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CNMI Lawmakers: 'We're making a big mistake'

Lawmakers heading committees with oversight on public utilities and transportation said Thursday that the CNMI is losing a valuable asset in Abe Malae, who resigned as Commonwealth Utilities Corp. executive director soon after Gov. Benigno R. Fitial declared a state of emergency for CUC.“We are making a big mistake in accepting Mr. Malae's resignation,” said Sen. Juan Ayuyu (Ind-Rota), chair of the Senate Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation and Communications.Ayuyu pointed out that it was Malae who got the CNMI out of rolling blackouts.“The only problem is finances and our government is part of that problem because it has not been paying CUC for their utility billings,” he said.Ayuyu said Malae shares the Fitial administration's hope of making available renewable energy in the CNMI so that residential and commercial consumers will see a significant reduction in their utility billings.