arianas %riety;~ Micronesia's Leading Newspaper Smee 1972

• 1g oot bucks'for By Rafael H. Arroyo Variety News Staff

THERE IS truth to speculations that a better monetary deal was behind C. Sebastian A loot's deci-sion months ago to give up the helm of the Attorney General's Office.

An independent contract Aloot entered into with the government indicates he will be receiving $180,000 per annum for a part-time legal consultancy job with the Administration, or about three times what he was getting as full-time acting AG.

The contract, a copy of which was obtained by the Variety over the weekend, provides that twenty percent of the $180,000, or C. Sebastian Afoot

Torres onAloot's $180,000 contract:

'Sneaky way to milk gov't'

Stanley T. Torres . ···,

Aloot's contract as part-time legal counsel to the governor is all these-and more.

"lt'sonesneakywayofmilk-ing the CNMI," Torres said. "It's a very stinky contract."

Torres is the chair of the House subcommittee that has oversight jurisdiction overthe Attorney Genera1's Office.

Aloot's pay, Torres said, is even higher than the salary of

. the U.S, president. "What does Aloot have that

he shou1d receive a higher sa1- · arythan the'li.S. president and

By Zaldy Dandan he's on call 24 hours a day, , . Variety News Staff seven days a week. While

,: ., .

).'EXCESSIVE. Exorbitant. Ri- Aloot is only obligated to pro-• diculous. ,, vide. 100 hours a month," he

Rep. Stanley T. Torres on said. "The taxpayers are get-Saturday said Sebastian Continued on page 16

: Crime Stoppers offers $1,000 1 reward on Coria murder case j THE CRIME Stoppers has offered $1,000 reward to anyone \\'.ho '. could provide·i-nformation leading to the a1Test and conviction of the

killer/s of a Filipino woman. · · Acting Public Safety Information Officer Sgt. Franklin Babauta

encouraged anyone who has information about the suspect/s to contact Crime Stoppers Hotline at 234-7272.

Informants don't have to give their names as all information are . strictly confidential, Babauta said. ) The DPS acting PIO said investigators are optimistic they could 1 solve the case. Probers, however, refused to release any information I on the suspect/s and motive behind the killing. l Virginia Dejito Coria, 32, a cashier of K-Store, was found mur-j dered last Tuesday night, her throat slashed by unknown assailant/ ~ s .,.. j ·. Coria, a member of Jehovah Witnesses, was apparently sleeping j when the suspect/s broke into her room th1'ough the back door , located behind K-Store in Gualo Rai. I, _Babauta said an autopsy was conducted Thursday night to deter-! mme Caria's cause of death. . . . _ I Con.tmued on page 16 L---~· ·--·-=---··--·

PAC NEWSPAPER STACKS

$36,000 is payable upon execu-tion of the agreement plus the first of the $12,000 monthly payments for a total of $48,000 upfront. Contract period is Sept. I, 1996 to August 31, 1997.

Aloot served as acting AG for most of Gov. Tenorio's.term of office.

Asked when talk about his pos-sible resignation sUifaced in late August, Aloot confirmed he was

moving out of the AGO to engage in private practice "but insisted he would continue serving the Administration."

Under his new contract, Aloot only needs to render 100 hours of professional services each month. Beyond that, he is to be paid $150 per hour for his services, calcu-lated using minimum increments of 15 minutes.

In addition to his consultancy

r l

Ci\l

2-MARIANAS VA.RIETYNEWS AND VIEWS~MONDAY-OCTOBER 21, 1996

Japan electiori:· Low turnout By SETH SUTEL

TOKYO (AP) - Japanese voted Sunday in an. election dominated by politicians' calls to take power away from bu-reaucrats - and by voters' skepticism that any of them will be able to pull it off.

By late afternoon, 46.81 per-cent of the 98 million eligible voters had cast their ballots, 8.47 percentage points lower than at the same point in the last election in l 993, when fi-nal turnout was a record low· 67 percent.

The conservative Liberal Democratic Party of Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto was favored to succeed in the ballot for the powerful 500-seat lower house of Parlia-ment.

Hashimoto tried to portray his party as a force for change, promising to reform a govern-n;ient structure that has long given career bureaucrats more power than elected officials.

'T ve got high hopes for· Hashimoto," said Hideo Himuro, 71, getting on his bi-cycle after voting at a Tokyo polling station. "It's way too early for those other parties."

The prime minister pledged during the campaign to roll back a morass of regulation he said was choking off indi-vidual initiative.

"Many people have good ideas but can't put them into practice because of the sys-

tern," he said at a campaign rally Saturday.

But many voters - having heard promises of economic reform countless times before

remain skeptical of Hashimoto' s chances of rein-ing in the powerful bureau-cracy, with whom he has close ties.

"I voted for the Democratic Party," said voter Hideo Iida, 49, referring to a new liberal leaning party. "If the Liberal Democrats get too strong, we'll only end up with an even more bureaucratic govern-ment."

Hashimoto was not alone in running against the unpopular bureaucracy. The other four main parties all insist they are the true reformers.

"You all have to take back from the bureaucrats your right to make laws through

your elected representatives," shouted a hoarse Takako Doi, head of the Social Democratic Party, at a speech in Tokyo's Shibuya district on Saturday.

The anemic recovery from four years of recession, a scan· dal over the use of blood prod-ucts tainted with the AIDS virus, and the costly failure of a string of housing lenders have led some to question the current system of government.

But as the low turnout showed, many voters were put off by the proliferation of par-ties and shifting alliances.

Y ukiyo Inoue, 32, said she voted for the Communist Party not be-cause she agrees with their views but in order to punish other par-ties.

"There wasn't any other party to support because everyone's positions are so vague and so many parties keep splitting up," she said after casting her ballot."

I know the Communists will never gain power, but I just wanted to cast a protest vote."

Voters threw the Liberal Demo-crats from power in the 1993 elec-tion for the first time in nearly four decades.

Since then, Japan has had more than its share of turmoil.

Three different coalition gov-ernments and four prime min-isters have held power, with Hashimoto taking over in January at the head of an odd-couple coalition between the

Assad says 'no' to peace with Israel without return of Golan

. '. ''' .. '.

~ ,:," ~~ ,., ... · ... "

~.-..

Jacques Chirac

DAM.ASCUS,Syria (AP)-Ques-tioning Israel's commitment to peace, President Hafez Assad said he wasn't interested in a settlement with the Jewish state that did not include the return of the Golan Heights.

Speaking at a state banquet Satur-day nightinhonorof visiting French President Jacques Chirac, Assad said:

~What is the interest of Syria and the Arab parties in a peace that does not restore the land and rights to their owners?"

The Golan J,ieights were cap-tured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War. Syria, in five years of on-and-off peace talks with Is-rael, has insisted it should have the strategic plateau back. Israel says the plateau is vital to its

security. Talks between the two sides were

suspenderl when suicide bombings in Israel killed scores of people in February and Marcil.

Assad, in his banquet speech. ac-cu.sedthegovemmentoflsraeliPrime Minister BenjaminNetanyahuoftak-inga "rejectionist" positiononMiddle East peace efforts.

"1necurrent Israeli government is maneuvering ... it is talking about peace, but what is the peace it is talking about when it publicly an-nounces fuu it will not withdraw from the Golan Height5 ... " said the Syrian leader.

He also repeated calls for a big-ger European role in the search for peace in the region, saying he saw no contradiction between such a role and the one played by the United States.

Chirac, in Syria at the .start of a Middle East tour designed to bol- · ster French and European peace efforts in the region, appeared to give his support to Syria's posi-tion on any future peace agree-ment with Israel.

"The principle ofland for peace remains the basis for any agree-ment," he tuld his Syrian hosts at the banquet. "This holds for the Syrian territory of the Golan Heights and I shall say so tomor-row (Sunday) in Israel."

"I understand the security n~of all thepeoplesof theregionand espe-

Benjamin Netanyahu cially of IsraeL whose very exist-ence has . been challenged for so long," said Qrirac,

The French Pre.9.dent was re-ceived uponbisanivalatl)amaSCUS airportonSaturdayby Assad-Toon-sandsofSyrians wavingFrenchand Syrian Hags lined the· road from the airport to the heart of the Syrian capital. . ·

France is Syria's former i:o-lonial ruler and the two countnes are bound by longstanding his-torical ties. France hopes to play a role alongside the United States in bringing Syria and Israel back to the negotiating table.

Chirac. s visit is only the sec-ond by a French president in the past 50 years. He also will visit Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and the self-rule Palestinian areas.

Liberal Democrats and their longtime rivals, the Social Democrats.

The country also suffered the twin shocks of the January 1995 Kobe earthquake that killed more than 6,000 people and the terrorist nerve gas attack that killed 12 on Tokyo's subways two months later.

Beneath the talk of reform, what Hashimoto offers most is stability- and, his supporters hope, a return to the brighter days of

the 1970s and '80s, when Japan's economy grew strongly and steadily.

Hashimoto has pledged to cut the number of government ministries in half to reduce Japan's budget deficit and to eliminate government red tape.

He also wants to raise the na-tional sales tax from 3 percent to 5 percent, a move he says is needed to offset a ballooning debt and help support an ag-ing population.

Vice President and Premier Lien Chan gives a thumbs down gesture Tuesday, when he was forced to return to his car _and leave after oppositions and anti-nuclear demonstrators blocked hrs entry to Parha-ment to defend the government's nuclear power plans. Opposition parties are opposed to government plants to construct a fourth nuclear power plant in Taiwan.

Air force,· navy pound · rebel ·bases in Sri Lank.a

' ~ , ' .

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - Air Force planes and navy gun ships pounded Tamil rebel bases as ground fighting left at least three guerrillas and one soldier dead in Sri Lanka's northeast, a military official said Sunday.

The air force bombed rebel targets along a 30 kilometer ( 18 mile) coastal belt north of Mullaittivu on Sunday, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Mullaittivu, a former mili-tary base 275 kilometers ( 171 miles) northeast of the capital, Colombo, was overrun by the rebels lastJuly. More than l ,500 people, mostly soldiers, were killed during the guerrilla siege.

On Saturday, two rebels were killed by soldiers in a skirmish in Trincomalee district, about 230 kilometers ( l 43 miles) northeast of Colombo. said Major D.A.K Rana wake, a mili-tary spokesman.

Government forces repulsed a rebel attack in the northern Jaffna Peninsula, said Ranawake. One soldier was killed in the fighting near Kodikamam town, about 300 kilometers (190 miles) north of Colombo. The rebel casualties were not immediately known.

In another incident, one guer-rilla was killed near the Elephant Pass army camp in the Jaffna peninsula when soldiers fired gun shots at a group of rebels lurking in the area, said Rana wake.

The rebels are fighting for a separate homeland for minority Tamils. They accuse majority Sinhalese, who control the gov-ernment ·and the military, of widespread discrimination against minority Tamils in jobs and education.

More than 46,000 people have been killed in the 13-year-old war.

.......... , .._ .

. I '\ '

MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1996-MARIANAS VARIETY N_~WS Al_'I_D VII:.WS-3 ---------------------.----c-------=

2.5Mbudget PSS gets By Zaldy Dandan Variety News Staff

ACTING Gov. Jesus C. Borja on Friday signed the $42.481 mil-lion "piecemeal" fiscal year 1997 budget bill for the Public School System-with "some reserva-tions."

Borja, in aletterto Senate Presi-dent Jesus R. Sablan and House Speak er Diego T. Benavente, said the budget bill has "three minor discrepancies":

• It has an "unusual definition" of a "full time equivalent" (FrE) or "position" not consistent with previous ·practices.

• It requires the government to allot at least 25 percent of the $42.481 million every four months.

Borja said "there are times when it is desirable" to allot less than 25 percent. The provision also re-stricts the Office of Management and Budget's ability to "conserve our fiscal resources."

He said he can accept the two "discrepancies," because they only affect the Public School Sys-tem (PSS), but "I might riot be able to accept them in a general budget act for the entire govern-ment."

• It states that the administra-tion cannot reprogram funds from

PSS. Borja said though he has no

"desire to reprogram any money out of PSS, I do not like the prece-dent this sets."

He said all the other agencies and departments might ask for the same "immunity" from repro-gramming.

"I will accept this provision because it is so important to get this bill signed into Jaw," he said, "but please be aware that I oppose provisions of this sort in general."

Borja, in an interview Thurs-day, said he will sign the piece-meal budget for PSS if the Legis-lature would not change Gov_ Froilan C. Tenorio' s original bud-get proposal for the agency.

Aside from the "discrepancies" in the administrative provisions, there were no major changes on the budget bill's fund allocations.

The PSS budget bill was passed on Thursday during "back-to-back" sessions of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

After the FY 1997 general ap-propriations bill was vetoed by Tenorio early this month, Board of Education Chair Don Farrell warned that "if nothing happens or if the status quo remains, PSS will totally run out of money by December."

·Convicte:d 'Fujian' . sentenced.·aga"in· ·

By Ferdie de la Torre Variety News Staff

THE SUPERIOR Court sentenced anew on Friday a convicted Chinese national of two separate cases.

Following a plea agreement, the courtsentencedHongPinLintofive-day jail term each in two cases.

Lin was ordered to pay $200 fine and depart CNMI out of his own expense upon his release in jail.

Assistant Atty. Gen. James Norcross charged Lin with three counts of criminal mischief.

Lin and his counsel Antonio M. Atalig entered into a plea agree-ment. Lin pleaded guilty of all charges.

The sentence will run consecutive or in addition to the jail term which Lin has been cwrently serving in the Division of Corrections in his previ-ouscase.

The court accepted the agree-ment.

Court information showed that last Oct. 7 the government charged Lin with criminal contempt when he was found violating a court's order requiring him to observe a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.

The Chinese was charged with two other counts of criminal con-tempt when he was again violating curfew on OcL l I and 13_

~ ;;I

Acting Gov. Jesus C. Borja sl',akes hands with Senate _President Jesus R. Sablan after signing the PSS budget into law as lawmakers (from left) Thomas P. V11/agomez, Pete P. Reyes and Henry San Nicolas applaud. At right (foreground) is Board of Education Chairman Don Farrell.

HANMI adn1its union battles costing hotels a lot of Inoney AN ORGANIZATION of five star hotel management offi-cials yesterday admitted it has been launching "costly legal battles" supposedly to "de-fend good businesses against union lawsuits."

This developed following allegations made by Elwood Mott, LOCAL 5 chairperson who, in a recent interview, claimed that at least four five star hotels and a retail con-glomerate, have altogether been spending some $ I mil-lion to keep unions at bay.

Mott also claimed these management officials have allegedly resorted to threats of termination to discourage employees from joining unions. He added that close to 100 employees have thus far been terminated due to union involvements. This, he said, has resulted to the "slow progress" of unionism in the island.

Ron Sablan

in a statement sent to the Va-riety, admitted spending so much in legal battles against unions.

It also stressed that work contracts of those who lost their jobs have actually ex-pired.

Elwood Mott

anticipated in our budgets." "The unions are obviously

trying to make the hotels look bad in an effort to hide the fact that the union movement has not been successful in Saipan," said Sablan.

In return, the government rec-ommended IO days' imprisonment with credit for time served in jail.

Lin was among the three Chinese men who were convicted and sen-tenced each to 20 days' imprison-ment for mauling a Chinese business-man.

The Hotel Association of ----------=th.:.:e:..:N:..:.::::o~rt:.:.h:..:e~r:-_:_n Mariana Islands,

Man in child abuse case enters I into plea agreement with gov't

It however failed to categori-cally deny if management offi-cials have indeed resorted to threats of termination to keep its rank~and-file away from unions.

"Given the L"orrect informa-tion, most conlract ernployecs undersland that 1he union's promises of unli111i1cd job se-curi1y can nor lie guaranteed. 1he unions are here for themselves ar the workers· expense by means of membership dues," he added.

By Ferdie de la Torre Variety News Staff ,

A MAN who is facing criminal · charges for beating a woman and

punching his 13-year-old daugh-ter has entered into a plea agree-ment with the government.

Timothy Alexander Siwel was· charged with child abuse, assault and battery, criminal mischief, disturbing the peace, and crimi-nal contempt

If found guilty of these of-fenses, Siwel would serve a maxi-mum of' seven years and six months imprisonmentand$7, l 00 fine.

The defendant and his counsel Deputy Public Defender Ted Chris-topher signed a pleaagreementwith AssistantAtty. Gen. Nicole Forelli.

Under the agreement, Siwel would enter a plea of no contest to child abuse and plead guilty to assault and battery, criminal mis-chief, and criminal contempt.

The defendant shall be sen-tenced to five years in jail, all suspended. He would seek alco-hol counseling and perfonn 300 hours of community work ser-vice.

Siwel would pay restitution to Marcelly Dopich for the damage

to her window and wil\dow screen.

The government would rec-ommend the dismissal of other charges.

Court information showed that last Aug. 5 Siwel hit, punched and scratched Dopich on the head and face.

He also punched his daughter 1 in the head and threw keys at her. ·

Last Sept. 20, the defendant came to the residence of Dopich, bothered her and broke her win- ' dow screen in violation of terms and conditions of the restraining order in a civil matter.

Instead it hit back on unions saying these organizations ":ire here for themselves at the work-ers' expense."

HANMI, through Chairperson Ron Sablan, said its "unfortunate that so much of the resources have to be wasted on defending good businesses against union law-suits."

"It's clearlv one-sided that the union does~ 't have to spend money to file claim after claim, while employers have to spend huge sums on lawyers to defend themselves against false allega-tions," said Sablan.

He said some HANM! mem-bers have now began redui.:ing donations for community-related adtivites "because funds need to be shifted to cover legal ex-penses that we could not have

The HANMI also denied hav-ing terminated employees for their involvement with the unions stressing that work contracts of these employees have already ex pi red and that mamgement of-ficials, complying with CNMJ Jaw on the hiring of local residents. gave priority to thcst: residents.

"We must give priority to the locals. We were fortunate to be able to find loi.:al workers who replaced some aliens whose con-tracts were expiring," said Hyatt Regency General Manager Issah Mustafa for his part.

Sablan also urged the CNMl government to seriously look into the issue of unionism on the is-land and protect business estab-lishments from unions. (JVD)

'JR'4~ by: John De/Rosario

A minor as an entertainer IT ~S disgusting to learn that a fifteen-year-old was allegedly forced to pertorm kwd performances against her will by her employers.

! n the )~rst place, the girl is a minor whose tender age should automatically ,ound oft the alarm bell for employers Eugene and Malou Zamora. I mean !1

6-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-MONDA y. OCTOBER 21, 1996'..___-~-·

Borja is looking into the 4 Thai tourists refused entry , legality of garment regs

By Zaldy Dandan Vanety News Staff

!FYOU know what was the quota set on 0-:t. 15. 1995 for the nw11ber of g_arrnent workers a company can hire-kindly infonn acting Gov. JcStL~ C. Borja about it.

Borja on Thur,Jay said the le-galit v--r m1[----{1f 1he controver-;ial ;111,'r)!Clll'Y regulations 011 the garment inJusrrv will depend on the lJLwta .~f ;.1 y~3f ~go.

l k ,ajJ he has been asking the l)cpartmcm of Commerce f;r in-! ,1rmaLion on the Oct. 15, 1995 quota bu! "I was t, 1ldit's a little bit Cl1nfusin~.··

If the n;w garment regulations con-travene the 1995 quota, Borja said, L!1en L!1e regulutions are invalid

"But I don· t know because the new regulations sav the quota is 300 work-e; for every ~ompany that meets the law.

"And if that quota of 300, for ex-ample, i~ the quota that existed (last

' J /

9,500 BTU SUPER SALE

•Wh1k St1J'i1l1,,:, l;L',I

Jesus C. Borja

year then the new regulations) may beOK

"But no one is able to tell me what the quota is."

Borja said he is researching on the issue, and will meet with Depart-ments of Commerce and Labor and lmmigration to discuss the new regu-lations.

• Cool large areas Wireless remote

• Voltage monitor Filter dryer

The new set of regulations was signed by Gov. Froilan C. Tenorio last Sept. 3.

House Speaker Diego T. Benavente has said that the regu-lations, which supposedly allows the hiring of over 7,800 new gar-ment workers, violate the Gar-ment Industry Moratorium Act.

Benavente said he will file a lawsuit to stop the enforcement of the regulations. ·

Tenorio, however, has said that he wants the new regulations to be either modified or revoked.

He said he didn't know that the regulations would allow the hir-ing of more garment workers.

Commerce Secretary Pedro Q. Dela Cruz, in an earlier interview, said the regulations would not increase the number of garment workers in the CNMI.

He said the regulations "merely set a ceiling" on the numbell of workers pursuant to the law.

By Jojo Dass because they have their busirtesscs Variety News Staff back home to tend to," said Sablan.

FOUR Thai tourists have been re- . ''Now if 8?ffl00ne wl\o is jpblt!Ss 1· fused entry to die CN.MI over the tiiestocomemasatouristandfor30 . weekendafieritwasestablishedthey day seven, lhen I think itis suspicious j actually came to land jobs as illegal for~ or~ to do. so," Sablan said I workers. man interview.

''They [Thais J caJt¥l on false pre- "They lThaisJ have an insufficient I lense,"LaborandhnmigrationSec- amount of money with them, !hey ; retaryThomasSablantoldtheVari- came as tourists, but they admiUed' ety. that they were looking for employ- I

Sablan declined to identify the rnent," Sablan said foreigners however. He said though Most "tourists" coming in forem-that they broke down to questoning ployment purposes, sablan said, are by immigration agents suspicious of usually from the 'fhird World ' their ttavel documents. - ·· Meanwhile, Sablan said at least

The Thais, it was gathered, was four ovemaying aliens have come supposed to stay in the CNMI as fowani to se.ek DOU assistance on tourists for 30 days billeted in: a big their repatriation. ·· ,hotel withJ~ than$70athand. · ·. TheJoreigners. it W$ gathered,

'1bi&;llposiedsuspicions theThey have .been in the Commonwealth ~~ytlSiilgtheirttaveldocu~ ·, since 1992 and bas landedjobs as rnents~ afipnt .inl'liJ,apparent bid to undocumented wotkers. · ~ 11joq ill: the

By Mar-Vic C. Munar Variety News Staff

ready for SPC meeting their attendance. cies. Visiting dignitaries will include

presidents and prime ministers. Polynesia, Guam, Kiri°bati, Marshall ·Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, UnitedStates, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna and Western Samoa.

ALL is set for the 36th South Pacific Commission conference, and acting Gov. Jesus Borja is optimistic of a big attendance.

''Everything is moving right along. We've received a lot of confirmation thatpeoplearecomingin," said Borja who will chair the conference.

Borja said ambassadors from Ja-pan. New Zealand Ftji and Great Britain called last week to confirm

1heconference, whichisoneofthe biggest events to take place on Saipan, will run from Oct 30 to Nov. I.

Delegates will convene at the Dia-mond Hotel in Susupe.

Between 200 and 250 persons are expected to participate, according to a government press release issued earlier.

Also expected to join the confer-ence are delegates from Chi.le, Ewo-pean Union,andUnitedNationsagen-

Guam r~§PJ;>IlQ.§ to Pink Eye outbreaki1i¥ap. . THE Ayuda Foundation; in co-operation· with Cc>ntinental Micronesia and Guam pharma-cies, made a donation today of 68 treatmenti;' and medication to conjunctivitis, better known as pink eye. The group, formed through the Association of Pacific Island Legislators earlier this year, was created to assist with health care concerns in Micronesian region.

The group made its first ex-ploratory mission to Yap State in J wie, followed by a mission to Ulithi, also in Yap State, that same month.

The foundation was contacted last week by members of the Yap medical community after an epidermic depleted their stock of medication for conjunctivitis. Yap State of the Federated States of Micronesia, estimated they liave seen lOOcasesormorethis past month.

They ran out of medication-~ the end of September.

Seventh Day Adventist Clinic donated 20 treatments and Na~

val Hospital donated. 48 .. The medicinewas delivered to Yap from· Guam via Continental

. Micronesia at no charge.

. . '"The >Ayutla FoundationJs happy to assist our fellow.is--landers during an epidemic like this one," said Susan Cruz, exc ecutive director of Ayuda Foundation. "This is what the Foundation was designed to do."

The group is still in its infancy. It needs the support of the com-munity to continue to do this kind of work and grow to·meet the needs of the region. · ·

Ayuda Foundation thanks those who were able to donate medicine for the people of Yap. Any further donations or medi-

. cal volunteers for future medical missions are welcome. Messages for Cruz regarding the Ayuda Foundation can be left at Sen. Carlotta Leon Guerrero's office at(671)472~3416,fax(671)477-3123 or by mail at 194 Hernan Cortez Ave. Suite 215 Agana,

· Guam 96910.

Founded in 1947, SPC is an international organization for the Pacific, ·with 26 member coun-tries and territories: American Samoa, Australia, CNMI, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, France, French

It is an agency that offers a forum for the 22 countries and

territories "to express their needs and identify their own development priorities."

SPC provides technical assistance, advisory services, infonnation and clearing-house services to its mem-bers. It is not a political organiz.ation.

The last time the conference was held in the CNMI was in 1983.

Pohnpei .Governor and Mrs. Del Pangelinan (second from left and left) pay acting CNMI Gov. Jesus C. Borja a courtesy call during their Saipan visit last week. The Pangelinans were accompamed by House Speaker Diego T. Benavente (right).

New Zealand ups _aid to Solomons HONIARA(PNS)-NewZealandhas increased its 1996/1997 aid assis-tance to Solomon· Islands. New Zealand High Commission to Solomon Islands Rhys Richards says the assistance increase from 11-mil-lion dollars ($3.1 million US) to 12-million So1omonlslandsdollars($3 .4--

million US), SIBC reported. He says the programme will

maintain its current focus with the half of the aid assistance go-ing to human resources develop-ment.

This year's annual aid talks New

Zealand and Solomon Islands get underway in Honiara next Wednes-day.

Solomons permanent secretary of the ministry of national planning and development,DonaldKudu, willchair the two-day meeting.

Mururoa gets ready for big cleanup drive MELBOURNE (PNS) - France's Pacific Experimentation Center says the nuclear test site at Mururoa Atoll will be clean in 6 months.

onMururoa.

---LANE--- Toedirectorof the center in French Polynesia, general Michael Boileau, says that by then, the atoll will be almost back to its natural state, Radio Australia reports.

He said that officials are hoping to sell the thousands of tonnes of scrap metal to recycling plants, but if this is not possible it will be dumped in a 3,000-metre-deep sea trench off the atoll. Slll\ flODAL WDf.tlffl§, 134\1\tl§, SVIJA~

4~1) fUHti fLOUAL AIJVA.~C3f~f~ll fOl?

NOVt;\\l3flJ 1 (!.ll iOUli l)Al'} Store Hours:

Monday-Saturday 9:00 am - 7:00p.m. Sunday 10:00 am - 4:00 p.m.

Open November 1, from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Showrooms: ·susupe, across from Mt. Carmel Cathedral

*Chalan Kanoa-C-Mart

LOW PRICES, CASH

DISCOUNT!

Until early this year Mururoa atoll was being used for underground nuclear testing and up until the early 1970s it was the site of atmospheric nuclear testing.

Boileau made his statement in a 26-minute film by Tahiti television station RFO which shows the dis-mantling of the nuclear testing sites

The Pacific coordinator for the in-ternational conservation group, Greenpeace, Bunny McDiarmidsays the rubbish should be taken to France.

She said putting the scrap in the open ocean would violate the Lon-don Convention which outlaws dwnpingatseaandisalsoopposed by the South Pacific Regional Environ-mental Programme of which FrJnce is a member.

Air Nauru offers new service MELBOURNE (PNS)-Air Nauru will introduce a new schedule of air service from October 27 aimed at increasing between Australia, the Central Pacific, Fiji and Ma-nila.

Chief executive officer Rex Banks says the new schedule will enhance service between Austra-lia and Nauru as well as the airline's entire Pacific network, Radio Australia reports.

Existing Air Nauru services to Guam, Pohnpei, Tarawa and Nadi

will continue with minor changes in schedule.

The airline has temporarily reas-sessed operations to Sydney, Honiara and Suva and this will be reviewed early next year.

To cope with the high passenger demand over December and Janu-ary, special flights will be sched-uled between Nauru and Honiara.

There are special arrangement~ for Sydney passengers fo travel to Melbourne or Brisbane with the Aus-tralian airline, QANTAS.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1996 -MARIANAS VARIETY NEW~ AN[>V_IEV,,S-~

Torres wants report .from travelers By Mar-Vic C. Munar Variety News Staff

LIKE a daddy demanding to see his child's report card, Rep. Stanley Torres said Friday he wants to see what the delegation

Jed by Gov. Froilan C. Tenorio had accomplished after the two-

Laundry firm . cited by ·nEQ ALAUNDRYfumhasbeencitedby the Division of Environmental Qual-ity for alleged causing groundwater contrunination.

The DEQ identified the erring es-tablishment as the Marianas Clean-ers. Itsaidthefinncontaminated two water wells near its dry-deaning fa-cility in Susupe.

The water from the two wells con-tained "elevated levels" of tetrachloroethene andassociatedhaz-ardous wa~te chemicals "originating from dry cleaning operations," the DEQsaid. . TheDEQtestedall thewaterwellst

within a quarter mile of the Marianas Oeaners,andonlythetwowells were contaminated.

The DEQ allayed fears that the waier from the wells would threaten public health, saying "no person isd drinking the contaminated water.

'The two wells identified as being contaminated are being treated and the water is strictly to be used for industrial purposes only," it said

It said a "full-scale remediation plan" would be developed to make sw-ethecontamination "is completely removed."

the remedial measure is necessary since "these chemicals have a ten-dency to migrate large distances in ground water over time," it said.

Last June the DEQ also cited a construction finn for the contami-nated water in its barracks complex where about 150 employees lived.

The fum, however, remedied the situation by hiring a specialist who located the source of the microbilogical contamination.

-Rick Alberto

Business dev't specialist here MARGIE MIHLBAUER, Busi-ness Development Specialist for the CNMI, Guam and Palau for the Pacific Business Center, will be in the Commonwealth from Tuesday, November 12 to meet with any current or new business clients in-terested in the Center's consulting services. Ms. Mihlbauer will be on SaipanNovember 12-14,onTinian ,November 15 and on Rota Novem-ber 18.

The Pacific Business Center, lo-cated at the UniversityofHawaii in Honolulu, offers technical and managerial a~sistancc either free-of-charge or at low cost hourly rates. It also coordinates training workshops fororganizations in both the private and public sectors to increase employee productivity and job satisfaction.

Anyone inte~ted in meeting with Ms. Mihlbauer can arrange an ap-pointment through fapie Borja on Saipan (234-7145), Doris Dela Cruz on Tinian (433-9203), or Lydia Manglona on Rota (532-9408).

week Asian trip. ''I' 11 wait for their return and

hear what they have to say about what they calJed a historic trip," Torres said.

Torres has labelled the trip "jun-ket No. 2."

Last week, Vice Speaker Jesus Attao, who was part of the entou-rage, issued a press release enu-merating the calendar of activi-

ties the delegation had partici-pated in.

"The governor has brought us on a historic trip. Not only were we present to see the CNMI treated with the utmost respect and admi-ration, we participated with the governor in very productive dis-cussions with many Chinese offi-cials," Attao said.

The trip, Attao said, had of-

feredanopportunityfortheCNMI to establish "closer relations· and better cooperation with ourneigh-bors."

"Rep Torres is talking like someone from the Trust Territory days who doesn't want us to get ahead. When I get back I'm going to tell him (not to) misrepresent the facts any longer because it is wrong to give your people false

infonnation about alleged sense-less junket trips. It's just not true, we arc bringing home solid ac-complishments," Attao said.

Some members of the delega-tion are back. Others are sched-uled to arrive this week.

"I want to hear from them. I want to see if they had really ac-complished something," Torres said.

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Saipan FONCARD access nurnber: 235-0333 · Rota F()NCARD access number: 828-0333 . Tinian FON CARD access number: 828-0333 Saipan customer service number: 235-5678 · Rora cusromer service number: 532-5678. Tinian customer service number: 433-0382

10-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-MONDAY-OCTOBER 21, 1996

6 ininates escape from prison FLORENCE, Arizona (AP) - Six prisoners, including three convicted murderers, broke out of a private prison, authorities said. Two of the fugitives were later captured.

The six were in an outdoor recre-ation area with other prisoners about 7:40 p.m. Saturday when they cur through three fences SWTOW1ding the

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Centra!ArizonaDetentionCenterand fled into the desert, said Susan Hart, a spokeswoman for the company that operates the priscn.

Two of the inmates - one a con-victed mwderer, the other a con-victed burglar - were apprehended at a Florence convenience store about three hours later.

State and local police used helicop-ters and dogs to search for the fugi-tives, whowerewearingprison-issue gray pants and shirts.

The prison, located on the out-skirts of this small community about 45 miles (70 kilometers) southeast of Phoenix, is a medium-security facil-ity that holds about 1,000 inmates.

Option for option, still the best luxun; car buy on isumd ..

$16,595 Pope John II waves from his car as he leaves the Gemelli Hospital in Rome Tuesday. pocto:s discharged Joh Paul II from the hospital Tuesday, pronouncing him well-healed from surgery and predicting he would be ready in a few weeks to tackle a demanding schedule. AP P.hoto

( 10/ 0 2/ 9 8)

THIS IS TO INFORM ALL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS THAT THE CNMI JTPA OFFICE IS SOLICITING ONE HUNDRED (100) APPLICANTS FOR THE YOUTH VACATION EMPLOYMENT TRAINING PROGRAM.

PRIORITY CONSIDERATION WILL BE ACCORDED TO THOSE STUDENTS BELOW THE POVERTY INCOME GUIDELINE (ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGE). HOWEV~R, DEPENDING ON THE AVAILABILITY OF LOCAL FUNDING, THE PROGRAM MAY ACCOMMODATE THOSE STUDENTS WHO ARE CONSIDERED HIGH INCOME TO FULFILL THE 100 SLOTS.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION IS THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1996. No APPLICATION WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTE.R THE ESTABLISHED DATE.

ALL STUDENTS ON YELLOW TRACK ARE ENCOURAGED TO VISIT THE JTPA OFFICE LOCATED DIRECTLY ACROSS CUC, OR CONTACT MRS. LAURENT T. CHONG OR MR. MARTIN C. PANGELINAN AT 664-1700/4 FOR MORE INFORMATION.

RESPECTFU

ls/FELIX R OGIS JTPA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

xc: PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER

· Chirta to issue . bqnd, · tap f.Iong _·

.· _Kong to fund ·. dam· proposal,. . .

BEIJING (AP)- China plans to issue I billion yuan ($ 120 mil-lion) worth of three- and five-year bonds next month and seek more investment from Hong Kong to fund the controversial Three Gorges dam, an official report said Sunday.

The Yangtze Three Gorges Development Corp. also plans to issue more bonds, and possi-bly shares too, next year, said Yuan Guolin, the company's deputy general manager.

Yuan told a delegation from Hong Kong that the dam, the world's largest, needs more in-vestment from the British colony that reverts to Chinese rule next year, the state-run Xinhua News Agency said.

"We will further tap the role of Hong Kong as an interna-tional financial center in our fund-raising activities," Xinhua quoted Yuan as saying.

Yuan said that as of August, China had raised 17 billion yuan ($ 2.048 billion) for the project, Xinhua said.

It said the project was ex-pected to cost 90 billion yuan($ 10.84 billion), but other reports have said total investment is expected to reach $ 24 billion by its projected completion in 2009.

The I 1/2-mile-long (2.5-ki-lometer) dam has been the tar-get of fierce criticism. Environ-mentalists say it threatens wild-life, while human rights activ-ists complain that 1.2 million people will be forced from their homes by the rising waters.

The U.S. Export and Import Bank decided to deny financing exports to the project on envi-ronmental grounds.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1996-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-11

Russian military shuns politics Talks of unrest, coup following Le bed's ouster By LYNN BERRY

MOSCOW (AP)-While politicians make ominous warnings of unrest or even a coup, Russia's beleaguered military remains preoccupied with its own troubles and shows little interest in the political squabbling.

Theonce-vatu1tedmilitary has been in retreat since the Soviet breakup fiveyearsago. Embarrassedbybattle-

field setbacks in Chechnya, the army is short of money and its poorly trained soldiers show little will to fight

'The problem at the moment is the chaotic implosion of the armed forces," said Rose Gottemoeller, deputy director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Lon-

don. 'They need to downsize and professionalize, but it needs to be a planned and controlled process."

Lacking ooth the resources and a clear foreign foe since the end of the ColdWar,themilitaryisstrugglingto define a new role. This absence of direction is seen as dangerous by some.

"If urgent measures aren't taken, the state may be left without well-trained military forces," said retired Lt. Gen. Mikhail Surkov, deputy chairman of parliament's defense committee. "It's better to have no armed forces than to have them un-trained."

election campaign to end unpopular conscription and create a smaller, professional military armed with modem equipment. He appointed Gen. Igor Rodionov as defense min-ister in July to carry out the long-delayed reforms.

Bosnian Serbs convene first 'legal' parliame·nt

Before he was ousted Thw-sday as national security chief, Alexander Lebed had warned that troops could mutiny -not in response to a political crisis, but because they haven'·t been paid for months.

With PresidentBoris Yeltsin await-ing heart surgery, his top lieutenants

· have traded increasingly harsh accu-sations, including warnings of pos-sible political unrest or even coup attempts.

With the .economy in crisis, the anned forces are unable even to pay their officers and provide their troops with decent rations. The number of men under arms has declined from 2.7 million in I 992 to 1.5 million, a figure still considered too high.

Rodionov wants to swiftly trim 3\Xl,000 servicemen, while slashing the number of combat divisions from 78 to 12. These divisions would then' bemadetrulyoperational,givenmod-em weapons and staffed eventually by professional soldiers.

By JOVANA GEC BANJA LUKA, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP)- Bosnian Serbs boasted at the first session of their parliament that they have created a "Serb state," offending Muslims deputies who temporarily walked out in protest.

While many of the Saturday speeches contained Serb bravado, others showed glimpses of con-ciliation - a recognition that the peace agreement that ended the Bosnian war bars the Serbs from establishing theirown state within Bosnia.

In elections last month, Bosnians voted for separate par-liaments for the Serb and Mus-lim-Croat halves of Bosnia, and elected a joint legislature and joint presidency.

The Serbs failed to attend the inaugural sessions of the joint bod-ies and have not taken their oaths of office. They say they feared for their safety in downtown Sarajevo, which Serb forces bombarded throughout the war.

Biljana Plavsic, president of the Serb half of Bosnia, said Saturday that the opening of the Bosnian Serb parliament was proof that Serbs had successful! y created their own republic, which they call Republika Srpska.

"This is the beginning of a new era of Serb statehood," Plavsic said at the opening session.

But she conceded that the peace deal - which requires Serbs to gov-ern jointly with the Muslim-Croat federation - does not allow for a separate Serb entity.

"We are not completely inde-pendent. Our sovereignty is lim-ited, and we have to respect what was signed," she said, adding that Serbs would take pa.it "in the work of the joint institutions as an equal partner."

The Serb parliament contains 18 Muslim members - elected by the fonner residents of what are now Serb areas. The residents were forced out during the Bosnian war; some have returned, while others voted from theirnew homes. The Muslim deputies traveled to the meeting in Serb-controlled Banja Luka Saturday on a route moni-tored by NATO-led furces and in-ternational police.

They reluctantly sat through the Serb anthem when the session opened in a hall bedecked with Serb flags. But they refused to take a.ii oath of office swearing alle-giance on! y to the Serb republic and containing references to the Serb Orthodox religion.

"This is a multinational assem-bly" and the oath should reflect

that, said Ahmet Alicic, a Muslim deputy. If the oath is not changed, he said, the Muslim deputies would consider a permanent boycott.

After a brief walk-out, the depu-ties returned.

The parliament elected a new speaker, Dragan Kalinic, who indi-rectly praised Radovan Karadzic, the former Serb leader who has been charged with war crimes. Karadzic is in hiding after being forced from the political stage un-der international pressure.

But most analysts don't foresee anymilitaryrevolt TheRussianarmy hasalongtraditionofa=ptingcivil-ian authority and has tended in recent years to back democratic reform.

While there are hard-liners in the officer corps who yearn for the lost empireoftheSovietera, there are also many pro-reform officers. The rna-jorityofprivatesoldiersareconscripts whose only desire is to get out of the military ,and they couldnotbecounted on to back any coup attempt.

Lebcd's ouster was sealed by ac-cusations from a bitter rival, Interior Minister Anatoly Kulikov, thatLebed was plotting to form his own 50,000-man army and take power by force. No evidence has swfaced to back the charge.

There lias been no sign the military is directly involved or has any inten-tion of intervening in Kremlin quar-rels, and the sacking ofLebed is like[ y to reduce, at least temporarily, the level of infighting.

Y elt,in promised during his re-

"Russian capability at the moment consists ·probably of being able to put one fully equipped division in the field and to conduct limited opera-tions outside its borders - provided it could operate under air superiority," said John Erikson, a specialist in the Russian military at Edinburgh Uni-versity in Scotland

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE COMMONWEALTH OF THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS

PUBLIC NOTICE

The Business License Office, Banking and Insurance, and the Foreign Investment Sections of the Department of Commerce would like to inform the general public that our office is accepting applications' for renewal. Not all licenses or business permits expire on a specific date, but to avoid delays in processing and penalty fees, all are encouraged to submit renewal applications early, as to allow ample processing time. Requirements needed 1or the processing of business licenses are as follows: Renewal 1. Original Business License Certificate 2. Completed Renewal Application 3. Sketch showing the location of the businesses. (Need not be submitted if location remains the same.) 4. Latest Corporation's Annual Report 5. Any assumed name, trade name or dba 6. Tax Identification Number 7. Revenue & Taxation Clearance 8. Certificate of Clearance (Worker's Compensation Office) · · 9. $50.00 per activity. (Payments must be made at any Commonwealth Treasury Ottice after it has been assessed and verified by the Business License Office.) A penalty fee of $5.00 is assessed for each activity per month for late renewals.

Note: It is requested that the Business License Office be informed of any changes in the business within 10 working days. Activities not indicated on the application for renewal will be deleted.

Any change in th~ business. information must be reported to the Business License Office within 1 O working days of such change(s). Failure to report change(s) to the Business Lrcense offrce will be grounds for revocation of business license.

Sev_er~I public laws _that hav~ _recently been enacted require the Business License Ottice to provide certain information to specific government offices for s0t_a!rstrcal~ndto~pclrance verrfrcatron purpo?es only. Therefore, a copy of your approved business license application will be forwarded to the Central Statistic 1vrs1on, or er s ompensatron Comm1ss1on, CNMI Retirement Fund and the Division of Revenue and Taxation.

Should you have any questions, please contact the Business License Office al the Department of Commerce in your respective island. Saipan: 664-3000/6971 Rota: 532-94 78 Tinian: 433-9244

Als?, this is to advis~ those interested in the Standard Industrial Classification Manu~I that is in now available for the public's use. Should you be interested in revrewrng or borrowing the manual, or have questions on the above, please contact Vrnce Agulto or Bernie Palacios at 664 3069no or 71 For R t d T · please contact the respective Department of Commerce office. · 0 a an rntan, Below is a listing of banking, insurance and foreign investment fees. BANKS INSURANCE

Company Surplus Line Broker General agent Sub-Agent Adjuster Solicitor

Bank - Retail (NEW)

Bank - Retail (RENEWAL)

Security Dealer-Broker Security Agent Trust Company Foreign Exchange Dealer Foreign Exchange Agent

5,000 1,000

50 6,050

Initial Application Fee Annual Banking License Fee General Business License Fee

1,000 Initial Application Fee 50 General Business License fee

1,050

300.00 50.00

300.00 300.00 30.00

FOREIGN INVESTMENT Regular Term (90 day) One Year (RENEWAL) Long Term (Two Year) Foreign Investment Visa Foreign Investment Certificate Foreign Investment Violations

Date: 9/30/96 /s/ PEDRO a. DELA CRUZ

Secretary of Commerce

300.00 50.00

100.00 75.00 75.00

100.00 50.00

200.00 750.00

1,000.00 _ 2,500.00 10,000.00

100.00 per day

12-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-MONDAY- OCTOBER 21, 1996

Hurricane batters Bahamas By WILL LESTER

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) . Hurricane Lili bounded toward Bermuda on Sunday after tear-imr off roofs in the Bahamas. Ii/Cuba. meanwhile, officials were assessing the damage to crucial sugar and coffee crops drowned by Lili's heavy rains. Despite sust:iined winds near 95 mrh ( 153 kph) that came ash,Hc in the Bahamas on Fri-day ni~/Jt and Saturdav. the d,1;11,1g; from Lili was- scat-tcr,·J ·,1mJ no serious injuries 11ae reported.

"We were lucky," said act-inc Police Commissioner Er;,IJ Fan-1uahar.

The only injury reported

was a fisherman on Andros Island who was cut by a pro-peller when his boat flipped over in high seas. He was treated at a community clinic and released.

Cuba was not so lucky: the storm's high winds and 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain inflicted severe damage on sugar plantations, milJs and coffee crops in the central sec-tion of the island nation.

"It has been a real disaster," said Miguel Diaz Canel, a Communist party official in Villa Clara province, a largely agricultural area located on the north-central side of the is-land.

a,

==.:.===Fc=orm=a,""'P="a""'c;'='r,c=,-,:g Trading ~

Micronesian Telecommunication Corporation (MTC) is seeking a

STAFF PROD~@! _MAN.AGER (Sa.ipan) Develop and manage non-toll products and services for

·;~.ronesian Telecommunications Corporation (MTC), including CPE 'v · :ss and residence), local network services {basic and enhanced voic. : dat2, video) and cellular business for MTC, Guam, and fu-ture imc·: ::\10~1al markets (e:g. Micronesia, Taiwan, etc.) for interna-tional cornmerc', 0, international government, and overseas U.S. gov-ernment (primarily department of defense) customers.

Manage the development and/or modification of comprehensive non-toll pro~uct plan~ and ~rogram~ that direct the support requirements ot marketing, operaltons, billing, training, financial and other functional groups. Product, plans will minimally document target markets, outline distribu-tion channel, promotional and pricing strategies, identity unit'financial ob-jectives, and outline technical and operational procedures.

Minimum bachelor's degree in business or engineering. Master's degree preferred. Seven combined years' experience in product man-agement, sales, advertising, engineering, and/or marketing required. Strong verbal, analytical and written skills required. Specialized technical knowl-edge of network services/operations required. Financial analysis skills im-portant.

HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICE MICRONESIAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP.

P.O. Box 306 Saipan, MP 96950

Phone: (670) 234-6600 Fax: (670) 235-9559

MTC IS Nl EQUAL OPPORTUNITl'/AFl'IRMATIVE ACTION EMPLOYER ilPPUCAT!OO OR RESUME MUST BE RECEIVED BY 1HE MTC HUliWI RESOURCE OFFICE NO LATER 'fHNl OCTOBER 23, 1~.

At I I p.m. EDT (0300 GMT) Saturday night, U!i was · centered about 365 miles (590 kilometers) south-southwest of Bermuda and was moving east-northeast at 29 mph (47 kph). It was expected to pass south of Bermuda on Sunday, and then into the open Atlan-tic. The hurricane had sus-tained winds of near 115 mph ( 185 kph), which were ex-pected to weaken.

In Cuba, there also was only one injury reported - that of a man hit by a falling tree.

But Diaz said the wind flat-tened most of the sugar fields and ripped corrugated metal roofing from the province's 28 sugar mills.

He estimated that 90 per-

cent of the province's plan-tain crop was severely dam-aged as well as tobacco seed-lings - more bad news for the island's agriculture industry, which suffered heavy losses dur-ing a 1993 storm.

The storm also knocked down more than 67 utility poles in Villa Clara province, cutti!_"lg telephone communications and electricity.

More than 3,000 homes were destroyed and 26,000 partly dam-aged by Hurricane Lily in its ram-page through Cuba, national ci vii defense officials reported Satur-day, according to the Cuban news agency Prensa Latina.

The Bahamas fared much bet-ter. Bahamian cabinet ministers met Saturday to assess damage and concluded that the island

chain, which has dodged many major hurricanes over the years, got another break.

"We have been spared again," said Basil O'Brien; secretary to the cabinet.

The airport in Nassau was re-opened Saturday morning, al-though most air travel to the cen-tral and south islands was cut off until Sunday.

The hurricane inflicted scat-tered damage on several islands and the central Bahamas, incl ud-ing south Andros, Exuma, Long Island, and San Salvador.

At least a dozen structures, in-cluding houses, several businesses and a church were hard-hit, with roofs tom off and windows blown out. Several were washed away by high tides.

Waianae lifeguard Melvin Puu poses with a life sled in Makaha, Hawaii. Ocean lifesaving around the world could improve with the invention of the life sled. AP photo

COMMONWEALTH OF THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS NORTHERN MARIANAS COLLEGE

The Office of the Public Auditor is soliciting proposals for the financial and compliance audit of the Northern Marianas College {NMC) for the fiscal years ending September 30, 1996 and 1995. Proposals shall be .submitted to the.Public Auditor, P.O: Box 1399, Saipan, MP 96950, no later than November 4, 1996. The audit shall be performed 1n compliance with the following guidelines:

1. Generally Accepted Auditing Standards . . . r! 2. 0MB Circular A-133 (Audits of Institutions of Higher Education and Other Nonprofit lnst1tut1ons) i:l 3. Government Auditing Standards issued by the Comptroller General of the United States f., 1.-

Proposals must at least have the following information: TIiie Page 1. Request for Proposals 2. Name of your Company 3. Local Address and telephone number 4. Name of contact person and submission date.

Transmittal Letter d t d' f the audit to be performed. Include affirmative statement to perform the work within the time 1. Briefly state your un ers an 1ng o period specified. . . 2. State the comprehensive fee for the audit _that will .be performed. 3:Date on which the audit report package will be delivered to NMC.

Your Company's Profile . d d · mber of 1. Provide a brief description of your company which includes you'. personne_l's educational backgroun an experience, nu staff, level of staff (partners, managers, supervisors, etc.) and a listing of clients. . . . 2. The description must also include an affirmative statement that at least the partners are cert1f1ed public accountants. 3. Name and profile of staff members to be assigned to the audit, should your firm be awarded.

Award will be based on four evaluation factors specifically the price, technical competence, prior .experience and ability to meet the deadline. The conlracl for this audit will be awarded not later than November 18, .1996. T_he audit work shall_ commence thereafter and a final audit report shall be completed by January 31, 1997. Audit reports from previous years are available al NMC Dandan Office. Any questions regarding this matter can be addressed to Mr. Hams Lawrence, NMC Comptroller at Tel. no. 234·3680 Ext. 1542

Harris Lawrence, NMC Comptroller

1

· ....

MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1996 -MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND V!EWS-13

Deposed gov't retakes base By DOMINIQUE MOLLARD

BAGHRAM, Afghanistan · In wresting control of an air base from Taliban fighters, government troops 'have put themselves within striking distance of the capital they lost last month.

Afghan military troops moving toward Kabul

The capture of the strategic Baghram air base, centered in a vast plain 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Kabul, was the former government's most significant vic-tory since the Taliban chased its troops out of Kabul.

Taliban fighter jets screamed in low over the air field Saturday after-noon, dropping bombs that witnesses said landed near surrounding homes,

killing several civilians. Fromtheairbase,deposedmilitruy

chief Ahmed Shah Massood's sol-diers pressed on toward the capital Saturday. Witnesses said the former government soldiers pushed Taliban troops out of Qarabagh, 40 kilome-ters (25 miles) north of Kabul, then pressed on to Mir Bacha Kot, a small village of dried mud huts just 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the capi-tal.

Radio Kabul said the Taliban sent reinforcements to the front line. The broadcast said 500 fresh troops ar-rived in the capital and were sent

northward At the airbase, Maswod' s soldiers

dug in, positioning anti-aircraft artil-lery and other heavy weapons. Sev-eral tanks and armored personnel carriers rumbled into the airport.

The runways were lined with the charred hulks of fighter jets and gunships. The dead bodies of two Taliban soldiers Jay on the tannac where they fell.

Soldiers at the air base said a helicopter gunship with Taliban fighters on board was shot down as it tried to take off from the besieged air base.

canJal)'.a~t;Je!llll.hasre~9ye~d i· •.• •. feti.~1e ... •r.r.~tfJ.e .... •· .. ··.I lJ~e····i~o··········.s·····~~~i.~e····•••.•· {g;i!1:fr~t~~r::rgi~t~~~J; on~9frtlie tw9/?i>J119~)®*~~}\· 1.)oq.i~s 111llXStilJ !?e. t{~ppeci · problem.5,The pilot was.·cir~• · rro~i~~.sKot'~A~rpim~.i J~~io.e th.e tµselage pt. the ~Jing rorll re-entry when he

· J.~tlir\rf\li#t pi~h#4tp6r~ !f)lln ( ~p~ii11:} }57, ~tjic~··""lls .. lo- •··.·reported his instruments 'Nere }i6. )Yt':ej,ts ;agdlfit() t.~¥/.rii-J . i cat~d gn>the ocean.fl~or ... un, i

14-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-MONDAY-OCTOBER 21, 1996

King Juan Carlos of Spain arrives for So. Korea visit SEOUL, South Korea (AP) • King Juan Carlos of Spain arrivird Sunday for an offi-cial visit to South Korea. . Officials said the king will

f meet with President Kim I Young-sam on Monday. . / During his four-day trip, L__

the king also will pay respects at the National Cemetery, tour· an electronics plant and an auto assembly line, and visit a. historic Bu~dhist temple, they said.

He was accompanied by his , wife Queen Sophia.

Joint ieatb ~nnibcrsarp l\osarp

0 Martin M. Sablan

1st Anniversary Rosary Jose M. Sablan

15th Anniversary Rosary

.I L\e, the family of the late Martin M. & Jose M. VV Sablan would like to invite our relatives and friends to join us for the First and Fifteenth anniversary rosary of our beloved ones.

Rosary will be said nightly at 8:00 p.m. beginning October 16, Wednesday, 1996 thru October 24, Thursday, 1996 at the residence of Mrs. Fermina A. Sablan in Dandan.

On the final day, October 24, 1996, Rosary will be said at 12:00 noon, followed by Mass of Intention at 5:00 p.m. at San Vicente Church. Dinner will be served immediately.

16-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-MONDAY- OCTOBER 21, 1996

At the movies De Niro, Pitt, Hoff1nan, Bacon star in 'Sleepers'

Big ... Continued from page 1

duction costs at 25 cents per page; •mileage at 25 cents per mile;

By BOB THOMAS LOSANGELFS(AP)-Dumas' clas-sic novel of revenge, 'The Count of Monte Cristo," provides the theme of . ·s leepero," an engrossing, highly origi-nal film from Barry Levinson ("Rain Man").

During a period of terrible degrada-tion, a boy acxiuires a copy of "The Count of Monte Cristo," in which an unjustly convicted man in later yeais plots recrimination against his tonnen-ton; in prison. The boy,· and another companion who admired the book, growupanddeviseanelaborateplotto bring doom to their own captors.

Levinson, who directed, wrote and co-pnxluced "Sleepers," managed to attrdct a dream cast of male stars. Yet with two exceptions, he uses them only in the second half of the film.

Based on a book by Lorenzo Carcaterra, the story begins with four young buddies in New Yorlc's Hell's Kitchen, from which have emerged such achievers as James Cagney plus an array of candidates for the electric chair.

The boys, most of them from brutal households, band together and engage in street games and petty crimes.

The parish priest (Robert De Niro) has come from such a background himself, and he tries to counsel the boys about right and wrong. His les-sons seem to have little effect.

One day, the boys play a prank on a hot dog seller. The mischief results in a terrible accident, and the boys are

tried and sent to a reform school. The place proves worse than anything

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) • A Colombian journalist was killed by gunmen as he re-turned home from an evening

1 with friends, the radio station he · worke

18-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-MONDAY- OCTOBER 21, 1996

EEK & MEEK® by Howie Schneider

~ 0

Garfield@

PEANUTS® TI-IIS IS Ml{ REPORT

ON WA-LTER DIEMER., THE MAN WHO

INVENTED 6U06LE GUM ..

STELLA WILDER

OBVIOUSLY, WE ARE ALL

6RATErnL TO I-HM ..

YOUR BIRTHDAY By Stella Wilder

Born today, you do things in your own unique manner, even when you are ,vorking closely with others. Your influence will be felt at all times, no matter what you or those around you may be doing, because you have a strong person-ality and a forceful, outgoing and independent presence. Highly ex-pressive and free with your emo-tions, you never hold back when you are given an opportunity to share your feelings with others. You know how to speak well, and you can be quite persuasive, but your greatest strength may be nonverbal communication.

Serious about your work and about your mission in life, you maintain a healthy level of good humor and lightheartedness even when the going gets tough. Just b,·,ause you can laugh doesn't me~" vou do not have the ability to work ,,,,,·d, and you prove it each and even· dav.

Also born on this date are: Elvin Bishop, musician; Carrie Fisher, actress; "Dizzy" Gille-spie, musician; Ursuia K. Le Guin, author; Sir George Solti, conductor.

To see what is in store for you

BARBS BARBS BY PHIL PASTORET

When the auto mechanic grins at you and says, "No problem," guess who has the problem?

Whv is it that' seers who promise to foretell your future never seem to spot the undercover cops who bust them"

Our neighbor gripes that there's nothing like one of his wife's home-cooked meals lo make a fellow head for a fast-food joint.

tomorrow, find your birthday and read the corresponding para-graph. Let your birthday star be your daily guide.

TUESDAY, OCT. 22 LIBRA (Sept. 23-0ct. 22) -

Concentrate squarely on the task at hand today, but don't forget to look around during breaks and. to assess how others are doing. Maybe you can help.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) -You may have to increase security around the home today after re-ceiving a cryptic warning from friends or neighbors. Use caution.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) - You can do much to reduce the severity of threats received even casually from those who are trying to displace you at work.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) - It will be important to try to get in sync with people who seek similar goals. Once you've adopted the same rhythms, you can work together.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) - This will be a good day to con-centrate on your career, at least early on, when you will feel ener-getic and motivated.

PISCES (Feb. 19-Marcb 20) - You may have to wait your turn today, but you can use the time to

Our minister says he'd gladly trade all the do-gooders in the congregation for one member determined lo do better.

The best way to serve cold, unsalt-ed broccoli is never.

No one goes broke anymore. They just become economically challenged.

When you·ve come to the end of a perfect day, don't spoil it. Erase the answering machine messages without listening to them.

Have you noticed" There's an epi-demic raging on Capitol Hill these days: foot-in-mouth disease.

by Jim Davis

AUDIO VISUAL, MA'AM ..

your advantage. ·Do not become frustrated or agitated.

ARIES outs.He f01Jght~iteha~$~OIJ~ ~ecyp.n I

:hisrighte]b()w,justJ2-day~ earlier. < ••.. < < i.. . > < < I > Holmes, in )heJirstdefe~ ofthefmwti¥W9P.f.J,Um QufucyT;iyloron : ·'·1;farch!6,improyoobisrei;oro,tQ29,fi. . f : ............ ·,··········· .. · ········· ).·.··· ! :i •• To.311earlier~~elx,ut,Work:},1¥'x#w~011rrtkldleweightchampioo \ ..·.···~it.r .• fo?Y··:~ired~s.c?t/·.ttllt•~i:~-rou111itechnifat .~ock-. 1

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Bortherhood Continued from page 20

There were a total of six aces, on xunk, IO kees and two goals that were scored in the game.

TomasChipuielongledBazooka's losing bid with one ace and two kees.

In a related development, Rocball is now online. Saipan' s own sports game was placed in the world wide web last October I 0. Rocball now has links to the CNMI's Data Com and Marianas High School's home pages.

Rocball has gained tremendous popularity in the last five years with extensiv

-20-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-MONDAY- OCTOBER 21 1996

Budweiser Chess Cull ...

Elauria, 3 others share lead By Erel A. Cabatbat Variety News Staff

FOUR PLAYERS hurdled sepa-rate opponents yesterday to notch their second full point after two rounds in the ongoing CNMI Chess Association-Budweiser Cup Individual Chess Champion-ships at Rambie · s Restaurant.

Paul Elauria continued his sur-prising run in the tournament by beating Jun Baja in 60 moves of Queen's Pawn Opening while Ely G. Buenaventura's Trompovsky Attack fell short against Junnel Lomantas. Lomantas scored his

second point in 26 moves. Rey Y ana and Ronnie Alfonso

kept pace with the two by scoring contrasting victories against their respected rivals.

In the day's most exciting en-counter, Yana proved steadier in the endgame as Glenn Orlina clearly threw away a won game. Yana appeared headed for a clear defeat until Orlina blundered in the closing minutes. Yana capi-talized on Orlina' s miscue to keep his unbeaten streak.

Alfonso, on the other hand, tri-umphed over Winston Abarca in

a King's Indian Defense game. Defending champion John

Villamin scored his full point of the tournament at the expense of George Hanus. Villamin, play~ ing black, mated Hanus in 61 moves.

Rey Villamor, Carl Pogue, and Pol Mondez also recorded their first full points in the chess tilt. Villamor dealt Tom Canaveral's second straight setback, winning by a mate in 37 moves of a Caro-Kann Defense.

Pogue surprised Jun Ocena in 26 moves of a Ruy Lopez while

PILLOW HOCKE¥- Kids and adults alike Jet it all out in a game of pillow hockey at the Pacific Islands Club's grounds. Photo by Erel A. Cabatbat

1C~b~rt·I~7

~d~=by t~b st~~k~s l .\ EL DORADO HILI.S, California (AP) - Jim Colbert, continuing his ! season-long assault on the Senior PGA Tour, shot a 4-under-par68 Saturday I andheldatwo-strokeleadoverButchBairdasblueskiesreturnedtotheGold ~

~ Rush Classic. , ~ Colbert, who has four victories and is second this season on the money :;

. list with nearly$ 1.4 million, had two eagles, including a 35-foot putt on the 13th hole, en route to his 9-under-par 135 total at Serrano Country Oub.

, Colbert needed both eagles as Baird, 60, shot a course-record 64 on the ii t I-year-old 6,772-yard layout with eight birdies and no bogeys. He is alone i ( in second place after his opening round 73. · 1· f A non-winner on the Senior Tour since 1989, Baird's round was one i stroke off his career ~st and ~lipsed th~ previous course~ of 66 set by 1. u former leader J~ .. k Kiefer dunng the ramy and cold opemng round I ) "It was different out there today, but the greens retained moisture and . C. I slowed the ball down," said Colbert, who's fourth on the all-time Senior Tour I I moneylistwithnearly$8millioninhissixseasonsonthecircuit 'Thatreally f helped. Tomorrow I'll show up, warm up and go." · . \ Rocky Thompson, who shot a 67, and two-time U.S. Open winner and I Senior money leaderHale Irwin, who shot a 69, are tied at 138.

Rocball Bortherhood .

noses Bazooka. _.......... ,,' .. ·

By Erel A. Cabatbat Variety News Staff

JOE RUBAULEINAN scored 10 points to led the Brotherh~ ra;,t Bazooka, 25-23 in the last Fnday s action of the 14th Annual World Organized Rocball Tournament at the Pugua Court of the Marianas High School.

Rubauleinan racked two aces, one xunk and two kees to become the game's heavy hitter. .

Brotherhood posted a 15-~ lead m the first set with Jacoby Winkfield leading team's offensive by scoring a three point goal, one kee and one I Kiefer, a non-winner since 1994 who had a one-stroke margin over three

I ace. players, including Colbert, after 18 holes, faltered to a 73 and joined Dave In the next canto Bazooka came Stockon and Dick Henrickson at 139. back with a 16-1 o ~ but their efforts i Baird and Hendrickson are considered the Gran? Masters, or players age ij fell short as time ran out giving their 1 60 and older. Only two players 60 or older - Junmy Powell and Dale i opponents a two point victory. ~_: _____ . ______ _._ ______ _ --~~ ~ontinu~~n p~e ~ J _ _ _ ___ -·- Conti nu~-~~ page 19

tJv[arianas c;yarietr~ Micronesia's Leading Newspaper Since 1972

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Mondez kept Peter Sibly score-less by hacking out a win in 28 moves.

George Eamilao remained un-beaten after two rounds.

Marlon Yucampo and Othello Gonzales halved the point for their secondconsecutivedraw. Manny Domingo, likewise, was held to a draw by Amel Urbano.

Rosario outwitted Winston Cody; Huber whipped Jun Ramos; Escoto beat Cliff Aldan; Cayetano trounced Alfred Romulo; and Eamilao defeated Sixta Igisomar.

· The pairings between Almer Santos against Joe Demapan and the encounter between Roel Bi nee and Vic Diamzon were resched-uled this week.

In the novice category, Dee Rosario, Terry Huber, Conrad Escoto, Nick Cayetano and

Jun Fernandez scored his first point by thrashing Fred Rubiego while Michael Wong won a his match against Edgar ·Sogue by default. Robert Perez kept within striking distance by scoring his full point after an opening round draw by nosing 13 year-old Morroni ·Babauta.

Adam & Eve Mixed tilt

IT&E clinibs to third By Erel A. Cabatbat Variety News Staff .

THE IT &E Keglers sustained their fiery performance by trounc-ing erstwhile third running V &J Bowlers, 3-1, to improve a notch higher in the overall team standings of the Tuesday Adam and Eve Mixed Tournament's 16th week at the Saipan Bowling Center.

With the victory, IT&E now totes a 35-29 win-loss mark to grab third place from the team they defeateq. V &J fell to fourth with a 34-30 slate. ·

In the other pairings, JTG Enterprises was held to a 2-2 draw by stubborn Paras Enterprises.

In lanes 1 and 2 encounter, second running Country House was held to a similar 2-2 tie by CMPG while Shirley's Coffee Shop proved to be too strong for Kan Pacific as they posted a con vinc-ing 3-1 win. . .

O'Doul's moved from eighth into seventh by defeating EPC International, 3-1. Not to be outdone, Joker's likewise posted a similar margin by drubbing Martha's Poker, 3-1.

In the overall team standings, JTG Enterprises still leads the 12 team pack with a 44-20 slate or a ~8.75 winning percen.tage.

Four wins behind is second runmng Country House with 4-24

mark. Continued on page 19

NMOC/NMASA to hold fundraising tournament

By Erel A. Cabatbat bowling in the island but other variety News Staff spo':1s associ_ations as well.

THE NORTHERN Marianas B1llSakov1choftheNMASA/ Olympic Committee (NMOC) NMOC_said all re~~-nues_ gen-and the Northern Marianas erated m the activity ~1!! ~e Amateur Sports Association use~ t? f~nd ~e ~ssoc1at~on s (NMASA) will hold the 1st part1c1~~tion m mtern~tional Annual NMASA "No Tap" competitions and fo~the m~p~e-Bowling Tournament on No- mentation of coa:hmg ~ltmcs

be 9-10 16 and 17 at the for various sports m ~he island. v5. e~ rBow· ling Center. "We'vebeenplanmngtohold· rupan fi dr · · t Or anized by the Philippine · two un a1Sing tournamen s a

B l~ng Association and the year. And hopefully, through owl . . t CNMIBowling Association, the these proJects we can genera ea No Tap bowlfestoffers a$2,000 substantial.amount of money to purse for the champion. The augment wh~t we ge_t fro~ the second placer will get $1,0~ gove,:nment, Sakov1ch srud. while the second runner-up will · Aside from. the thr~e t?P

· $700 prizes cash pnzes await wm-rece1ve · ' 1 The bowling tournament is ners from the founh ~ acer up to

b · ng conducted to serve as a the 11th best bowler m the tour-f:draiser not only to support Continued on page 19

···-----·- . __ . -·, . _____ ,._____ -

... . ', .......

Marianas Variety Vol. 25, No. 158, 1996-10-21