Torres prioritizes $88 million for homestead infrastructure

Gov. Ralph DLG Torres authorized last week the use of $88 million under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 for homestead infrastructure in the following villages: As Gonno on Saipan, West San Jose and Marpo Heights Phase III on Tinian, and Dugi on Rota. 

The authorization was done in collaboration with the Department of Public Lands, the Infrastructure Recovery Program, and the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.

“With careful planning and collaboration between our departments, I have always prioritized the issuance of homestead lots for our citizens. We wanted to make sure compliance is enforced so we can address the applicants who have been waiting since before we took office and to make the necessary preparations to get these projects off the ground once funding was identified,” said Torres. 

“On top of providing direct assistance for residents and their families under ARPA through programs like stimulus, child tax credits, and food assistance, I also wanted to make sure that we have funding allocated under the federal guidelines for infrastructure of new homes for residents. We thank DPL, IRP, and CUC for collaborating on this important initiative. We will continue to provide updates through DPL moving forward,” Torres added.

Public Lands Secretary Sixto K. Igisomar said that, if all goes according to plan, DPL should be issuing lots to active applicants by the summer of next year.

DPL director of Planning Patricia Rasa said that, upon learning of Torres’ move to commit funding for homestead infrastructure, her office immediately initiated an action plan to expedite the subdivision of the As Gonno on Saipan and Marpo Heights Phase III on Tinian.

Igisomar noted that the Planning Surveying Team have been subdividing the lots for As Gonno on a daily basis and have completed close to 114 of the available 330 lots. He also noted the procurement for architecture and engineering to work on the perimeter of Marpo Heights Phase III is ongoing. 

For Rota, Igisomar and his team will be visiting Rota to iron out details on the Dugi, Mua, Gempapa, As Nieves and Fina’Fa Homestead (village and agriculture), during their community outreach on Rota scheduled for Sept. 9, 2021.

The DPL Homestead Division on Saipan, as well as the Tinian and Rota District Offices, encourages every active homestead applicant to call in and update their homestead applications. Saipan currently has a moratorium on homesteads, so only active applicants can update their records. (PR)