By Emmanuel T. Erediano
Variety News Staff

THE main concerns that the Tinian legislative delegation raised two weeks ago regarding the lease agreement between the Department of Public Lands and Marianas Resort Development Co. have been addressed by DPL, according to its deputy secretary.
Ramon S. Salas at the same time disagreed that the original draft had “deficiencies.”
“Do they know the meaning of the word deficiencies?” he said.
MRDC wants to lease 14 hectares of public land on Tinian for its $179 million investment project.
Tinian lawmakers later wrote a letter to DPL Secretary John Del Rosario regarding the proposed land lease agreement.
They told the DPL secretary that MRDC wants to assist with the closure of the dump located on a portion of the public land to be leased.
They also want Tinian residents to own up to 10 percent of MRDC’s shares.
MRDC, moreover, was also asked to implement an early warning system that will inform people of impending typhoons, earthquakes or tsunamis.
These concerns, according to Salas, have been included in the new draft of the lease agreement.
The lease agreement has been submitted to the Legislature for approval.
It was Senate President Joseph M. Mendiola, Covenant-Tinian, who earlier said that the land lease agreement had “deficiencies.”