SAIPAN Mayor Ramon “RB” Camacho doesn’t want to pay for extracting corals to repair roads.
“One of my missions [as mayor] is repairing unpaved roads for the accessibility of motorists, to prevent accidents, and [to ensure a] smooth road for emergency response in every village,” Camacho said.
“Why should the mayor’s office pay corals when I am just transferring one government property to another government property?” he asked.
He said the Department of Public Land should “work” with the quarry operators. “Quarry operators are leasing public land, and who owns the land? It’s the people of Northern Marianas Descent. I asked them [DPL] if they can offset the rental payment of the quarry operator,” he said.
“I want them [the quarry operators] to load the quarry on the mayor’s truck, go down to the project site, deliver the quarry, and repair the road,” Camacho said.
“Why should I be paying for it when I know for a fact that the land belongs to the indigenous people, the NMI descent, and where does the rental money go? The money from the public land rental is transferred to the Marianas Public Land Trust, and MPLT transfers the interest to the CNMI government general fund, and from there it benefits the whole CNMI,” the mayor added.
Camacho said he is also asking the community to be patient with him.
“Right now your Saipan mayor cannot repair the roads because of this issue,” he said.
“Every person here that has lost their loved ones, we visit them, we ask how can we help, and they say we have to repair the road [in their area] for accessibility. Because that is the custom, to help each other. Right now we are suspending that because we don’t have corals to deliver. I want the community to understand because if DPL doesn’t give me what I‘m asking, I might protest — I am going to call the public to protest and fight for our own land,” Camacho said.
In a letter to DPL Secretary Teresita Santos dated July 10, 2023, Mayor Camacho sought access to quarries to facilitate the repair and improvement of several roads.
He also invoked Article 11 of the Temporary Occupancy Agreement or TOA, exempting the mayor’s office from paying any charges for quarry materials extracted from the quarry site operated by a permitee under a valid permit.
Camacho told the DPL secretary that his office receives many requests for road repairs.
However, he said, “I can no longer provide that service as the Office of the Municipality of Saipan does not have financial means to pay for public property to be used for public services. Hence, I urge you to take immediate action as those materials are essential for improving road durability and enhancing overall safety for motorists and pedestrian alike.”
In her response dated July 11, 2023, Santos approved Camacho’s request to avail himself of the public benefits under Article 11 of TOA.
But Santos said “the government agency will be responsible for any and all costs associated with such project to include heavy equipment rental for the extraction, loading and delivery from the quarry site to the project site.”
She added, “Permitees will be notified of this approval to allow the Office of the Mayor of Saipan to obtain 100 cubic yards of coral or raw materials, annually and free of charge, for its roadway or for other public purposes.”
In an interview Wednesday, Camacho said: “I’m not going to pay a penny. I’m asking humbly, respectfully, DPL to negotiate with the quarry operators. Those are [DPL’s] clients…. The mayor is not building his own apartment or his own hotel. All I’m doing is transferring corals from one public land to another public land.”
He said “this is the right way, and I am serious about my mayorship. I have envisioned these things, and now I have the opportunity to be of service to the people…. I want to execute my vision…. I don’t want our visitors to see…that we only fix our problems when we have visitors.”
RB Camacho
