198 the Contemporary Pacific • Spring 1997 Cost Some $70 Million, with Comple- Agreement with the Government Con- Tion Scheduled for Late 1997

198 the contemporary pacific • spring 1997 cost some $70 million, with comple- agreement with the government con- tion scheduled for late 1997. Although cerning the establishment of a national Chen is attempting to relocate the airline. project from Airai to Ngiwal State, an Although the concept of ecotourism influential Airai chief has filed suit in is current in Belau, the thirst for the Belau Supreme Court claiming the “finder’s fees” associated with large- land lease is illegal. scale hotel development is attractive to This particular case is reminiscent local businessmen. Thus the Palasia, of the ipseco power plant scandal of Hilton, and Outrigger schemes, which ten years ago, and highlights the diffi- sooner or later will tax Koror’s water, culty of doing foreign investment busi- power, and sewer systems. These ness in Belau, when clear title to land is developments, and other smaller ones, not available and individuals seek to have contributed to substantial subvert laws, regulations, and tradi- increases in local revenues, which are tional authority. projected to reach $19 million by the The Compact capital improvement end of the current fiscal year. funds have generated considerable All this activity bodes well for Presi- activity in the public sector, with some dent Nakamura and his supporters in 45 infrastructure projects costing over the Olbiil Era Kelulau (national con- $50 million in various stages of com- gress) as they face reelection in pletion. The biggest such project, now November. Given the president’s slim in the design stage, is the Babeldaob 134-vote margin of victory over Tori- road, which the United States agreed biong in 1992, and the campaign to build as part of the Compact agree- enthusiasm being generated by the ment. The road is estimated to have a Palau Nationalist Party, Belau’s fourth final price tag of some $149 million general election will be the most inter- and will circle the large island. The US esting and important contest in its fif- Army Corps of Engineers will manage teen years of self-government. the project. The Palau Resource Insti- donald r shuster tute, an indigenous organization, has been contracted for its expertise in carrying out social impact studies. The Compact trust fund has gener- Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands ated an amazingly healthy 21.3 percent return on investments, growing from The specter of labor unrest raised its $66 million to $88 million in fourteen head on Saipan during the year under months. This aspect of the Compact review. Hawai‘i Hotel Union Local will serve Belau well for the long term. Number Five has been actively In the private sector, tourism num- attempting to organize hotel workers, bers continue their steady increase, and who are mostly from the Philippines. projections indicate annual arrivals In the face of heavy opposition from will reach 150,000 in a decade. Japan the business community and the legis- Airlines made an inaugural flight to lature, the National Labor Relations Belau late in 1995 and has signed an Board has organized several union political reviews • micronesia 199 votes. Only one major hotel (the Hafa the meantime, a major Chinese enter- Adai) has voted for the union. A small prise, Hong Kong Investment (Over- restaurant has also joined, and recent seas) Limited, succeeded in getting a efforts seem to be directed at a few license. Construction began in July for karaoki clubs. The major issue is an eventual five-hundred-room casino whether or not the union can promise hotel to be built in two stages. Six hun- renewal of employment contracts for dred to one thousand construction nonresident workers when their workers will be working on Tinian for employment contracts expire, when the first phase, which will last approxi- qualified local workers are available. mately one year. Arrangements are The focus on nonresident workers is a being made to station two large hydro- source of some concern, given the foil boats on Saipan to ferry clients to demographics of the commonwealth Tinian from Saipan and Guam. A sec- and union action. The union has polar- ond license was granted to local citizen ized some parts of the community Antonio Guerrero, who hopes to get against the foreign workers. construction under way before the end Over the past several years there of 1996. He is also planning a five- have been serious allegations of labor hundred-room complex. abuse in the Nothern Marianas, some The whole issue of land alienation of which have been confirmed. The took on a new twist during 1995–96. allegations have caused serious reac- In previous years a battle raged over tions in Washington and Manila. Last the leasing of private land in alleged year the Manila government banned violation of various parts of Article 12 the movement to the Marianas of of the constitution. More recently the women in “vulnerable” categories issue has been the leasing of public (housemaids, waitresses, entertainers, land for commercial purposes. Gar- and the like). Although that ban was ment magnate Willy Tan signed a lease lifted in May after negotiations with Governor Froilan Tenorio for a between the commonwealth governor piece of prime land to build a first- and Manila officials, it has become class shopping mall with multiplex much more difficult to hire Philippine movie theaters. Construction has been citizens, who now outnumber all held up because of a civil action other ethnic groups in the Northern against the governor by a few citizens, Marianas. who charge that the lease price is well Casinos have finally made their below market value and that the gov- presence felt on Tinian. None of the ernor was violating his fiduciary duty original five casinos authorized by a as custodian of the people’s (public) popular vote in 1989 eventuated. In land. There has been no resolution so 1994 a small group called Lone Star far, but investors are now as leery of opened a storefront gambling estab- leasing public land as they earlier were lishment. It was not successful in about private land. attracting enough gamblers, and over Another issue that reached a climax the Christmas holidays of 1995 aban- in 1995–96 was that of the minimum doned its personnel and equipment. In wage. As a result of federal and other 200 the contemporary pacific • spring 1997 pressures, Public Law 8-20 was passed Northern Marianas and Guam, legisla- to raise the minimum wage for all cate- tion vehemently opposed by the gover- gories of workers except houseworkers nor. On his return, Governor Tenorio and farmers and fishers by thirty cents claimed that he had already signed the per hour per year until it reached the new wage bill into law, and that the federal level. In December 1995 the veto was moot. Senator Manglona has garment and construction industries sued the governor, and the case is still moved to block that annual increase. A in court. panel headed by an employee of one of Delegates to the Third Constitu- the garment enterprises was appointed tional Convention were elected in early to “study” the impact of the increase. 1995, and the convention concluded Tempers were hot and heavy as the its work in October. This convention industries attempted to discredit com- was different from both previous ones munity groups, including the Saipan in that it proposed a complete rewrite Chamber of Commerce, and the Hotel of the whole constitution. At the refer- Association, which favored the endum in March 1996, the people increase. The end result was a bill that were faced with 19 ballot questions raised the wages thirty cents per hour (one for each proposed new article) on a one-time basis for all but the gar- encompassing more than 180 line-item ment and construction industries. amendments. It was all or nothing on Workers in those industries would get each ballot. Needless to say, all 19 pro- two fifteen-cents-per-hour raises over posals were rejected, nullifying all of the next year. The governor then hired the work of the convention, good and the prestigious Hay Group to do a pro- not so good. This left in place the orig- fessional wage study and make recom- inal constitution as amended in 1986. mendations for legislation. The federal One of the most disheartening Department of the Interior was not developments during the year in review pleased and attempted to get Congress was an increase in violent crime. By the to federalize the minimum wage as end of 1995 there had been ten mur- part of the PL 8-20 process. Congress ders, only three of which have been failed to act on that measure, and it is solved. Most of the murders involved presumed that nothing will happen third-country nationals, and there is until next year when the new Congress suspicion that they were the acts of takes office. either local juveniles (as in the case of a An attempt to restore the status quo Bangladeshi security guard beaten to at the local level also failed, when Vice death), or organized Chinese crime President of the Senate Paul Manglona gangs (Tongs). Armed crime is on the used a brief stint as acting governor (in increase, and several arrests were made the absence the governor, lieutenant of Chinese who were beating up on governor, and senate president) to veto their own. Many of those arrested the new legislation and declare PL were residing in the Northern 8-20 restored. He also signed into law Marianas illegally. A commonwealth a bill opening the way for a fiber-optic law enforcement task force has been communications cable between the formed to work on these issues, political reviews • micronesia 201 especially where illicit drugs are Congressional visits were a feature involved.

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