Landowner threatens blockade

If the government fails to immediately pay the land payment owed him, a landowner is threatening to block the road between Tanapag and San Roque in the northern part of Saipan.

Pedro Babauta Camacho, spokesman of the heirs of the late Juan N. Camacho, lamented yesterday that, 40 years after their land was taken, the government has yet to compensate them for it.

“We were put aside. I always thought that rights-of-way claims are a priority. …We have diligently completed the requirements. We followed up with them but up to now we’re not paid. If the government does not act on this, we will resort to drastic actions,” said Camacho.

He said these include a road blockade that would prevent northern Saipan residents and guests from coming in and out of the area.

Camacho’s family are seeking compensation for 1,792 square meters of land.

He said that based on a Marianas Public Lands Authority appraisal, the land is worth $500 per square meter, for a total of $896,000.

Other Camacho heirs have separate claims in the adjacent lots.

Camacho said that he has the support of other unpaid landowners on the island.

“If we close, they will close, too. Other landowners will do a road block islandwide,” he said.

He said there are disgruntled landowners who are willing to cordon off their properties along major roads.

In a letter to former MPLA commissioner Ed Deleon Guerrero dated Feb. 21, 2006, Camacho gave the agency 90 days to settle the case.

He said yesterday that the 90-day period is also enough time to prepare concerned parties for any drastic actions.

In a response letter to Camacho dated Feb. 27, acting Department of Public Land Secretary John S. Del Rosario said that there is practically no money in the land compensation fund to pay off the property.

Del Rosario said the former MPLA was given only $28 million of the $40 million land compensation bond.

“These funds have been virtually exhausted, and until such time that new funds are appropriated by the Legislature, further land compensation payment processing will not be possible,” said Del Rosario.

Camacho said this is “unacceptable” since it is not his family’s fault that the fund was depleted.

“It should have been used according to priority and critical needs of the CNMI. Roadways is a critical need,” he said.