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Tinian mayor and DPL file certified question about ‘free trade zone’ law
Tinian Mayor Joey P. San Nicolas and Public Lands Secretary Marianne Teregeyo submitted a joint petition for a certified question to determine the constitutionality of Public Law 12-20.
Public Law 12-20 authorizes public lands to be administered by the mayors of Rota, Tinian, and the Northern Islands as “free trade zones” and for the respective mayors to collect and administer revenues generated from the lease of such lands.
Teregeyo argues that, to the extent Public Law 12-20 authorizes public lands to be administered by the mayors of Rota, Tinian, and the Northern Islands, the law itself is unconstitutional because the management and disposition of public lands is a constitutional responsibility bestowed upon the Executive Branch pursuant to Article 11, Section 4 of the CNMI Constitution. Furthermore, all revenues generated through the management of public lands shall be remitted to the Marianas Public Lands Trust pursuant to Artisle 11 Section 6. The law does not provide for revenues derived from public lands within free trade zones to be tendered to MPLT as mandated by Article 11 Section 6.
San Nicolas states that the Department of Public Lands must designate 30 hectares of public lands on Tinian for him to administer and collect revenues, whether such land is designated as a free trade zone or not, pursuant to PL 12-20.
“In trying to exercise my authority authorized by PL 12-20, DPL has informed me that it is their position that the law is unconstitutional. The Secretary and I believe that it is in both DPL’s and the respective municipalities’ interest to jointly file the petition asking the court to make a determination on the constitutionality of the law,” said San Nicolas. “The Tinian leadership is constantly looking for ways and opportunities to build our economy and to attract different types of investments on our island. We hope that this could be something that our island could capitalize on to create jobs outside of the gaming industry.”
