ROTA officials have turned down the offer of the Global Country of World Peace to turn their island into the “peace capital of the world.”
It was a hard decision on Rep. Daniel O. Quitugua’s part and on the rest of Rota’s lawmakers.
“I couldn’t even sleep that night after we made the decision,” Quitugua, R-Rota, told his colleagues at the House Representative during a special session yesterday.
They have to let go of the peace palace, the peace university, the peace garden, over $1 billion of investments and even the chance to learn transcendental meditation.
“The Rota delegation painfully decided (last Tuesday) not to accept the offer of Global Country. It was a very tempting offer, but because we decided to be united with the CNMI, we did not accept it. We decided to forego those benefits and stick with the commonwealth,” said Quitugua.
Independence
Rota could not give what Global Country wanted.
Sen. Ricardo S. Atalig, R-Rota, said Global Country did not only want 40 hectares of the island—it wanted the entire island separated from the CNMI.
“They want Rota not to be a part of the commonwealth anymore. They want Rota to stay out of the commonwealth. They are asking for us to become an independent country, perhaps like Palau,” he said.
Would the people of Rota accept that?
“Of course not,” said Atalig. However, he added, it was “hard to let go” because of the huge investment coming in.
Global Country was willing to wire transfer half a billion dollars to the Rota municipal government’s account, Atalig said.
“They were willing to wire in the money just to prevent the talks from collapsing,” he added.
“It was extremely tempting,” Quitugua said.
‘Goodbye’
Senate President Paul A. Manglona, R-Rota, said he admires the efforts of Rota Mayor Benjamin T. Manglona to bring something for the island so that it would no longer be dependent on the central government.
“The mayor tried his best, but unfortunately, there are conditions that they want to see for this project and I think we cannot meet those conditions. It’s unfortunate, but it is over now and we have to say goodbye to them,” the Senate president said.
The Rota officials were scheduled to meet Global Country’s representatives tomorrow to discuss the details of the group’s plans for the island.
Despite the collapse of the negotiations, Quitugua said Global Country “left the door open should we invite them again in the future.”
‘Powerful statement’
Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente welcomed the delegation’s decision. He said not taking the offer for the sake of the commonwealth’s unity was “a powerful statement.”
The next time another investor comes in, however, the Senate president said the CNMI should be a little more accommodating. Perhaps, he said, negotiations could be done in a more appropriate way.
“All I have to say is that (Global Country) was somewhat hurt or somewhat discouraged by the action of the government in its meeting with lawmakers. I just hope that in the future, maybe it would be in a better and different setting, (especially for) first time meetings,” he said.
He added: “When we sit down with developers, we should (think carefully) about their plans and trust each other’s delegation that they know what is the best for that delegation.”
Quitugua also has this to say to his colleagues and the administration: “Let’s sit down and talk about some disparities in the distribution of our resources and how we will be able to address this problem.”
Benavante assured Rota and Tinian officials that the administration will extend its hands to them.
“We recognize that. The governor and I will be providing more funds where there are obvious needs,” he said.
