Former Judge Edward Manibusan said the new owner of Laolao Bay Golf Resort is giving too little to the community.
Manibusan is the attorney for the plaintiffs who sued the government over its land lease agreement with Kumho Holdings, Laolao’s owner.
The lease agreement, Manibusan said, mandates public benefits, including discounted rates for local golf patrons.
Manibusan said Laolao got a “big discount” from the government in their land lease agreement and was also provided with tax credits.
Yet the people of the commonwealth who are the real owners of the public land got nothing, Manibusan said.
In a separate interview, Yun “Alex” Kim of Saipan Laulau Bay Development Inc. said they are keeping their commitment to the community.
He said since they took over the golf resort, they have been showing their sincerity to the community and the CNMI government.
He said they have hosted fundraising golf tournaments and donated portions of the green fee to the event organizers.
Regarding the concerns of local golfers, Kim said other golf resorts charge a higher green fee.
He said the $5 increase in Laolao’s green fee is collected only during the peak season and on weekends.
Golfers, he said, still pay the same green fee during weekdays despite the continuous increase in the operating costs of the company.
Kim said Laolao also helps the commonwealth by providing jobs to local residents.
He said 50 percent of their work force are locals, which is not usually the case at other private companies.
Last November, a group of residents filed a civil complaint against Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and the Department of Public Lands for leasing public land to Kumho “at an unreasonably low price and on terms favorable to the lesee and detrimental to the public interest.”
They said the period of lease also exceeds the permissible term allowed by the CNMI Constitution.
The government, they added, entered into a lease agreement with Kumho without soliciting other proposals.
They said the appraised value of the land was inaccurate and extremely low.
Kumho is leasing the property for 40 years and will pay the government $103,000 a year.
Laolao’s original lease agreement started way in 1989 under its previous owner.
Leasing the land for another 40 years will mean a total lease period of 58 years which is a violation of CNMI Constitution, the plaintiffs said.
