SAIPAN Portopia, a company that operates Hyatt Regency Saipan has submitted to the Department of Public Lands the complete documents pertaining to their bid for a new land lease deal, the hotel management said on Tuesday.
In an interview, Hyatt General Manager Nick Nishikawa and Human Resource Director Josephine Mesta said they submitted on Dec. 2, what DPL has been asking for.
Two days after they submitted the complete documents, they met with DPL Secretary Marianne Concepcion-Teregeyo who received the proposal package.
Mesta said, they were told DPL will look into the proposal package and will get back to them.
She said the Hyatt management believes DPL is supposedly, as they were also told, “crunching the numbers” in the investment proposal at this point.
Mesta said they also sent the DPL secretary a letter asking her what really it is that DPL is looking for, what it is that DPL wants.
Nishikawa said Hyatt’s request is exactly the same as Fiesta Resort & Spa’s request which DPL has granted last year.
The DPL secretary has told Hyatt that they will be force to issue a request for proposal in January 2021 if Hyatt doesn’t submit a complete proposal package by Dec. 15.
Hyatt’s land lease contract with DPL will expire in Dec. 2021.
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During House session on Tuesday, Representative-elect Celina Babauta brought the matter to the attention of the House members.
She testified against Rep. Joseph Leepan Guerrero’s House Bill 21-119 seeking to transfer American Memorial Park administration to the NMI government.
In her testimony, she mentioned that the timing of the bill “couldn’t be more suspect.”
“As we all know Hyatt sits on public property adjacent to American Memorial Park. As we all know, Hyatt’s lease will expire in 12 months,” she told the lawmakers.
“Currently, I feel that the administration with the DPL is making Hyatt jump through hoops and demanding unreasonable concessions. They put hurdles in place, designed to dismantle Portopioa from the CNMI while knowing that Hyatt has been trustworthy and devoted partner of the island and its people, with 98% of its workforce made of NMI descent. No other hotels past and present can boast such regards for our community,” she said.
