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New law protects hot pepper, medicinal plants
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Posted on Apr 09 2012
Medicinal plants and hot pepper plants, which could be a major CNMI export product source, are now protected by law.
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial signed into law House Bill 17-195 to conserve and protect hot pepper and all plant species listed in the “Directory of Traditional Healers and Medical Plants in the CNMI.”
The bill is now Public Law 17-71.
Rep. Trenton Conner (R-Tinian), author of the bill, said yesterday that the protection of these resources has been taken for granted for too long.
“As a concerned citizen and lawmaker, I took it upon myself to have these preserved. I’m thankful for the governor’s signing of this bill into law,” he told Saipan Tribune in an interview.
On Tinian alone, he said there have been some individuals uprooting hot pepper plants indiscriminately, making it harder for residents to harvest them.
Birds and chickens also help scatter the seeds of hot pepper, allowing them to grow anywhere these feathered animals scatter them. But still, Conner said there’s a need to protect hot pepper and medicinal or herbal plants.
“Hot pepper is becoming a popular export product. Students and residents from the CNMI, when they go to the states, they bring it with them. Or their parents and relatives send them hot pepper to give them a taste of home away from home,” the freshman lawmaker said.
The new law gives each senatorial district of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota the authority to enact local laws and regulations to protect hot pepper and medicinal plants. Tinian has the distinction of being the original source of the hottest among pepper species among the islands.
PL 17-71, signed on March 29, amends 1 CMC Section 1402 to add a new subsection 18 and subsection 19.
The new subsection 18 would read: “The conservation and protection of all varieties of hot pepper plants.” Subsection 19 would read, “The conservation and protection of all varieties of culturally-recognized herbal and medicinal plants.”
This is one of two House bills that Conner introduced that became law. Conner, who is eyeing a Senate seat in November, also has over 10 local bills that were signed into local laws, mostly appropriations.
