NMC ready to face Senate oversight on mall transfer

Northern Marianas College is ready to face lawmakers to answer questions about the legality of the La Fiesta shopping mall’s turnover to the CNMI government.

NMC Board of Regents chair Kimberlyn King-Hinds said the college will continue to meet with the Office of the Public Auditor and Sen. Henry San Nicolas, chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education and Welfare, to address concerns that the La Fiesta transfer might be illegal.

“They’re just doing their job. We truly appreciate their concern,” King-Hinds said of the lawmakers questioning the legality of the turnover. “We have nothing to hide. We’re more than willing to sit down with them and give them all the information they need.”

Minority bloc senator Pete P. Reyes had said the decision of the Governor’s Office to take over ownership of the La Fiesta complex in San Roque might be illegal as it would cause the government to incur a debt without the consent of the Legislature.

Reyes, who pushed for a Senate oversight hearing on the La Fiesta acquisition, said that, by assuming the financial obligations over the mall from Northern Marianas College, the Executive Branch committed the government to paying the $4 million that remains unpaid from the mall purchase.

The facility was acquired in August 2003 for $7.5 million using a $3.5 million federal grant money from the Governor’s Office.

Reyes said the Senate legal counsel would issue an opinion on the legality of the La Fiesta ownership turnover.

In an interview, King-Hinds said NMC’s own legal counsel and lawyers from the Attorney General’s Office looked into the memorandum of agreement establishing the turnover, before it was signed by the governor and the regents.

The transfer of the La Fiesta properties has yet to be finalized, as the original sellers—Hotel Nikko Saipan and Coco’s Lagoon Development Corp.—have yet to concur with the MOA.

“We’re still negotiating,” King-Hinds said.

She added, however, that the college is targeting to have the turnover finalized before a three-member team from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges visits on Oct. 27 and 28.

The WASC officials will be coming over to validate NMC’s progress report, which details steps taken by the college since last April to address the accrediting commission’s concerns. Due on Oct. 15, the progress report would include the transfer of La Fiesta’s ownership to the CNMI government.

WASC had expressed concern about NMC’s purchase of the La Fiesta complex when it placed the college’s accreditation under warning status. The federal agency noted that the college lacks the resources to maintain two campuses.