BOR chair takes responsibility for ‘La Fiasco’

Northern Marianas College Board of Regents chair Kimberlyn King-Hinds took responsibility yesterday for the La Fiesta fiasco, in an effort to stop what she described as “a blame-game situation” over the chain of problems resulting from NMC’s purchase of the mall.

In an interview, King-Hinds maintained that the board’s decision to approve the acquisition of the La Fiesta shopping complex in San Roque was based on the assumption that then NMC president Kenneth Wright had gathered all the necessary data concerning the purchase and the college’s plans for the facility.

“There was that trust that the material being presented to you was complete and accurate, that all the Ts and the Is have been crossed and dotted. There was that assumption, and you have to assume that of your president [whom] you are paying a great deal of money and whom you are placing a great deal of trust in,” King-Hinds said.

She expressed regret, however, that the board and involved parties found out not too long after the purchase that the board was mistaken in its assumption.

Locating a source of funding for the operation of the mall and the federal government’s decision to place NMC’s accreditation on warning status were only some of the problems that resulted from the La Fiesta purchase.

“So here we are now. There have been questions as to our credibility as a board and as decision makers, who should be liable for the decision that has been made. Right now, there’s a blame-game situation,” she said. She noted statements made by various sectors in the media urging the board to take responsibility for the La Fiesta fiasco.

King-Hinds maintained that she would not blame anybody for NMC’s problems.

“I made the decision based on the assumption that it was based on facts and information that was reliable,” she stressed. “But regardless of what happened back then, I signed off on that paper. I’m going to take responsibility for an action that I took—bad or good, mistake or no mistake. ”

She added, “Right now, I’m not going to cry over spilled milk. I’m going to pick up, and look at it this way—it’s broken and there’s nothing I can do but fix it. Right now, the board is trying to fix it.”

King-Hinds noted that the college has made progress with issues concerning the operation of La Fiesta, which NMC recently transferred to the CNMI government, and the accreditation issue.

“We’re very positive that we’re still going to move on to better, greener days. We can only do the best we can,” she said.

On June 19, 2003, the Governor’s Office entered into a memorandum of agreement with NMC where Gov. Juan N. Babauta committed $3.5 million of grant funds for the acquisition of the La Fiesta facilities and the San Roque real property that the mall sits on.

Since last January, NMC has been operating the mall at a substantial loss, requiring the Governor’s Office to offset the losses. The funds from the Executive Branch, however, lasted only until Sept. 30, when the current fiscal year ended.

Last Sept. 15, the Governor’s Office and NMC signed an agreement for the transfer of the facility to the CNMI government, relieving the college of any responsibility over La Fiesta.

The agreement, however, has not been finalized, pending the concurrence of the property’s original sellers—Hotel Nikko Saipan and Coco’s Lagoon Development Corp.