A lesson for the Legislature

I was premature. Today, the people of Tinian woke up to another revelation. We now learn that the Tinian delegation is creating, rather has created, a 140-hectare lot on public land in Chalan Famalao’an for commercial and other purposes—“as determined and approved jointly by the Mayor of Tinian and Aguiguan, the Tinian Municipal Council, and the Tinian Legislative Delegation.” As a smoke screen, the sponsors of the legislation also propose(d) to designate a reserved area on Pina containing 384 hectares for agricultural homestead lots.

Thank you members of the CNMI Legislature for letting the people of Tinian have a say in the conduct of their own lives. Did you take the time even ask if there had been a proper public hearing on Tinian for such an important issue? There was not. Yet you took it upon yourselves to suspend the standing rules and pass the measure anyway, with no input from the public.

Representative Sablan was right on when she stated that the bill should be referred to the appropriate committee for public hearing, just as the House standing rules require. The public remembers well the highly publicized hearings called by the Legislature for other public land leases, attempting to demonstrate fiduciary responsibility. Yet, for their brethren, they let this one slide through.

Mr. Editor, I would ask you to please do the people of Tinian a great favor, and perhaps teach a lesson to the Legislature. Have a reporter visit the Department of Public Lands and obtain a copy of a map of the southeastern quadrant of Tinian, which includes both the Pena and Carolinas Plateaus, probably the most lucrative lands in a future, properly developed Tinian. (It is unfortunate that neither the governor nor the mayor of Tinian have seen fit to create a master plan for the development of Tinian. But then, the concept of planning has never been considered before, why start now, neh?)

On the map, outline in red or the most distinctive color the mayor’s proposed Famalao’an development area. Draw in the demarcation lines for the military retention area in another color. And use yet another color to overlay the existing water and power distribution lines, especially the water tank at Carolinas Heights.

What becomes obvious is that the bill was designed to create a readily available commercial lease opportunity to be controlled by “the Mayor of Tinian and Aguiguan, the Tinian Municipal Council, and the Tinian Legislative Delegation,” all Covenant Party. As soon as the governor signs the deal, the mayor will begin handing out leases to family, friends and supporters faster than the clerks can record them.

On the other hand, the area designated for the people, including his own employees, the agricultural homestead lands, are miles from the nearest water supply. Where is the money going to come from to pay for the surveying, creating the roads and, most of all, lay a water line to the homesteads? The cost is huge. The money is not there. The mayor and other elected officials will get ready access to their commercial area, but the people will die of thirst before they will see water on their homesteads.

Had the Legislature taken the time to properly study the issue, they would have discovered that there is a good location for an agricultural homestead that could be developed at far less cost and be usable almost immediately, with the proper management of local resources. It might not serve the ulterior motives of the mayor, the delegation and the municipal council, but it would be ideal for the people. That is the plateau just above Carolinas Heights Village, near the island’s main water tank.

Also, please ask your reporter to inquire of our delegation what happened to the West San Jose Village Homestead that has been on the books so long? Bunches of money have been spent creating it.

The problem is it was designed for a sewer system that never materialized. The land is already set aside and surveyed. All that needs to be done is redesign the lots to make them suitable for the islands’ current septic tank system and they could be allocated. At least that would help a few of the people. Unfortunately, following through on paper work doesn’t seem to be one of the mayor’s or the delegation’s strong points. It requires work.

We do look forward to seeing the map.

Good to hear there are more FBI agents arriving.

Sixteen months and counting.