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Golf resort operator urged to follow lease conditions
Coral Ocean Point Golf Resort should comply with a provision in the company’s leasing deal with government that mandates the investor to improve nearby beach and coastal areas.
The golf resort operator is one of the earliest resort operators in the CNMI to avail of a long-term lease with the government. It signed the lease agreement back in 1986 and was able to secure a lease extension in 2011.
However, the resort operator still needs to comply with some of the provisions of the lease, particularly on improving beach areas near it, according to Rep. Joseph Lee Pan Guerrero (R-Saipan).
Guerrero, who chairs the House Committee on Commerce and Tourism, said he wrote a letter to COP management to “remind” them of the lease conditions.
“The lease was made in 1986, but there are still no improvements on the beach side,” Guerrero said.
While he acknowledged that surrounding areas in the golf resort are clean and well kept, there are no beach facilities and other infrastructures.
“The lease agreement says the investor should beautify the beach and coastal areas. There should be picnic tables, pavilions, barbecue areas, tables and seating, parking space, and improvement of access roads,” Guerrero said.
The lawmaker said the specific area that Coral Ocean Point needs to improve is Unai Dangkulu.
“These beach recreational areas will be established at the expense of the investor,” Guerrero said, adding that the golf resort also needs to coordinate with the Department of Public Works, and Department of Land and Natural Resources, if it needs to.
Guerrero stressed that he is not asking for “state-of-the-art” facilities, but the golf resort should follow the conditions, since it is leasing public lands.
He also said he is “not trying to chase investors away, but they [investors] should honor the agreement.”
