Taisakan, in his letter to House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman, Ramon A. Tebuteb, R-Saipan, expressed doubt if Senate Bill 16-42, introduced by Sen. Jude U. Hofschneider, R-Tinian, will make the DPL’s homestead program better.
The measure will create a public lands board of directors comprising five members — three from Saipan and one each from Rota and Tinian.
The public lands agency used to have a board, but it was abolished in 1994. The board was reinstated in 1997, only to be abolished again in 2006.
Without a board, the agency is directly under the governor’s control.
Under the bill, DPL will also have deputy administrators on Rota and Tinian appointed by the mayors of the two islands.
Taisakan said if the Legislature is not satisfied with how DPL is managing the homestead program, it should bring its concern directly to the agency.
The Legislature, he added, should also clearly state in the measure how exactly it will address and expedite the issuance of homestead lots to qualified applicants.
“There is nothing in S.B. 16-42 that will provide ways to improve, develop and mandate the issuance of homestead,” the mayor said.
The reinstatement of a public lands board does not guarantee that the homestead program will improve, Taisakan said, adding that the Senate bill “may defeat its intended purpose.”
Moreover, he added, there is nothing in the measure that describe the functions, duties and responsibilities of the deputy administrators who will be under the “political supervision and management” of the mayors and not the board.
Taisakan also noted that the bill will not prevent the mayors of Tinian and Rota from carrying out their own separate land management policies, which may conflict with policies established by the board.
The funding for deputy administrators will come from DPL’s operations bank account, Taisakan said. It is not clear how such an account can be used for such a purpose, he added.
“Funds may be subject for abuse,” he said.
