Teresita Santos
DEPARTMENT of Public Lands Secretary Teresita Santos said the Saipan Mayor’s Office cannot have unlimited, no-cost access to quarry materials from around the island.
In a letter, she reiterated her interpretation of the temporary occupancy agreement between DPL and Construction Material and Supply or CMS.
She said she wrote the letter after learning that Saipan Mayor RB Camacho claimed that CMS “cannot invoice” his office “for quarried materials provided to the [office].”
CMS operates at least one of six quarries on Saipan that government agencies — including the Saipan mayor’s office — have access to.
Santos said government agencies may have access to 100 cubic yards of quarry material per quarry per year for “roadway projects and other public purposes.” This amounts to a total of 600 cubic yards.
Santos said although under Article 11 of the temporary occupancy agreement, “government agencies are exempted from paying any charges for quarry materials extracted from the [site],” a precedent exists, which caps the amount of cubic feet an agency can extract.
She cited a March 16, 2017, communication from then-DPL Secretary Marianne Teregeyo to the Saipan Mayor’s Office.
“[Teregeyo] approved up to a volume of 100 cubic yards, on the condition that the Office of the Mayor of Saipan would be responsible for any and all cost of heavy equipment rentals for the extraction, loading, and delivery on the quarry site associated with its projects,” Santos said.
“DPL’s interpretation of Article 11 has not changed since that time, and DPL sees no basis to vary it from today,” Santos added.
She said DPL has determined that there must be some limits on the public benefit contribution required by the [temporary occupancy agreement].”
Moreover, if the mayor’s office were given unlimited access to quarry materials, it could be to the detriment of the Marianas Public Land Trust, Santos said.
“Interpreting the Article 11 public benefit contribution to require quarry permittees to provide an unlimited amount of materials to government agencies would significantly reduce the revenues DPL can collect…and would similarly reduce the amount of funds to be remitted to MPLT,” Santos said.
