Pagan task force moves at a snail’s pace

It’s been eight months since the Marianas Public Lands Authority created a task force to study Pagan pozzolan, but to date, there is little hope that the group can begin work soon.

MPLA said yesterday that the agency had completed the first step in organizing the multi-sector group and that was to create an in-house task force made up of MPLA employees.

“We’ve selected the key group of MPLA employees to assist the Board in this task force. This Board and Agency is working diligently on ensuring which types of pozzolan extraction methods are the most suitable,” said Nicolas Nekai, who was designated to head the task force.

Nekai also disclosed that MPLA had received submissions from companies that offer “revolutionary” ways of determining the amount of pozzolan on Pagan.

But MPLA’s efforts to preserve Pagan’s environment while generating revenue for the CNMI through pozzolan mining have kept the agency from moving faster on the task force formation.

“It has been a delicate balance of environment and economical considerations these past months, but this task force is now ready to begin its second phase by sending out invitations to various government agencies and interested groups to assist us in making this highly economical project a reality for our people,” Nekai added.

MPLA issued this statement amid calls by a watchdog group, PaganWatch, for Public Lands to immediately form the community task force.

The MPLA board of directors approved the creation of the task force on Dec. 5, shortly after it junked the application of Azmar International to mine and extract pozzolan from Pagan.

The group is tasked to seek assistance from the U.S. Geological Survey to determine the actual quantity and quality of pozzolanic ash available in Pagan. It is also expected to find a suitable investor who can extract and market the material, which is a sought-after additive to cement.

The MPLA board expressed hope that with the study to be undertaken by the task force, Public Lands would be in a better position to decide the terms and conditions under which to allow an investor to mine Pagan.

Nekai had announced that the task force would have its first meeting by March 2005. But until now, the members have not been named, much less convened.

PaganWatch has also called on MPLA to clarify the status of the 1995 permit granted to JG Sablan Rock Quarry Inc. to mine pozzolan on Pagan. The group maintains that the permit had been—or should be—terminated in view of the permittee’s alleged violations of the terms and conditions of its permit.