MPLA looking into Azmar’s new proposal

Marianas Public Lands Authority chair Ana Demapan-Castro maintained that nothing has been decided yet on an Arizona investor’s application to extract pozzolan from Pagan.

In an interview Friday, Demapan-Castro said CNMI government officials, led by Gov. Juan N. Babauta, did meet with Azmar International president Kenneth Moore at the recently held business conference in Los Angeles.

But contrary to an international media report, Azmar’s proposal is not a done deal, she said. According to the Associated Press, Gov. Babauta said he “struck a multimillion-dollar deal with an Arizona investor who wants to buy the islands’ volcanic ash for use in mixing cement and other construction purposes.”

“During the meeting, we laid down [to Mr. Moore] what have been discussed by the board, including the conditions we have set for the issuance of a mining permit. [Azmar officials] said they will do anything to comply with all the conditions,” Demapan-Castro said. “Right now, we are still working out how to best approach the request for a two-year permit.”

She added that Azmar made a new proposition during the L.A. meeting last September.

“They want MPLA to give them a permit and a conditional agreement. They also promised they would not lay foot on Pagan within 90 days, or until all the requirements are met,” according to Demapan-Castro.

She said MPLA’s legal counsel, Alan Lane, is now looking into Azmar’s proposal. “We haven’t worked on all the details of the conditions yet,” she added.

The MPLA board of directors is scheduled to meet on Friday. It has not been decided, however, if Azmar’s application would be part of the agenda.

Demapan-Castro said this depends on whether Azmar will be able to turn in all the documents previously required by the board.

In an Aug. 17 meeting, the MPLA board decided to grant Azmar a conditional approval and give the company 60 days to prove its financial capability.

Some of the requirements that MPLA ordered Azmar to submit are its most recent articles of incorporation; the names of its incorporators, officers and shareholders, and how much shares each of them holds; an audited financial statement; personal financial statements of the shareholders; initial capital for Pagan mining; names of investors; names of prospective buyers; and a letter of credit from a bank that is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.