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USIM prexy: Nothing in it for me
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Posted on Jan 02 2006
The head of a non-profit group seeking to establish a safe haven in the CNMI for Vietnamese human trafficking victims maintains that there is nothing in the project for him personally.
United States International Mission Saipan president David Sablan [not the Marianas Visitors Authority chairman] maintained that he was pushing for the project for humanitarian reasons.
“I swear to God there’s nothing in it for me. I’m a Christian, Catholic. I understand my Bible. And I appeal to you on the basis of humanity,” Sablan told the crowd that attended Thursday’s public hearing for the proposed safe haven regulations.
Sablan denied allegations that the safe haven proposal was a scam, saying that he had done his due diligence on all the people involved with the project before he decided to get involved with it.
“I’ve been involved in politics for years. I’ve run companies with 400 workers. I have not been duped. I did this because I met these people and I believe in their cause,” he said.
Due to overwhelming community opposition, deputy attorney general Clyde Lemons withdrew the proposed regulations on Friday, Dec. 30, 2005.
Hundreds of community members showed up at the Multi-Purpose Center for the public hearing on the safe haven project on Thursday evening, most of them to register their objection to the proposal.
Sen. Pete Reyes, the most outspoken critic of the proposed regulations, has gathered over 1,000 signatures against the project.
In a public notice, Lemons said that the proposed regulations had been withdrawn until further notice. He added, though, that the AGO, as provided by law, would fully consider all written and oral submissions regarding the proposed Safe Haven Entry Permit regulation.
“Given the volume of the written submissions and the length of the public hearing held on Dec. 29, 2005 (said hearing being recorded), the Attorney General’s Office needs time to comply with said provisions of the law,” said Lemons.
