GOVERNOR Ralph DLG Torres on Friday approved House Bill 21-108, which authorizes the Department of Lands and Natural Resources to issue farm plots in Kagman.
Authored by former Vice Speaker Lorenzo I. Deleon Guerrero, the measure is now Public Law 21-43.
Then-Vice Speaker Lorenzo I. Deleon Guerrero, right, with Rep. Joel Camacho after the final session of the 21st House of Representatives last month.
Photo by Emmanuel T. Erediano
The Kagman commercial farm plot program was created by an agreement between the then-Marianas Public Land Corp. and DLNR in 1993.
However, DLNR was not provided explicit authority to hold and manage the public lands that MPLC’s successor, the Department of Public Lands, transferred to DLNR.
Kagman farmers cannot avail themselves of federal crop disaster insurance loan, and are not qualified for related programs of the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service because of DLNR’s lack of authority over the Kagman farm plots.
Deleon Guerrero said this puts the Kagman farm plots program “in limbo.”
The new law provides DLNR with the following duties and responsibilities: conduct administrative adjudication for the department and its subdivisions; have explicit authority to hold and manage public lands transferred to it by DPL; and promulgate necessary regulations to carry out its duties.
