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Two public hearings on MPLA abolition
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Posted on Feb 08 2006
Two public hearings will be held tomorrow to allow concerned agencies and community members to voice their views on bills that would abolish the Marianas Public Lands Authority.
The Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Economic Development and the House Committee on Natural Resources will conduct a joint public hearing for House Bill 15-57 and Senate Bill 15-33.
Both bills would abolish MPLA as an autonomous agency and replace it with the Department of Public Lands within the Executive Branch.
The first public hearing will be held at 9am at the Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe.
Rep. Edwin P. Aldan and Sen. Maria Frica T. Pangelinan, heads of the natural resources committees in the House and the Senate respectively, have requested 12 top government officials to be present as witnesses in the morning public hearing.
These officials include the MPLA board chairwoman, MPLA commissioner, and MPLA comptroller, as well as a representative each from the Governor’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office, the Lands and Natural Resources secretary, Finance secretary, Public Works secretary, Marianas Public Land Trust board chair, MPLT executive director, the governor’s special assistant for management and budget, and the Commonwealth Development Authority executive director.
Another hearing will be held for the public at 6pm at the same venue.
Press secretary Charles P. Reyes said that MPLA’s abolition has broad community support.
But he expressed hope that the public hearing would remain focused on the bill, particularly its findings and provisions. “We don’t want this to be out of control. No irrelevant issues, no personal attacks,” Reyes said.
H.B. 15-57 and S.B. 15-33 enumerate a long list of reasons MPLA should be abolished and the management of the Commonwealth’s public lands returned to elected legislative and executive officials.
Besides implementing “excessive and unreasonable” levels of compensation, travel and per diem payments for the board, MPLA allegedly violated several CNMI laws and regulations, the bills state.
