TOM Arkle was too kind in his manner of reminding former Senator Demapan why the Pagan pozzolan deposit was wasted. Mr. Demapan, of all people, should remember how Anna Demapan Castro hid vital documents from the rest of her MPLA board members, causing them to cast a negative vote for Azmar’s permit application. She was too busy traveling and trying to take control of indigenous rights to pay attention to economic development issues.
But the person most responsible for killing the CNMI’s opportunity to harvest the pozzolan deposit on Pagan was Cinta Kaipat. She made killing any effort to market the pozzolan on Pagan her campaign issue in the last election. In order to maintain front page stories for herself, she claimed more studies and an RFP were needed before issuing a permit, so. The study took a year and half, and told us that as Tom said, there ain’t enough high quality pozzolan left to make the effort worthwhile. The RFP, of course, has never been issued. Pagan Watch went back to San Francisco. Worst of all, the people of Pagan she claimed to support were, and are, left nothing.
The only person who gained anything out of Pagan pozzolan was Cinta Kaipat, Covenant, Precinct 1, who won her coveted seat in the House of Representatives. The rest of the people of CNMI lost. The voters in Precinct 1 might keep that in mind when they go to the polls this year.

DON A. FARRELL
Marpo Heights, Tinian