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2 ConCon members back monument plan
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Posted on Sep 19 2008
Two former members of the Constitutional Convention have called on lawmakers to support the proposal designating the CNMI’s northernmost three islands as a marine monument.
Karl T. Reyes and Joaquin Tenorio wrote separate letters to the Legislature stating that the proposed marine monument is in line with the constitutional provision for the protection of the islands of Uracus, Maug, and Asuncion.
The Constitution requires that the three islands, as well as Guguan, be “maintained as uninhabited places and used only for preservation.”
“We believed then, as I still do, that the highest and best use of the northern three islands is preservation of the flora and fauna,” Tenorio said.
For his part, Reyes said, “I urge you to support the proposed Mariana Trench Marine National Monument. It will fulfill the original intent of our Constitution and benefit generations of Chamorros and Carolinians to come.”
Both Reyes and Tenorio were members of the Constitutional Convention’s Personal Rights and Natural Resources Committee, which had recommended that the islands should be set aside as nature reserves.
