This is a fundamental reform measure, according to Ramon B. Camacho who submitted the proposal to the Saipan legislative delegation.
Camacho said the license should be issued to any interested party willing and able to finance, design, construct or build, operate and manage the cockpit facility.
The” improvement, appurtenance and other interests” will transfer to the government upon the expiration of the franchise period, Camacho said.
“The successful bidder or a combination of bidders that should be awarded shall be the proposers with the best overall proposal or in combination thereof, in terms of pricing, competency, relevant experience, and other requirements unique to Saipan,” he said.
The franchise holder will be required to renovate the cockpit facility three years prior to the expiration of the agreement.
The Saipan delegation is now considering House Local Bill 17-21, which will amend the Saipan Cockfighting Act of 1994.
Rep. Ray N. Yumul, R-Saipan, introduced the bill to extend the validity of the cockpit license from one to five years.
Yumul said past operators had found that the validity of their license was not long enough to recoup their investments.
Camacho, for his part, wants the government to build a cockpit dome on public land.
This way, he said, facility improvements over time will remain in the public domain and owned collectively by the people of Saipan.
Camacho is also proposing that all bidders procure a performance bond or surety bond valued at 30,000 and not $10,000 as stated in Yumul’s bill.
Camacho rejects the claim that cockpit operators could hardly recover their investments.
“It is difficult to even surmise without a stretch of the imagination that a legitimate business would operate a cockfighting establishment for the past 16 years without making profits, operating instead at marginal performance, if not at net loss,” he said.
