00-2,100.00 per month 01 MAINTENANCE BUILDING RE· PAIR-Salary:$650.00-800.00 per month Contact: PACIFIC MICRONESIA TOURS, INC. Tel. 234-3913(5/ 28)F78622

01 MAINTENANCE REPAIRER-Sal­ary:$4.00 per hour Contact: SEAFIX INCORPORATED Tel. 322-0997(5/28)F31069

03 CUTIER (HAND)-Salary:$3.05 per hour 05 PRESSER (HAND)-Salary:$3.05 per 11our 03 PACKAGER-Salary:$3.05 per hour 16 SEWING MACHINE OPERATOR· Salary:$3.05 per hour 02 QUALITY AND CONTROL CHECKER-Salary:$3.05 per hour 03 TRIMMER-Salary:S3.05 per hour Contact: EXPRESS MANUFACTUR· ING, INC. Tel. 322-6742(5/28)F31066

01 ACCOUNTANT-Salary:$3.05-4.10 per hour 01 ADMINISTRATIVEASSISTANT-Sal· ary:S3.05-3.25 per hour Contact: MODERN OFFICE FURN. & SUPP. Tel. 234-6832(6/4)F78731

01 CONSTRUCTION WORKER-Sal­ary:S3.05 per hour 01 CARPENTER-Salary:$3.05-3.40 per hour 01 ACCOUNTANT-Salary:$3.05-3.60 per hour Contact: SAIHON DEVELOPMENT, INC. Tel. 234-6B32(6/4)F7B732

01 MAINTENANCE REPAIRER-Sal­ary:S3.05 per hour Contact: STEVEN V. PANGELINAN Tel. 235-0216(6/4)F31202

02 ADMINISTRATIVEASSISTANT-Sal­ary:$3.05-7.00 per hour Contact: MAIR, MAIR, SPADE & TH· OMPSON Tel. 233-2089(6/11)F78851

04 ARCADE (POKER) AITENDANT­Salary:$3.05 per hour Contact: DAE HAN GROUP, INC. dba MGM II Fun & Games Tel. 233-3513(6/ 11 )F31298

02 MAINTENANCE REPAIRER BUILD­ING-Salary:$3.05 per hour Contact: DAE HAN GROUP, INC. dba Royal Condo Tel. 233-3513(6/ 11)F31296

02 BARTENDER-Salary:$3.05 per hour 05 WAITER/WAITRESS, BAR-Sal­ary:$3.05 per hour Contact: DAE HAN GROUP, INC. dba Don Sports Bar Tel. 233-3513(61 11)F31294

01 ACCOUNTANT-Salary:$5.50 per hour 01 MAINTENANCE REPAIRER-Sal­ary:$3.25 per hour Contact: CARRIER GUAM, INC. Tel. 234-8330(6/11) F78849

01 SALES REPRESENTATIVES-Sal­ary:$3.05 per hour 01 SALES CLERK-Salary:$3.05 per hour 01 COOK-Salary:$3.05 per hour Contact: LYA ENTERPRISES Tel. 233-1718(6/11 )F31273

Classified Ads FIRST

01 ELECTRICIAN-Salary:$3.10 per hour · 03 MASON-Salary:$3.1 O per hour 01 CARPENTER-Salary:$3.10 per hour Contact: JESSIE A. ARIZALA dba Sys­tems Services Company Tel. 234· 5334(6/11)F31275

02 TRIMMER-Salary:$3.05 per hour Contact: MAN ON ENT. INC. Tel. 235-8922(6/11)F31277

01 COMMERCIAL CLEANER-Sal­ary:$3.05 per hour 03 MAINTENANCE REPAIRER-Sal­ary:$3.05 per hour Contact: JAC INC. dba Tropical Clean­ing Service Tel. 235-5377(6/11)F31279

02 PHYSICAL THERAPY-Sal­ary:$900.00-1,000.00 per month Knowledge of basic Japanese language preffered, conversational is a plus. Plus $10.00/hr. commission. Contact: HIS INC. dba Masa Shiatsu Studio Tel. 234-2525(6/11)F78835

04 WAITRESS-Salary:$3.05 per hour Contact: NHK INC. Tel. 235-4900(6/ 11)f31280

01 OFFICE CLERK-Salary:$3.05 per hour Contact: O'CONNOR BERMAN DOTIS & BANES Tel. 234-5684(6/11)F78846

02 AUTOMOBILE-BODY REPAIRER· Salary:$3.50 per hour 02 CARPENTER-Salary:$3.05-4.00 per hour Contact: BIRD ISLAND DEVELOP­MENT INC. Tel. 235-6888(6/11)F31291

01 AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRICIAN-Sal­ary:$3.05 per hour Contact: TM CORPORATION Tel. 234-2700(6/11 J F31290

01 WAREHOUSE WORKER-Sal­ary:$3.05 per hour Contact: GUERRERO TRADING COR­PORATION Tel. 322-2112(6/11 )F31289

01 WAITRESS, RESTAURANT-Sal­ary:$3.30 per hour 02 COOK-Salary:$4.00 per hour 02 KITCHEN HELPER-Salary:S3.05 per hour Contact: PACIFIC MANAGEMENT, INC. dba Mariana Restaurant Tel. 322· 3324(6/11)F31288

01 PURCHASING MANAGER-Sal· ary:$10.50 per hour Contact: MASCOT CORPORATION Tel. 235-2998(6/11)F31281

01 OPERATION MANAGER-Sal­ary:$3.05-6.1 O per hour Contact: MELITON R. MENDEZ dba Wide Technical Services Tel. 322-1110(6/11)F31284

01 AUTOMOBILE DETAILER-Sal­ary:$3.05 per hour Contact: ALFREDO E. & VICTORIA ALCANTARA dba Taxi Services Tel. 322-4073(6/11 )F31285

01 CHEF-Salary:$725.00 per month Contact: STAR HOMES GAMING, INC. Tel. 233-1300(6/11)F31286

03 SALES REPRESENTATIVE-Sal­ary:$3.05 per hour 01 COOK-Salary:$3.05 per hour Contact: PACIFIC RESORT SERVICES INC. dba Esy Kitchen Tel. 233-3550(61 11)F31283

01 WAITRESS-Salary:$3.05 per hour Contact: PACIFIC OCEAN CORPORA· TION dba Flower King Karaoke Tel. 233-8176(6/11 )F31282

Computer Tutorial Services ,r Peachtree Accounting mm..- Windows 95 & 98

1!111• MS Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint ,r Maintenance, Repair, Web Design

FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL: 288-3293

01 MAINTENANCE REPAIRER-Sal­ary:$3.30 per hour 01 (DISHWASHER) KITCHEN HELPER-Salary:$3.05-3.45 per hour 02 ELECTRICIAN-Salary:$3.15-3.60 per hour 07 COOK-Salary:$3.05-3.96 per hour 03 WAITER (RESTAURANT)-Sal­ary:$3.05-3.30 per hour 02 COOK HELPER-Salary:$3.05-3.40 per hour 03 BUILDING MAINTENANCE RE­PAIRER-Salary:$3.50-3.85 per hour 03 AUTO MECHANIC-Salary:$3.50· 3.85 per hour 02 CASHIER-Salary:$3.05-3.50 per hour 01 SECURITY GUARD-Salary:$3.05-3.35 per hour 01 FRONT DESK CLERK-Salary:$3.05-3.35 per hour 01 ACCOUNTANT (CHIEF)-Sal· ary:$5.05 per hour 01 MAINTENANCE REPAIR-Sal­ary:$3.05-3.60 per hour Contact KAN PACIFIC SAIPAN, LTD. Tel. 322-4692(6/11)F78838

Toke Control ofYourLife! .! Be Your Own·aoss · .! Earn the Income YQJJ Want .! Set Your Own Hours .! Work When and Where YQJ.! Choose Start an Avon Business .... TODAY! CALL: 235-6181 FOR APPOINTMENT

• WHKLY POTINTIAl Processing Govlll'llllent Reflllds at ble. rt! Experience ricelsary. 1 ·BOIJ.1188·3599 fxt. 1978

IN AN ·y E I

CLII 777 N E E D S

WAITRESSES for our GRAND OPENING SOON ....

TW/\S WELCOME, WITH PLEASING PERSONALITY.

PLEASE CONTACT: TEL. 4~9111 FOR INTERVIEW & APPOINTMENT.

• •• ~ .... ~ .... ( .. L.;;O~C~AL or IA ONLY)

MALE FRONT DESK Experience is a Plus. Can work during Night shift.

Please Submit your resume al: CAPITAL HOTEL (beside Capttal Bowling Center & near Garapan Elementary School.)

WANTED IMMEDIATELY

,COOK. WAITER··

•with at least 2 years experience in reslaurant operation

Interested applicants please send your resume to Caller Box 10001 AAA-55 Saipan

TWA 01 transfer are welcome

A stable group of companilJ ner:ds the following:

ACCOUNTANT· male or female, with knowledge in hotel operations, computer literate, dependable in all aspects of accounting procedures and repons preparation.

SALES REPRESENTATIVE · male or female, personable and possess high level of communica­tion skill, vast koowlcdge in selling supplies and marke1ing of consumers.

FRONT DESK CLERK· male or female, person­able, ability to deal with people, knowledge to speak other languages is an A plus, local hire only.

All interested applicants must be honest and willing to grow with the company. Matured Christians arc most welcome. Please send ASAP your complete resume with recent pic­rure to PPP 517 Callerbox I 0000, Saipan MP 96950.

WVING ISLAND SALE '92 Rocky Daihatsu, $3700/080, 4111d. radio, tape player. Rerrie, 2 yn old, frost-free, 375 OBO. Rouse stuff too. Call KARf/11@234-6687 or 2273 ror mare inro.

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE NORIBERN

MARIANA ISLANDS

In the Matter of Petition for Adoption of DUWAYNE AYUYU SAKISAT, Minor Child, By: WILLIAM M. SAKISAT and

LUISA A. SAKISAT, Petitioners. FCD-AD-CivilAction No. 99-0167

PUBLIC NOTICE The Petition of WILLIAM M. SAKI SAT

and LUISA A. SAKISAT, seeking the adoption of the minor child, Duwayne Ayuyu Sakisat, has been scheduled for a hearing before the Commonwealth Superior Court, Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, on the 17th day of June, 1999 at

9:00 a.m. Any person who has any objection to this

peti•ion may file his or her objection with ihe Commonwealth Superior Court at any­time before the hearing, or may appear ai the time set for hearing to present such.

objection or interest in the abovr-captioned

matter. Dated this 18th day of May, 1999.

is/CLERK OF COURT

FOR SALE 1 O Footer Freedom Boat Commercial Passenger 115 Yamaha Engine Price: $5,500.00 Contact: Norman/233-2518

·I

:i '·' ,, b' I'

l I 1 I

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STELLA WILDER

YOUR.BIRTHDAY · FRIDAY, MAY 28, 1999

Born today, you are one of the most original thinkers anp doers born under your sign. You are always working on one fascinat­ing project after another, and making them work for you emo­tionally, psychologically and fi­nancially. You crave novelty, but you are never one to let a good thing go by the wayside ifit is still working for you, no matter how "routine" it may St'.em to you or others. Professionally and person­ally, you are always far more in­terested in what is going on inside than outside. Your "inner life" gets far more attention from you than any external trappings. ·

You do tend to rush about at times, trying to do too much at any given time. Slow down, and you 'II find that you have even more time to devote to those things that are most important to you. Nevertheless, it may be difficult to keep your engine at a lower RPM, and you manage just find with the pedal to the floor.

Also born on this date are: Gladys Knight, singer; John Fogarty, singer and musician; Sondra Locke, actress; Jim Thorpe, athlete; Joseph Guillo­tine, physician and inventor ..

To see what is in store for you tomorrow, find your birthday and read the corresponding paragraph. Let your birthday star be your daily guide.

SATURDAY,MAY29 GEMINI ,(May 21-June 20)

- You may become impatient with others today, but you must

resist the temptation to force · things ·along. You may have to play the waiting game.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) -The more willing you are to go about your business quietly and with a minimum of fuss, the more likely you are to be remembered for your efforts.

LEO (July 23-Aug.22)-You are more interested by those who know what they want than those who come to you for the answer to that age-old question.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)­Much to your surprise, you can reap additional gains from the past today. As long as you remain open-minded, you can reap re­markable results.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-0ct. 22) -You may not be in the mood to work with others today, but cer­tain circumstances may demand that you join forces in order to overcome an obstacle.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) - You must be in control of your emotions today if you want to avoid a lasting conflict with a friend or family member; Are you in sync with others? ·

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec.21)- You should be able to ward off a calamitous develop­ment today. Those around you will surely show their apprecia­tion and respect

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19} - You.'U·get a revised ver­sion of an important event today. As a result, you 'II get a more complete understanding of what really happened ..

FRIDAY, MAY 28; 1999-MARIANAS VARIE1Y NEWS AND vmws-41

AQUARIUS (Jan.20-Feb.19) -A look back over the past week will illuminate a.personal prob­lem thathas been a mystery. Now, you 'II have the chance to solve it for good!

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) - Failure to see through a "smokescreen" today may threaten your momentum and 1

present a situation which requires you to back down temporarily.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) - You can profit today by doing 1

someone a favor .. In the end, you 'II be remembered fo.r your generos- I ity, and make some good money to boot! '

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) - You may be limited by a few of your own misconceptions today, but later on, a friend is likely to step in and show you "the way" in , true tenns.

EMPLOY THE

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Answer to Previous Puzzle

1-1 @i 1998 United Feature Syndicate

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42-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-FRIDAY- MAY 28, 1999 But there is a serious side to this

friendly woman. She readily ad­mits the competition will be very tough.

Women ... Continued from page 44

and strong team especially in the volleyball event. In the past, the women's volleyball team never won even a set in the SPG. This will soon change," Barcinas as­sures.

The girls also have high hopes for their team.

"We have been working a lot on our jumps. Jumping, leapfrog­ging to improve our vertical jumps. Also, we have been work­ing on our speed and quickness in the court. The women playing against us are pretty tall. But we're trying to prepare for anything and. everything .. ,," team pl ayer, Catherine Attao says.

Aside from the physical prepara­tion, the girls have also been busy raising the money to cover some expenses they need for the SPG.

"The girls have worked hard to organize fund raising activities,"Barcinas stated.

"We are grateful for all the supoort we got," Attao says further,"But we wish we could

Sprinters . . ~ Continued from page 44

Stanley lakopo, "We've been training hard and we have a very good chance to get into medal rounds. But, it still doesn't get any easier."

Confidence in his teammates keep Iakopo focused in his event. The quickest sprinter in the team, Iakopo will race in the 100-meter

have gotten more." "I don't think many people

know about SPG. It's a big thing and we need all the support we can get," Attao says.

Barcinas also commented on · the fact that his team did not re­ceive a lot of assistance from the CNMI government.

"We haven't received much support from the governrpent. And this concerns me because in the latest election, they put sports as one of their top priorities. I don't see them giving us the support we need now that they're already in office,"Barcinas complains.

Furthermore, Barcinas stated, "SAVA (Saipan Amatuer Vol­leyball Association) has been in­strumental in guiding us prepare for the SPG. I would like to ex­tend my thanks to them."

In terms of readiness, the team is confident they are.

"I think we are! Once we get off being nervous, we could pick up the spikes and hit our hits," Attao says.

With a Ji ttle luck, the team hopes to come home with something for the CNMI.

and 200m events. "It's going to very tough," lakopo said.

Sustaining the quickness power for the longer-200m and 400m-races will be Antonio Ichiou.

Ketson "Jack" Kabirie will run the 800m and 1500m.

Rota's Joe Santos is the man to run the marathon.

"He's the crazy one," joked coach Ricketts, referring to Santos' decision torun26.2-miles.

Hx§1t0Iry

Omar • • • Continued from page 44

petitiveness on the court. When asked whether going

away-to SPO-for two weeks will dampen her spirits, she thought a minute, then responded,

. "I'm single, I won't have to worry about anyone." She very quickly adds "only my mom (I have to think about)."

Team • • • Continued from page 44

ball tournament held from May 14 to 16, 1999 (Friday, Saturday & Sunday). The purpose of the tournament was to raise funds to help Palau Men's Softball Team to the South Pacific Games.

The tournament was a huge success with sixteen ( 16) teams

Tennis .... Continued from page 44

is not unlike many athletes from · CNMI's other teams.

"The competition will be much harder at SPG," said Race.

He is concerned about the lo­cation of the tennis tourna­ments.

Should the (tennis) tourna­ments may be held at Tiyan, the wind could be a big factor. "It's very windy, up there. There are no wind-breakers there," said Race. He contin­ues, "the Hagatna tennis courts

"If we play as a team and keep our spirits up, we can win and move up to the playoff roµnds."

Entered in Pool-B, CNMI women's basketball team will have to beat their five opponents, in that Pool. "I want the team to win those first five ballgames," added Omar.

participating in the three-day evenl The tournament ended with the fol­lowingresults: Championship-Palau Men's Softball Team, managed by Hennan "Balio" Ngiraidong, 1st Runner-Up - Team Baseball, man­aged by Melib Tmehlchel, 2nd Run­ner - Up Angaur Comets, managed by Natus Misech.

The officers and member of Belias Softball Association con­gratulate the winners of the tour-

may be better, except the grading of the smface is somewhat tricky."

During the 1994 Micronesian Games, Race won four medals, a pair each in Silver and Bronze.

For Chang Hyun Cho, a Silver in the 1998 Micronesian Games was his mettle to continue play­ing (tennis).

The 24-year-old Cho says he will try his best at the SPG. Medal or not.

What can, or should have, the CNMI Government do to help the athletes?

For Race his answer reflects those (answers) of many ath­letes," Having travelled to most Pacific Islands, CNMI

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1999 South Pacific .Gameso

"I know the girls (teams) from Guam and Palau will be very tough," said Omar.

On the. basketball court with. Omar will be teammates Lina Kintoki, Regina Palacios, Nally Rose Ngimidol, Theofin Lynn Vereen, Pauline Tudela, Brenda Haddox, Concepcion Camacho, Vanessa Mobel, Jamaina San Nicolas and Julie Tokyo. The team is coached by William Primley and Mary Martha Scotty.

nament and extend sincere appre­ciation to all teams who partici­pated in the tournament. A spe­cial thank you goes to WWFM, KR FM, Ego-Paradise FM and T8AA Radio Station for helping us promote the tournament.

Proceeds from the tournament have been donated to Team Palau to support Men's Softball Team in the up-coming South Pacific Games in Guam.

seems to put lowest priority on sports and falling further behind."

Cho recommends, "Support more things like (building) tennis courts and gym."

John Taitano, who is a Florida Metropolitan University student is also a veteran of regional competition.

Taitano's first SPG compe­tition was in 1987, held in Fiji. In that SPG Taitano was with the volleyball team. But for the 1991 SPG, in New Caledonia, he switched over to tennis. Recently Taitano was ranked No. 5 in Florida State men's 4.5 (tennis) divi­sion.

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FRIDA y, MAY 2~, 1999 -MARIANASVARIETY NEWS AND VIEW~l43

Men's VB team is ready for action

By Marian A. Maraya For the Variety

NOTHING beats confidence as an ingredient to winning. As they say, when one has confidence, half the battle is already won, no matter what the outcome is.

It's a good thing that the CNMI volleyball team has this attitude.

"We've been ready to com­pete for months," says coach Tony Ganir, 27, of the Men's Volleyball team.

"But like anything unless we do it, we'll never know ... ," Ganir stated.

in this community. We all had to care of our- families. But it's been a great adventure, this whole trip," Ganir posi­tively reflects.

A great deal of the confi­dence they have comes from knowing that they have spent more than enough time mas­tering the sport.

That, and of course, the knowledge that all of their players are not new with the sport.

"A lot of our guys have had experience. They're not rook­ies. They have been playing sports for a great number of years," Ganir assures. Ganir's team will represent

the CNMI in the 1999 South Pacific Games (SPG) in Guam starting next week.

Both him and his asst. coach Ryan Camacho, 24, agree that the men in their team have really worked hard to get ready for the tournament.

Camacho admits that this team is now more aware of what it is up against.

"Back then, we didn't know much of what to expect. Ath­letes from Western Samoa, American Samoa, and other South Pacific Islanders had far more experience than we had. And they were very well­trained compared to us," Camacho remembers.

· Players from thf3 CNMI National Baseball show their new uniforms yesterday. The team departs for Guam Satruday morning. Photo by Tony Celis

"We have been practicing · four to five times· a week for· riine months now. We some­times go to the beach and play with·beach volleyball players. And all other activities that would help us familiarize our­selves with body mechanics," Camacho said.

Guam prepares for SPG opening

The coaches expressed their sentiments on the diffuclties their team had to deal with in the course of the intensive training.

Some of the players have had to juggle making time for practice, work, and their fami­lies, too.

"It's been hard. Some of us have kids and really rigorous jobs. Family for us is high pri­ority which is really healthy

Moreover, the coach prom­ises a totally different style from this batch of players.

"Over all, the guys have come a long way since the last tournament. I have the utmost faith in my team. Luck is a part of success so I think we have that going for us," Ganir expressed.

Before they go off-island on Saturday, Ganir wishes to let the people of CNMI know that he and his team are very proud to be representing the islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.

"We 're going to give our best and nothing less!," Ganir promised.

HAGATNA (Pacnews)- As teams from competing nations arrive for the 11th South Pa­cific Games in Guam, offi­cials are finding out that their well-laid out plans do not seem to working out too well.

Officials are having prob­lems with transport and regis­trations.

So far 8 of the 21 countries have arrived with the Fiji con­tingent the largest with just over 300 athletes and officials.

The countries that have settled in the game village at the former Anderson Airforce

Team Bud's Bunnies and friends gathered at Charlie's Cabaret at PIG last weekend for the Bub Light o rt Lea9ue party. From (left) Pau{a Bermudes, Trina Sablan, Ray Smith, Danny Camacho (partially hidde~) Meilssa Tomokane and Joannie Torres c lb ' · ontr uted photo

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base, are Samoa, Tonga, Niue, Cook Islands, New Caledonia, Fiji, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and the Federation States of Micronesia.

With just under two days for the official opening of the Games, organisers are brac­ing themselves for another 2000 athletes to arrive in the country.

The Fiji contingent which arrived on Tuesday evening were delayed at the airport for nearly two hours as officials tried to work out the transport problems.

The mini South Pacific Games in American Samoa saw the emergence of a new power, that of Nauru, which topped the gold medal tally with 23 gold medals. Because this will be the last game before the new millennium, Nauru athletes will aim to repeat their performance in Guam.

New into the games in sev­ens rugby.

21 countries are competing in 22 sports at the Guam SPG.

The French territories of New Caledonia and Tahiti dominated the last Games in Tahiti winning twice as many gold medals as the other coun­tries; New Caledonia winning 82 gold, Tahiti with 76 and Fiji in third place with 32 gold.

With the new introduction of several new sports and the inclusion of new countries, the 11th SPG should be a good build up for island nations that would take part in next year's Sydney Olympic Games.

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Omar:.Te;µnwork.is.key. By Tony C';ell~ .

.. ·· Variety News Staff, ··. JOVIE}OMAR/~capfiiijj,;fo'r,the CNMl·· National wotneri;s;BasketbMI tearri'.lias a way.·.

· .. of doWlj-playii'lg:\Vliat ~th~rwise·w~~ldfause ··.· .sleeple#nigltts_'Iii f;his~ase: it'sj~ie South· Pacific Games;. • .·· · ·· · · . · ..... ·

Woro~t1's viill~Y'ball, .· is. 'Pri.derof :Barcinas'

. •,, '. ' . . .. '

By Marian kM,araya doing strenuous offense and. COACHfonasBarcinas'of defense training four ti~es ev-the CNMlWomen's Vol~ eryweek.. . ·•· - \ leyball team is proud to be' ,~'.ltiave, been wqrki1:1g witJt ' coachi~g 13 of.;the most . thegirls,r:eligiou_sly.seeing_t9It , promising athletes to-"re~ .> tliattheyo'Vercpxnesomewe~- . resent the CNMI in the up- · nesses and · tighten up their coming South Pacific · . strengh~;" says Barcinas. Games (SPG) iri Guam next With the hard training behind

.week. · ..... ·. · ··· · . them, Barcinas believes his . Barcirias, a volleyball teamwillhaveachancetoactu~ player himself, :wants to ally touch that medal.

CNMI Athletics (Track and Field) National team from (left) Anto­nio lchiou, Stanley lakopo, coach Murry Lee Rickets and Ketson Kabiriel, took one more practice Wednesday. Not shown are Joe Santos and coach Elias Rangamar. Photo by Tony Cells

· .. Whilea\veryde<lfoatedana!W,u~player; ' Omar's~ygoingpers()imµty~Jiesherc<>m-.·.·

- . .. . }:co~tl.n~ed:~ripage 42 ... , '.· . ' .. ·.

commend his players-who _ '"Thisis the. first.time·that have endured intensive . CNMlwill be sending a young .trainingsincelatelasty~, · Continued on page 42

'Let the Garnes begin' ·····------··-····-

Sprinters take one more practice run

By Tony Celis Variety News Staff

ONE MORE sprint, one more run, once more to the firiish line before they depart for the 1999 South Pacific Games.

Just hours before the start of the SPG, CNMI National Ath­letic-Track and Field-team took no exception and went about practice as usual on Wednesday.

Slacking-off isn't in their vo­cabulary, at least not until they either win a medal oreliminated. They aren't looking to being eliminated any time soon.

Antonio Ichiou, Ketson Kabiriel, Joseph Santos, Stanley Iakopo and coaches Elias

' Rangamar and Murry Lee Rick­ets make-up the CNMI National Track and Field team.

A small group, with guts and determination.

Veterans of regional compe­titions, team members know the competition will be tough.

Like most athletes facing the unknown sooner or later those knots inside the beltline will have to be dealt with.

"It's the butterflies," said Continued on page 42

Team Palau gets donation KOROR (Palau Horizon) -The Officers of Belias Softball Association; GovernorTmewang Rengulbai -Commisioner, Yaoch Daniel Ngirchokebai - President, Leo Ben Teriong - Vice Presi­dent, Natus Misech - Secretary and Florence Kerai Nginnekur -Treasurer.

In a brief ceremony at Palau Gymnasium, presented a $1,000 check to Governor Tadashi Sakuma, Chai Iman ofTeam Palau and Balio Ngiraidong, Manager of Men's Softball Team in sup­portof Palau Men's Softball Team to the South Pacific Games.

The Belias Softball Associa­tion is a newly created associa­tion of softball enthusiasts whose

main purpose is to promote friend­ship, team-work and comradeship among the young and old through games of softball. The associa­tion is sponsoring an on-going softball leagueinAirai with games being played on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday in the evening.

The Officers and all members of Belias Softball Association wish all Palauan Athletes good · luck at the South Pacific Games. Thank you for representing all of us.

1999 Belias Invitational Men's Softball Tournament

The Belias · Softball Associa­tion sponsored a three-day soft-

Continued on page 42

Women's National Volleyball team members, headcoach Jonas Barcinas, coach Begonia Odoshi, Sabia Isa Calvo, Pola Taitano, Klaris Rey, Aurora Santos, Eun Jung Lee, Ngedikes Uludong, Lanie Marie Buekis, Iris Calvo, Martha Satur, Catherine Attao, Percelleia Bobby and_Leokadya Moses, sport their new uniforms Wednesday. · . . Photo by Marian Maraya

Tenllis team in'1.fop form By Tony Cells Variety News Staff MOTTO: 'Fatigue makes cow­

ards of us all (John Wooden)'". As the leader of the CNMI Na­

tional Tennis team, Jeff Race has a wealth of experience under his belt-racket.

One thing this team has in com­mon is they all regard "exercis­ing" as a life-long activity.

For John Taitano he 'II quit working out when" ... my muscles

can't move anymore": fore their scheduled departure the Cho says," I think when I'm tennis team took practice yester-

over 70-years-old". day, at Hyatt Hotel tennis courts. For Race, they might have to John Taitano, Peter Sinclair,

carry him off a tennis court. When Chan Hyun Cho, Min Ji Kim, Jeff posed with the question 'When Race and Hannah Borja comprise are you too old to exercise?' his the team. answer was, "When ... die". Franz Reksid is team coach.

For Race and the rest of the During the 1998 Micronesian team, rest assured, the folks here Games, Race won three Silver-are proud of their athletes-just medals. come back alive. His outlook on this year's SPG

With only a day remaining be- 0"1>-"\'t'Co'r\@ued on page 42 -~ "* J.,_ ,0 J - ___,.. ·S=====-

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