Disconnecting the NMI from the world

If the Marianas Public Lands Authority prevails in its Superior Court lawsuit against Verizon, the telecom firm will be evicted from its offices and its 800 miles of underground cables will be dug out, literally disconnecting the Commonwealth from the rest of the world.

This was how former CNMI Chief Justice Jose Dela Cruz, a member of Verizon’s legal team, painted a possible scenario that could arise from the MPLA’s civil action against Micronesian Telecommunications Corp. and Pacific Telecom Inc.

“The repercussion is enormous. The consequences are really big,” Dela Cruz said.

He said, though, that the telecom company is willing to get back to the negotiating table with the MPLA, without conceding that the firm owes the agency for public lands easement in connection with the underground cables. The MPLA earlier demanded that the company pay it some $2.1 million.

“We don’t owe them anything,” Dela Cruz said. “The buried cables are part of the franchise system.” But he said that the company is willing to listen to a “reasonable figure regardless of who is at fault.”

Dela Cruz said that the amount demanded by MPLA pertains to public lands easement fees of some $650,000 for 2004 to 2005 and approximately $1.5 million for the preceding 10 years.

He said the retroactive imposition of an easement fee is unfair, considering that the MPLA’s predecessor, the Marianas Public Lands Corp., did not have any intention of assessing those fees on Verizon.

Dela Cruz recounted that the telecom firm planned on burying its cables as part of the loan conditions of the Rural Electrification Administration, which granted Verizon’s $11-million loan to upgrade its facilities. He said the REA condition was aimed at protecting the telephone system in case of inclement weather. The project became successful and residents were able to use the telephone at the height of a 200-mph-strong supertyphoon sometime in 1988, he recalled.

A second amendment to the franchise agreement was consequently reached between the CNMI government and Verizon in 1983, he said.

“The government could not just allow us to have a franchise. The system includes the cable,” Dela Cruz stressed. “This is part of the telephone franchise that was given back to MTC back in 1976”

Meanwhile, Verizon general manager Tony Mosley said the company is working closely with the Commonwealth Telecommunications Corp. regarding the filing of certain financial documents. Last Friday, Gov. Juan N. Babauta asked the CTC to impose monetary sanctions against PTI for failing to submit the complete set of financial documents 10 days prior to closing the telecom deal with MTC on Sept. 20.

“We’re trying to work closely with the CTC to let them know exactly what transpired during the transaction,” Mosley said. “We’re trying to create a new era of trust. Heavy-handedness is not required. It detracts from the spirit of cooperation that we need now.”

“I think the people need to understand that there are 145 local employees being impacted by all these things,” he said. “When we get hurt locally, it hurts the community.”