…as Azmar vows to pursue application

Azmar International is not dropping its application to mine Pagan pozzolan despite Marianas Public Lands Authority’s Friday decision to deny the proposal.

In a brief statement, Azmar president Kenneth Moore said yesterday that the decision of the MPLA board of directors was a result of miscommunication between the government agency and Azmar.

He insisted that the documents Azmar purportedly failed to turn in have been submitted and date-stamped as early as last month. Nevertheless, he said the documents will be re-submitted to MPLA today “as a reminder.”

“Regretfully, yet another unfortunate miscommunication has arisen between MPLA and Azmar International, postponing once again, the much needed revitalization of the CNMI economy,” Moore said. “I know that the good people of MPLA have the best interest of the indigenous population at heart and they are working diligently to protect those interests. I have every confidence that this matter can be rectified in an expedient fashion to the benefit of all.”

Last Friday, the MPLA board voted unanimously to reject Azmar’s application to mine and extract pozzolan from Pagan island.

The board members said they wanted Azmar’s mining project to materialize. But they maintained that they could not support the company’s application on grounds of Azmar’s failure or apparent refusal to provide necessary documents regarding its financial standing.

Reporting on the MPLA management’s 15-day negotiation with Azmar that started on Nov. 17, MPLA attorney Alan Lane said Azmar made substantial changes to the draft temporary permit sent by MPLA to initiate negotiations with the applicant. He added that Azmar struck out about 90 percent of the items on the list of documents required of the company, including MPLA’s request for a police clearance.

In his statement, Moore made no comment on Azmar’s counter proposal.

But in an earlier interview, Azmar public information officer Don Farrell said he believed Azmar and MPLA were still bound by the confidentiality agreement they signed when they opened negotiations.

Farrell also said the 15-day period for the talks did not end last week, as far as Azmar was concerned.

“The 15 days given for negotiations following the last board meeting should have been 15 working days, not 15 calendar days. There was a weekend immediately following the meeting, then the Thanksgiving holiday, followed by another weekend,” Farrell said.

On the negotiation, he said, “The board faxed their 22-page draft to [Azmar attorney Jeffrey] Finley the day after the meeting. That was one day. We responded with our counter-proposal within seven working days, that being this Tuesday morning. We anticipated a response from MPLA with their concerns,” Farrell said. “Instead, we received no message from MPLA that they were working on calendar days and they were calling a meeting to take action with no further negotiations. What kind of negotiation is that?”