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Landowner accuses CUC of trespass, land taking
A landowner is suing the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. for allegedly building a water tank and fences on his property in Rapugao, Saipan, without compensating him.
Conrad M. Sablan, through counsel Brien Sers Nicholas, is suing CUC for trespass and taking of property without just compensation.
Sablan is demanding unspecified damages, attorney’s fees, and court costs.
Sablan said he owns several pieces of land in Rapugao that were originally owned by his late father, Vicente.
According to Nicholas in the complaint, in exchange for receiving fee simple ownership of two pieces of land, Sablan’s father conveyed to the CNMI government several pieces of real properties, also located in Rapugao.
Nicholas said that Sablan has been unable to access his real properties for quite some time now due to CUC’s construction of wire fences around a water tank called Maui IV Water Tank.
The lawyer said that in October 2013 Sablan prepared a survey map of his real properties and discovered that CUC’s construction of the wire fences not only prevented him from being able to access one of his properties but, more importantly, that CUC had trespassed on his other property when it built the Maui IV Water Tank.
Nicholas said Sablan sought the assistance of CUC in rectifying the problems, to no avail.
Nicholas said CUC’s construction of the wire fences and the Maui IV Water Tank on Sablan’s property constitutes trespass and was done without his consent or authority.
The lawyer asserted that CUC’s actions constitute a government taking, thus entitling his client to compensation.
