By Moneth G. Deposa
Variety News Staff

GOVERNOR Benigno R. Fitial has ordered the Attorney General’s Office to look into the lease agreements of the Commonwealth Ports Authority after he received reports that public land under the CPA’s jurisdiction is being leased to private individuals who have sublease arrangements with farmers.
Press Secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr. said the governor issued this order during Monday’s cabinet meeting on Capital Hill.
“The governor has ordered the AGO to look into this matter as he heard reports that CPA is leasing (public land) to some private individuals who sublease it to nonresident workers or farmers for agricultural activities,” Reyes told Variety.
The governor, he added, wants “it investigated to know if the reports are accurate or not.”
Reyes said the governor is considering returning the properties under CPA to the Department of Public Lands.
“CPA was only granted some concessions and it’s the governor’s objective to make sure that those concessions are proper and that there is no abuse of public lands and that they are being used only for airport operations,” Reyes said.
The allegations regarding CPA, he added, “defeat the whole purpose of the usage of the public land.”
In a separate interview, CPA Chairman Rex I. Palacios said there are certain portions of public lands that are being used for agricultural and farming activities.
However, he said CPA is not collecting rent from these lands.
“Those were lands adjacent to the airstrip and we cannot build high-rise buildings on those. We made these available to some farmers and cattle ranchers who secured a permit from CPA,” Palacios said.
The permit involves a fee of about $50, he added.
The land in question is located across from Coral Ocean Point.
Palacios said there was “no settled regulation on the property” when CPA initiated the move.
“It’s a pretty substantial area and CPA needs to secure that property because we don’t want high rise buildings to be built there. It’s not just for future airport expansion but it’s the property where the airplane approaches the runway,” Palacios said.
He is scheduled to discuss this issue with the governor today.
“Our first step is to discuss it with the governor — why CPA is holding on to this property. It’s for runway safety and under normal operating standard procedure, the ports authority has to secure this land,” he said.