MPLA confident of meeting PaganWatch deadline

The holidays will not prevent the Marianas Public Lands Authority from getting all the mining-related documents requested by PaganWatch ready by Dec. 31, MPLA commissioner Edward Deleon Guerrero said yesterday.

In an interview, Deleon Guerrero said he does not see any problem about meeting the deadline set by the PaganWatch for its Open Government Act request.

He said MPLA’s attorney, Alan Lane, is now looking at PaganWatch’s request to see which documents can be provided to the watchdog group.

“I’m sure we have all the records in the office. We should be able to comply with their request as soon as our lawyer finishes studying the request. The holidays will not matter [in our getting] this thing done,” he said.

Attorney F. Matthew Smith, who filed the public records request on behalf of PaganWatch, initially asked for all MPLA records regarding permits and applications to mine on Pagan.

However, Smith amended his request following MPLA’s move to junk the application filed by Azmar International to mine Pagan pozzolan.

Smith confined his request to all public records relating to, and including, mining permits, leases, licenses, and other agreements between MPLA and J.G. Sablan.

He said these records include compliance and inspection reports, staff recommendations, board minutes and agenda including items or conversations about J.G. Sablan, letters of default and notices of violation, amendments, correspondence, and all other public documents showing the history, status, and monitoring of J.G. Sablan mining efforts on Pagan.

Smith submitted the amended request on Dec. 16. Under the Open Government Act, MPLA was supposed to have only 10 days to make the public records available for inspection.

But noting that Lane was off island and may need some additional time to get the documents ready for inspection, Smith asked MPLA to at least provide the documents by Dec. 31.

On Aug. 1, 1993, MPLA granted a permit to Saipan-based J.G. Sablan to mine basalt and pozzolan from Pagan. Two years after, J.G. Sablan was given a new 20-year permit despite its failure to generate and report any revenue to the government from its activities on the island.

On its web site, PaganWatch, a non-profit organization that has been following mining activities on the northern island, cited a November 2000 report from the CNMI Office of the Public Auditor, which found J.G. Sablan to be $1.3 million in arrears for Pagan and other quarry fees and royalties.

“To this day J.G. Sablan has been unsuccessful in marketing basalt or pozzolan from Pagan and has failed to meet its fee and royalty obligations under the terms of the permit. These include an annual fee of $20,000 and royalties of $2.25 per cubic yard for basalt and pozzolan removed from Pagan,” PaganWatch said.