MVA’s reserve fund for own building depleted

Over $3 million that the Marianas Visitors Authority has been keeping in a reserve fund so it could build its own permanent building has now been depleted.

For several years now, the MVA board has been putting money aside in a reserve fund for the planned MVA building, according to MVA chair Marian Aldan-Pierce, but that funding is now down to zero.

“Unfortunately, with the downturn in our economy, we had been forced to dip into those funds,” she said.

She promised, though, that one of the first things that the MVA board would do once they get back on track is to replenish that reserve fund.

MVA managing director Priscilla M. Iakopo confirmed with Saipan Tribune Tuesday that the reserve fund had indeed been depleted, with the money used to pay off MVA’s offshore market offices.

Aldan-Pierce said they have been putting the money aside because they know that they cannot be in the San Jose/Oleai building forever. “It belongs to somebody and our lease will be running out pretty soon,” Aldan-Piece said. MVA’s lease expires in 2021.

Aldan-Pierce said she has already met with Finance Secretary David Atalig and that Atalig knows that that’s an account payable on their side that they still have to pay MVA for hotel occupancy tax collections that were taken and not remitted to MVA.

Aldan-Pierce said there is no design yet for the MVA building project because they’re not quite sure where it is going to be built.

When asked about the CNMI Museum board of governors’ decision last March to give MVA a portion of its lot in Garapan where the MVA could build a permanent site, she said she has not seen an agreement with the CNMI Museum yet.

Aldan-Pierce said she believes that there was a consensus by the CNMI Museum board to provide some property to MVA. “But we are not exactly sure where it’s [going to] be,” she said, adding that nothing has been transferred to MVA yet.

One thing that she would like to see is encourage foot traffic into the museum, which she described as “very nice.” She said CNMI Museum director Danny Aquino and his team have done an awesome job in sprucing up the museum and that DFS, of which she is the president, provided some of the fixtures there.

As a tourism-based economy, the CNMI needs a permanent MVA building, Aldan-Pierce said, and will save the MVA money. “It will be ours and it should be located somewhere within walking distance of the main tourism area, which is Garapan,” she added.

Aldan-Pierce is not sure about how much the MVA pays for the rental for its current office, but she knows it’s “really reasonable.”