Cabrera, R-Saipan, told reporters on Tuesday that he hoped those who voted to reject the House Committee on Natural Resources’ report regarding Senate Legislative Initiative 17-4 would agree to discuss it again.
S.L.I 17-4 will extend the current land lease term from 55 to 99 years. If passed by three-fourths of the members of each house present and voting, it will be placed on the ballot in next year’s elections. Voters can either ratify or reject it.
The House on Friday last week rejected the committee report endorsing the passage of S.L.I. 17-4 by a 9 to 6 vote.
Cabrera expressed support for the committee report. He said Article 12 is one of the things that make CNMI unique. Restricting land ownership to people of Northern Marianas Descent, he added, is for the protection of the island’s future generation.
Signed by committee chairman Joseph M. Palacios, R-Saipan; House Minority Leader Diego T. Benavente, R-Saipan; Reps. Trenton B. Conner, R-Tinian; and Sylvestre I. Iguel, Covenant-Saipan, the report said 55 years is not enough for investors to recoup their investments in the CNMI.
It said the economic and social conditions have “substantially changed since Article 12 was enacted.
Extending the land lease term from 55 to 99 years, the report added, “will facilitate banking and lending institutions in funding major development loans and mortgages, and enhance business opportunities in the commonwealth.”
Cabrera said some House members voted no to the committee report because “they were just not prepared to act on it.”
Those who voted no were House Floor Leader George Camacho, Ind.-Saipan; Reps. Ramon S. Basa, Covenant-Saipan; Francisco S. Dela Cruz, R-Saipan; Joseph P. Deleon Guerrero, R-Saipan; Fredrick P. Deleon Guerrero, Ind.-Saipan; Rafael S. Demapan, Covenant-Saipan; Ramon A. Tebuteb, R-Saipan; Stanley T. Torres, Ind.-Saipan; and. Edmund S. Villagomez, Covenant-Saipan.
