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Legislature OKs extending company’s lease accord
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Posted on May 31 2006
The Legislature voted yesterday to extend Kingfisher Corporation lease agreement with the Department of Public Lands for an additional term of 15 years.
Kingfisher’s existing 25-year lease will not expire until December 2016. But the lawmakers granted the early extension in the hope to encourage the company to continue investing in the Commonwealth.
The CNMI Constitution provides that a leasehold interest in public lands should not exceed 25 years including renewal rights. An extension of up to 15 years may be given upon the approval by three-fourths of the members of the Legislature.
The extension was approved in a 21-1 vote during yesterday’s joint session, with only Sen. Luis Crisostimo voting against Kingfisher’s request.
Crisostimo, who voted “absolutely no” to the extension, said it was too early to grant Kingfisher an extension because the company still had almost 11 years left in its current lease.
Sen. Pete P. Reyes, however, described Crisostimo as “anti-business.”
Sen. Maria Pangelinan maintained that the extension was proper if taken from a business perspective. “We’re just so pleased that this company is continuing to sustain itself and trying to survive this economic condition. By granting this extension, we’re giving them the incentive to move on,” she said.
Besides the lease extension, Kingfisher got other concessions from the Department of Public Lands.
According to acting DPL finance director David Atalig, the department has waived some $17,000 that was owed by Kingfisher in interest on late fees. The unpaid fees, incurred between 1996 and 1998, resulted from a confusion in computing the amount due from Kingfisher, Atalig said.
DPL has also allowed Kingfisher to defer the planned water park construction, which is part of the lease conditions.
Kingfisher leases 362,054 square meters of land in Talafofo, Saipan. The extended lease will expire on Dec. 23, 2031.
