DPL ‘retrieves’ 155 homestead lots in Kagman

Department of Public Lands Secretary Oscar M. Babauta said yesterday that a total of 155 homestead lots in Kagman have been retrieved by the agency from its “original permittees.”

“These had been retrieved by the department and put them in the pool to be formally reissued out to the next qualified applicants,” Babauta said at the Rotary Club of Saipan meeting held at the Hyatt Regency Saipan.

According to Babauta, the reasons for the retrieval of the 155 homestead lots vary.

“Some of them opted to just pack up and leave the island for economic reasons: to seek greener pasture, to better their family lives abroad,” he said, adding that some of them were also non-compliant to the permit conditions.

These homestead lots, Babauta said, will soon be awarded to 155 of the over 3,500 applicants in the waiting list, with only 75 percent of them considered qualified.

The secretary noted that they are working on applications they received in 1992 and 1993. “That’s how far back we are,” he added.

Once the agency has conducted “an official declaration” of the homestead lots by the end of the year, Babauta said they will be servicing the next 155 applicants in the waiting list.

Babauta said DPL has stopped accepting homestead applications in April 2006 because of the moratorium on land compensation payments and village homestead programs declared by Gov. Benigno R. Fitial.

“Because of the scarcity of suitable homesteading sites, it is with that reason that the administration and Public Lands agreed in principle to suspend this program for the time being,” he said.

While Babauta said that there is still a possibility that the moratorium will be lifted, he disclosed that they’re looking at working with private developers similar to Sandy Beach Homes LLC and Blue Water Homes LLC to allow homestead applicants to avail of what these projects have to offer.

“Something like this in the future is very foreseeable,” he told reporters after the meeting.

Babauta noted, however, that the moratorium is only applicable to Saipan.

The secretary disclosed that they’re going to open up 247 homestead lots at the West San Jose Homestead Subdivision on Tinian and 126 lots at Sabana on Rota.

According to Babauta, the Tinian lots will be available once the environmental assessment is completed and basic homestead infrastructure such as power, water, and roads are in place.

For the Rota lots, Babauta said the project contractor just finished the overall A&E design, biological and ecological surveys, and environmental assessment.

Babauta added that some $5 million each for Tinian and Rota are still needed to solicit and approve proposals for the homestead subdivision lots.