Senate panel probes MPLT’s private land purchase

Senate Committee on Executive Appointments and Government Investigations chair Frank Cruz (R-Tinian) said their panel is investigating the Marianas Public Land Trust’s purchase of private land despite the fact that public land is available for MPLT to build its office building.

As part of its probe, the committee asked 13 set of questions and documents from MPLT pursuant to the Open Government Act.

The investigation comes after the Senate rejected the reappointment of Alvaro Santos to serve another term on the MPLT board. It was during Santos’ term as MPLT board chair that MPLT bought a private property.

MPLT chair Pedro Deleon Guerrero, in an interview yesterday, confirmed that they received a copy of Cruz’s letter last week, or days after the date of the letter, which was March 9.

Deleon Guerrero, a former House speaker, said MPLT has been compiling the documents requested, and they expect to submit these documents to the Senate EAGI Committee this week.

He also said the purchase of the private property happened before he was appointed to serve on the MPLT board of trustees.

“Yes I can confirm that we received a copy of the letter just a few days ago, and not on March 9. We are compiling the documents they requested,” Deleon Guerrero told Saipan Tribune.

Cruz, in his two-page letter, said the Senate EAGI Committee is “disturbed” by the former MPLT chairman’s “failure to comply with our request for information and documents regarding MPLT’s purchase of private land.”

“It is important to know why MPLT would purchase private land and not utilize or purchase public land for any of its needs,” the EAGI chairman told Deleon Guerrero and MPLT vice chair Peter Q. Cruz.

Among the Senate panel’s 13 sets of questions is whether an MPLT board meeting was held in which the purchase of private land was discussed and approved, and whether there was a proper notice of that meeting.

The Senate panel also asked whether there was a quorum at that meeting, and who the members present were.

“Did any of the board members present at that meeting take any fiduciary responsibility class prior to the meeting? If yes, which board member? Did they pass the class or become certified?” the committee asked.

It also asked whether there was an appraisal of the private property bought by MPLT. The committee also asked MPLT to provide a copy of the appraisal report, purchase agreement, bill or sale or receipt, as well as a copy of a cancelled check used to pay for the private land.

Another government official asked what the Senate EAGI Committee would do with the results of its investigation, when they already recommended to the full Senate to reject the reappointment of Santos to serve another term on the MPLT board. By a vote of 6-2, the Senate rejected Santos’s reappointment, during the same night session when the Senate rejected a House bill legalizing casino gambling on Saipan.

The Senate panel recommended rejection of Santos’ reappointment over MPLT’s purchase of private land under Santos’s term prior to having all the information from MPLT regarding such transaction. Santos now works at the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.