‘Abolition bills should be killed’

The embattled Marianas Public Lands Authority yesterday attacked the two bills seeking to abolish the agency, maintaining that the bills are unconstitutional, make bogus claims, and will only benefit some of the governor’s friends.

MPLA, in written comments on House Bill 15-57 and Senate Bill 15-33, said it has not committed any of the violations cited by the proposed legislation and therefore, both bills should be “killed.”

“It would be a gross mistake of a constitutional magnitude, and a breach of the Legislature’s fiduciary duties to the people of the Commonwealth who are of Northern Marianas descent, if any of these unconstitutional bills are passed. These will benefit the rich friends of the governor and will be the beginning of the end of Article XII and indigenous rights,” said three of the MPLA board members and Commissioner Edward M. Deleon Guerrero.

“Therefore, we urge the Legislature to kill both of these unconstitutional bills before they kill the indigenous,” they added.

The House Committee on Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Resources, Economic Development and Programs will hold joint public hearings on the MPLA abolition bills at 9am and 6pm today, at the Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe.

Concerned government agencies and community members will be given an opportunity during the hearings to voice their views on the bills. Top MPLA officials, along with other government leaders, will be present to answer questions at the public hearings.

Offering its own opinion on the bills, MPLA said that allowing the governor to manage and dispose of public lands will place the governor in an inherently conflicted position. MPLA claimed that the governor’s fiduciary duty to the entire CNMI populace could conflict with fiduciary duties he will owe to the Northern Marianas descent once management of public lands has been placed within the Executive Branch.

“Consequently, whenever the best interests of the CNMI conflict with the best interests of the Northern Marianas descent, the governor is conflicted and will be forced to breach his or her fiduciary duties to the CNMI or the indigenous. One class is always compromised,” MPLA said.

The troubled agency also maintained that the legislative findings that serve as basis for the abolition are “outright lies.”

“In any case, whoever drafted the two unconstitutional bills has done a disservice to the [15th CNMI Legislature] by making certain legislators sign their names to a piece of legislation that is full of lies and misleading, inaccurate, exaggerated, or unsupported accusations against an indigenous agency and board that have served the indigenous people with pride,” MPLA said.

The authority claimed that, contrary to the bills’ claims, it was not improper for MPLA to take title to certain indigenous lands because it is allowed by Article XI of the CNMI Constitution.

On its alleged failure to transfer funds to the Marianas Public Land Trust for many years, MPLA explained that it earmarked money for homestead development project in Saipan, Tinian and Rota, pursuant to an approved multi-year Homestead Development Plan.

Annual audits by the Office of the Public Auditor show that MPLA had no excess funds up to the late 1990s, MPLA said.

The agency also maintained that it has put together a Collections Task Force to pursue delinquent lessees; hence, the legislative finding is false.

The bills are also wrong in saying that MPLA never adopted a personnel manual, or policies to ensure that the land compensation programs are managed in an objective, fair, and cost-effective manner.

Furthermore, the authority maintained that the bills provided no specific allegation of what laws MPLA had violated or what responsibilities it had breached. The measures also cited no specific instance that MPLA had failed to work constructively with other government agencies regarding land use, permitting, licensing, and leasing.

Lastly, MPLA said the bills were unconstitutional because the bills do not require that the would-be Public Lands Secretary be a person of Northern Marianas descent, and because they require that the Department of Public Lands follow budgeting procedures that are applicable to all departments of the Executive Branch.