'NMI economy will crash without intervention'
Both the Saipan Chamber of Commerce and the Northern Marianas Business Association Corp. are appealing to Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) to intervene in the processing of work permits for foreign workers in order to avert an economic disaster for the CNMI.
In a four-page letter to Sablan dated Monday, the Chamber sought his aid for an immediate, short-term solution to avoid a mass exit of foreign workers in the CNMI, categorized as CW-1 workers. The organization also included recommendations they believe will further assist with future CW applications.
Come fiscal year 2020 starting Oct. 1, 2019, CW-1 workers who have yet to receive their renewed CW petition and are not eligible for the 240-day automatic extension while pending a decision from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on their petition will have to exit the CNMI, which the Chamber believes would severely disrupt the economy.
“We [Chamber] ask for your [Sablan] assistance in remedying…and finding a short-term solution to avoid the exodus of half of our workforce before [Sept. 30, 2019],” Chamber president Velma Palacios wrote Sablan.
Read more: https://www.saipantribune.com/index.php/nmi-economy-will-crash-without-intervention/