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Senate OKs bill to block DPL from leasing lands for CJMT
The Senate has approved a bill to prohibit the Department of Public Lands from leasing any lands of the Commonwealth for any military live-fire or bombing activity, as well as mandate that any proposed public land lease for military activity be ratified by the people of the Commonwealth at a general or special election.
“With the scarce amount of land mass in the CNMI, it is imperative that our government preserves the remaining islands in the CNMI for future generations. The U.S. has ruined the island of [Farallon de Medinilla] with its live bombs, live fire, and military training. The CNMI has lost any and all political, cultural, and economic value and use of FDM. It is for this reason that the Commonwealth cannot risk losing another one of its pristine islands at the hands of the U.S. military,” the bill states.
The bill states that DPL shall not lease any public land within the CNMI for any military live-fire or bombing activity. It mandates that the department will not lease any public land for any other activity until the proposed lease agreement is ratified by vote and “approved by two-thirds of the votes cast to approve the lease agreement.”
The bill cites the “CNMI Joint Military Training” project, which proposes to lease the entire island of Pagan for military training. The Senate believes it would be a travesty for the CNMI to allow the U.S. military to “unilaterally occupy and destroy” the island’s natural environment, as there is an expressed interest in its resettlement.
