Article XII, he added, is “outdated and must be repealed because the people of the NMI are a lot more sophisticated than they were 30 years ago when the Constitution was first framed.”
Article XII states that anyone whose blood line or NMI descent is less than 25 percent cannot own land in the commonwealth.
“Many people that I’ve spoken to who are not living on island right now are reluctant to think about investing in the CNMI because they don’t have the right to own land, and the issue of the expiration of land leases is a big hindrance because they will not pump money to invest here thinking that they cannot recoup their investments. We cannot lure them to invest in the CNMI and if we want to have economic development, the first thing that we should do is to strike out Article XII,” Sablan told reporters.
“As soon as Article XII is repealed, it will allow us to go and market the CNMI to people who might be interested in investing. We cannot do anything to improve our economy if Article XII is not taken off the books. Article XII is an impediment to the economy.”
He said banks are reluctant to give loans to people who want to use their lands as collateral because of Article XII.
According to Sablan, “I feel that the people must have the ultimate unilateral right to say what they want to do with their private lands. The way it is now, the government has some say on how the private land owners will do with their lands, and I don’t think this is right because if the property is mine, I want to have my unilateral say on what I want to do with the property that is mine.”
Sablan said he has never supported Article XII and not too many people understood its impact on their lives when it was implemented.
He said he and other citizens have been working to repeal Article XII for the past three and a half years, and will continue to solicit support from the people.
He said they are willing to attend any gathering for those who need clarification about the issue.
