Joint Resolution 16-2 approves the lease of about 109,000 square meters of public lands located between Paupau Beach and Marianas Resort in As Matuis for a 357-room hotel project.
The only senator to vote against the resolution, Crisostimo, D-Saipan, said the project may effect the wild life surrounding the area.
He said there could be a nesting ground for green sea turtles at the project site.
“To say ‘yes’ to this is desperation,” he said.
Among the House members present, only Rep. Tina Sablan, Ind.-Saipan, voted against the lease agreement.
She said the deal may not be commercially reasonable because she thinks the annual rent is far below the fair market value.
She wanted to know whether the Department of Public Lands made any effort to find out if other groups were interested to lease the land.
Citing a lawsuit on a similar deal in the past, Sablan said she does not want the government “doling out public lands through sweetheart deals again.”
She said the government should not enter into an agreement “based on desperation and ignorance of better options possible.”
The rent for the first three years will be $52,320 a year.
Noting that this amount is higher than what Kumho Asiana is paying the CNMI, Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider, R-Saipan, questioned DPL Secretary John Del Rosario about the consistency of the policy on appraisals.
For the Kumho Asiana land lease deal, the government and firm agreed on a $103,000 annual rent for 1.6 million square meters of land.
Sen. Maria T. Pangelinan, D-Saipan, said the current economic conditions of the CNMI and the company’s long-term investment plans were considered in the Kumho deal.
Senate President Pete P. Reyes, R-Saipan, agreed that the deal was “not perfect but acceptable.”
Sen. Joseph M. Mendiola, Covenant-Tinian, said the Legislature needs to take action in face of a deteriorating economy.
Rep. Joseph C. Reyes, R-Saipan, said the Flame Sako deal is “better than nothing.”
Rep. Victor B. Hocog, Ind.-Rota, said he appreciates the executives of Flame Sako for taking the risk of investing in the CNMI.
Flame Sako President and CEO Kang Dae Sik, through an interpreter, said they are confident to invest in the CNMI because they have their own market — Korean tourists as well as retirees and business executives who want to visit the islands for convention and other business purposes.
Former Republican Rep. Candido B. Taman, who now works for DPL, said he supports legitimate investments that can bring fresh revenues to the local economy.
He said these investments will create jobs for the people.
Eliseo Castro, a resident of a village near the proposed project site, agreed.
He said many young men and women in the villages are in dire need of jobs.
Flame Sako, he said, can provide those jobs.
