Previous Story
DelRosario: Court’s order to seize DPL assets unfair
|
Posted on Oct 30 2008
The Department of Public Lands says it was unfair of the court to order the seizure of DPL’s funds to pay a land compensation claimant.
Public Lands Secretary John S. Del Rosario maintained yesterday that the agency is not responsible for compensating landowners whose properties have been taken for public purposes. He said that such properties are “government land,” and not “public land.”
“It’s unfair. Why are you taking from the indigenous people to pay for something that is government land. It is the obligation of the CNMI government to resolve that. But then, we all know that the financial situation of the CNMI government is not good. Even if the legislators wanted to appropriate the money, I don’t know if they could find it,” said Del Rosario.
He said the DPL attorney is still reviewing how the agency will deal with the court order.
The U.S. District Court for the NMI on Tuesday ordered the U.S. Marshal to seize DPL funds held in bank accounts, goods, and any other property to satisfy over $263,000 in judgment, costs, and interest to Antonio S. Camacho. The court order was designed to enforce a 2006 judgment, which found DPL’s predecessor, the defunct Marianas Public Lands Authority, liable to pay $234,000 to Camacho for the government’s taking of his land in Gualo Rai. To date, the Legislature has not appropriated funds to pay Camacho.
Judge Alex Munson says the court can enforce its judgments against the CNMI government even if the Legislature has not appropriated money to satisfy those judgments.
“The failure of the Legislature to fulfill its constitutional mandate does not, cannot, and will not prevent the court from taking all necessary steps to ensure that its judgments are enforceable,” Munson said. “A court that cannot enforce its judgments must forever close its doors, as it will have become nothing more than an historical curiosity.”
