DPL says Senate resolution on public lands board ‘moot’

The CNMI government has not been complying with a 2006 law that requires the creation of a five-member Public Lands Advisory Board that is supposed to be making recommendations to the Department of Public Lands secretary on the approval of public land leases involving more than 5 hectares.

This is according to a Senate resolution that senators adopted yesterday.

But Department of Public Lands Secretary Oscar M. Babauta, in an interview last night, said the Senate resolution is “moot” because that law’s provision requiring a Public Lands Advisory Board was later amended to abolish the board.

Babauta, a former speaker, said he would be more than willing to clarify this matter with the Senate.

Sen. Juan Ayuyu (Ind-Rota) said that since the enactment of Public Law 15-2, DPL has been operating under the sole discretion of the DPL secretary without the benefit of a Public Lands Advisory Board.

He said the DPL secretary has recommended approval of public land leases, worked on a public land use plan, and developed homestead programs without any recommendation or consultation from a board as the law requires.

To initiate compliance with the law, Ayuyu introduced a resolution yesterday that urges the mayors of Saipan, Tinian, Rota, and the Northern Islands to appoint a member to the Public Lands Advisory Board, and the municipal councils of each respective senatorial district to act on such appointments.

Senators adopted Ayuyu’s Senate Resolution 17-69, Senate Draft 1. That amendment was offered by Senate President Paul Manglona (Ind-Rota).

Of the five members of the board, one should come from Saipan, one from Tinian, one from Rota, and one from the Northern Islands. The fifth member shall be a Commonwealth resident selected by the governor.

The board’s responsibilities include recommending approval of public land leases involving more than 5 hectares of public land, approving a comprehensive public land use plan for the CNMI, and consulting with the DPL secretary on homestead programs.

At yesterday’s session, senators adopted Manglona’s offered amendment seeking to ensure that the Senate will not approve public land leases involving more than 5 hectares of public land “unless the Public Land Advisory Board is given an opportunity to review and make a recommendation on the proposed public land lease.”

“DPL’s mandates regarding public lands in the CNMI are a monumental task and should be implemented by the Secretary in consultation with a Public Lands Advisory Board,” the resolution says.

But the DPL secretary reiterated that PL 15-2, which established DPL, was later amended to abolish the advisory board. DPL’s predecessor, the Marianas Public Lands Authority, had a board of directors.