Perspective on land leasing in the NMI is no more than fantasy

This is a response to Dr. Arkle’s letter which he used “fairy dust” to describe the content of my article. Since there is no such thing as fairy dust except in fiction, then the only presumption to make about Dr. Arkle’s response is that he clearly lives in a world of fantasy. Moreover, his subjective and biased commentary is to be expected in light of the fact he is on the payroll for the Azmar Corp. and would never express any other perspective if it might threaten whatever Azmar gives him in terms of monetary compensation.

The article I submitted to the media regarding the issue of land leasing in the CNMI included information about how one of the federal government agencies—Bureau of Land Management—handles land leasing. It was intended to highlight the point that, since the CNMI was not handling their land leasing in the same fashion as the BLM, it should be taken under advisement. Moreover, since the primary intent of the information about BLM was to enlighten the island community since it had never been delineated before, then there was no need to put forth any “doctoral insight” as Dr. Arkle so aptly described it.

What I find quite interesting is that Dr. Arkle is critical of me for providing information from a source that I cited, but yet he turns right around and produces facts and figures that he extracted from the same agency. What Dr. Arkle is clearly demonstrating is that he believes in applying a “double standard” in terms of utilizing and discussing information.

If Dr. Arkle took the time to comprehend what I wrote in my article and less time thinking about how to attack me personally, it would become evident to him that I did not imply that the land in the CNMI was federal. I suspect that being preoccupied in trying to take away someone’s credibility without justification will cloud anyone’s ability to think coherently and rationally.

With respect to Dr. Arkle’s remark “that there are one or more people who are leading the CNMI down the road to economic ruin by denigrating every proposal through misleading representations or a conglomeration of enumerated, irrelevant data taken out of context and compiled as if it were some sort of scholarly endeavor,” this convoluted extrapolation appears to be a sophisticated way of expressing “sour grapes” because of the rejection by MPLA of the Azmar Corp. due to the indubitable fact that they could not meet the criteria by submitting all of the required documentation to be considered for a lease on Pagan.

To hem and haw about not being considered for a lease when you are clearly not qualified is akin to a student who complains about not getting admitted to medical school, but has yet to take the Medical College Aptitude Test, which is required by every accredited medical school in the United States.

In Dr. Arkle’s enumeration of the supposed misrepresentations that I made in my article, he stated that “pozzalan is not a valuable or precious element. No one really wants it. No one really needs it.” If that is the case, then why is it so important for the people who make up and support the Azmar organization, e.g., Ken Moore, Don Farrell, Howard Cole, Dr. Thomas Arkle, as well as others, to get approval for the lease to mine Pagan?

And why have the abovementioned individuals shown overt anxiety about not being able to receive MPLA’s blessing to go in for an element that is supposedly not valuable or precious and no one seems to desire or care about?

Why get hot and bothered about something that Dr. Arkle described as not valuable and precious, unless of course, there is another reason for wanting to go into Pagan, e.g., removing precious and historical artifacts from the island.

Furthermore, the primary reason for no one “banging on MPLA’s door” back in 1995 and over the past decade for the permit stems from the simple fact that there was never a formal marketing campaign by the CNMI government to draw prospective organizations from both the mainland, as well as the Orient. To make a presumptive assertion that no one would show any business interest in the pozzolan in Pagan without first spending the time to get the word out about it is like a child keeping their lemonade stand inside the house instead of on the carport to sell lemonade to those who can see the stand from the street.

As far as the proclamation that there was a “public lie” regarding the required documentation not being submitted to MPLA, is Dr. Arkle referring to “every” resident of the CNMI? Or is this blanket statement he made designated for a select few? I would like for Dr. Arkle to substantiate and be definitive about who represents this accusation which is nebulous and an absurd generalization.

If Dr. Arkle is incapable of substantiating the “public lie” he proclaimed about the Azmar Corp. not fulfilling all of the criteria required the MPLA, then there is no other recourse than to categorize this vehement proclamation as nothing more than an unfounded, as well as insubstantial, not to mention disrespectful, accusation about the island community overall.

I believe that Dr. Arkle should issue a “public apology” to the residents of the CNMI for accusing them unjustifiably. To not issue one is a display of disdain and insensitivity toward the island community.

The $3 million land leasing price tag mentioned in the article was an example of the up front cost that pertained to the land lease on Pagan. This hypothetical figure was mentioned to underscore that, for any companies interested in mining pozzolan, they would have to meet the initial up front cost and the royalties from the pozzolan derived at anywhere from 12 to 20 percent.

The question that Dr. Arkle needs to answer is this: Had Azmar met the qualifications to obtain a lease and mine pozzolan in Pagan, would they have balked if the MPLA told them that the up front lease cost would be $5 million, for example? Whether it is $3 million or $5 million, the salient point is that the company wanting to mine pozzolan on Pagan is not the entity that should receive the most in terms of monetary rewards from the deal. The government and the indigenous people should be the recipient of the financial gain simply because it is their land!

I suspect that Dr. Arkle would not concur with me on this due to the fact that it would take away a significant percentage in terms of what could be earned by Azmar and instead, the gain would be with the CNMI government and the island community.

As far as the preposterous accusation of me smearing and belittling Dr. Arkle personally, as well as others in the past, I beg to differ due to the fact that the media will not allow any slanderous and libelous letters, opinions, and/or articles to be published.

Of the articles and letters that I have submitted to the media, not one of them had anything to do with deliberately denigrating any individual in particular, but rather to protect the best interests of the island community. Those individuals who I have responded to rather aggressively have either said or done something that is contrary to what is beneficial for the overall island community.

With regard to being professional with presenting pertinent data relative to the issue and allowing the public to understand and draw their own unbiased conclusions, the island community will never be able to make an unbiased conclusion if the information presented to them comes from someone who is emphatically biased simply because they are on the payroll of the company in question. To expect them to think otherwise is not being in touch with reality.

And lastly Dr. Arkle, to suggest that a biased presentation on your part regarding the leasing of land on the isle of Pagan is appropriate and a format that is right for the residents of the CNMI is the essence of being “myopic” and, quite frankly, living in a world of fantasy. I suspect it would not be myopic if every resident of the CNMI were on the payroll for Azmar Corp. Clearly, that is not the case.

Progress now and in the future for the indigenous people and all of the residents of the island community will be contingent on prudent decisions that will be in the best interests for “all” and not a handful of individuals wanting to cash in on a resource that they have proclaimed to be not precious. If Dr. Arkle does not concur with me on this, then he must be one of that handful of individuals who fantasizes about mining a valueless resource and making substantial monetary rewards from it.

Dr. Jesus D. Camacho
Delano, California