Former governor urges DPL to reconsider RFP policy

Thus said former governor Juan N. Babauta in urging the Department of Public Lands and the Inos administration to reconsider DPL’s plan to solicit bids for expiring public land leases, which would affect the future of Kan Pacific’s Mariana Resort and Spa.

“We want to urge the [DPL] secretary, we want to urge the governor, the lieutenant governor, to reconsider this policy,” Babauta said in an interview during a gathering in Susupe to support Kan Pacific last Saturday.

According to Babauta, Public Lands Secretary Pete A. Tenorio has the discretion whether to issue a request for proposal or not.

“The secretary chose to issue an RFP, which, of course, that’s his discretion, but all we’re saying is that while he has that discretion, he could go either way. We’re urging him to go our way,” Babauta said.

“Obviously he made that decision to RFP because he thinks that you get more money in the issuance of RFP and giving it to the highest bidder,” he added.

He pointed out that DPL is not bound by law to issue an RFP, nor will it violate any law if it doesn’t.

“The decision to issue an RFP is a matter of internal policy. The secretary is not bound to issue an RFP. That was a decision made internally and there’s no reason why he cannot make that decision to just give an extension of the lease or a renewal of the lease,” Babauta said.

“He is not bound by CNMI law, he’s not bound by the CNMI Constitution or any other legal authority that I know of,” he said, adding that there is nothing in the Constitution that prohibits DPL from giving Kan Pacific a new lease.

He pointed out that Kan Pacific has been in the CNMI for 40 years and “have gone through all the good and bad times.”

“When the economy was down, they were here, they stayed, they didn’t run away,” Babauta said.

With the dwindling number of tourists from Japan, removing a Japanese investor would also not be good, he added.

“It would not look good in the eyes of the world or anybody else, to be kicking out a Japanese investor and then going to Japan and inviting tourists to come here,” Babauta said.

He said market diversification is better for the Commonwealth.

“There is no reason why we cannot support diversification in the economy. The worst thing we can do is to mold a monolithic economy. We want diversification. Diversification makes for a stable economy and that’s what we’re looking for. We want the CNMI to be stable, to have different people come here and we can have both,” Babauta said.

“I just don’t believe in chasing somebody out and replacing it with somebody else. Bring them all in and keep them all,” he added.

Babauta urged people to tell DPL to “do the right thing” and to urge DPL and the government to extend the lease or give Kan Pacific a new lease. “It is good public policy, sound public policy, to have this lease renewed.”

In the interest of full disclosure, Juan N. Babauta is the husband of Charlene Babauta, property manager of Mariana Resort and Spa.