AS there has been no legal action since 2017, the Office of the Attorney General has asked the Superior Court to dismiss the Friends of Marpi’s lawsuit against the CNMI government for lack of prosecution.
On April 15, 2011, the Friends of Marpi filed a complaint and sought an injunction to keep the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. from erecting power poles in the Marpi area.
The Friends of Marpi were former Rep. Tina Sablan, Angelo Villagomez, Suzanne Kinder, Glen Hunter, Ruth Tighe, Erick Van Der Maas, Jill Derickson, Del Benson, Ken Kramer, C.E. “Bud” White, Frank Camacho and Anthony Pellegrino.
Previously, the court scheduled a bench trial, then vacated it in place of a status conference to pick a new trial date.
“But no new date was ever picked, and nothing has occurred in this case since,” said Chief Solicitor J. Robert Glass Jr., who represents the OAG.
Glass said the primary issue left in the case deals with the land use plan to be implemented by the Department of Public Lands.
“The land use plan that was to be implemented is not even the current land use plan as the plan is required to be updated every five years. The Board of DPL that was summoned by Plaintiffs and Court to appear are not even the same Board members anymore. The Board members with the requisite knowledge are not the same board members who would appear today. Thus, Defendants would be required to go find Board members who may not be able to appear,” Glass said.
As “plaintiff has unreasonably delayed the case for almost five years, there is presumed prejudice, and the case should be dismissed with prejudice for lack of prosecution,” Glass added.
He said plaintiffs “have filed nothing in the last five years, and despite there being filings in the case to notify plaintiffs of new counsel for defendants, plaintiffs still did not file anything to move the case forward. Plaintiffs’ inaction is dilatory in this case, as the nature of the case is one for injunctive relief, which supposes that action needs to happen quickly to keep irreparable harm from occurring.”
“This case has languished for over a decade and has had zero movement for five years; thus, the court should dismiss it with prejudice,” Glass reiterated.
According to the complaint, the lawsuit aimed “to save the Marpi area from unplanned development that has or will have adverse effects on Marpi — an area of deep and profound historical and cultural significance to the people of the Northern Mariana Islands.”
Those who expressed opposition to the proposed Marpi cemetery power pole project included the Marianas Visitors Authority, the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, the Northern Mariana Islands Triathlon Federation, the Mt. Tapochau Bike Club, and 312 signatories of an online petition.
Named as defendants in the lawsuit were the CNMI government, Coastal Resources Management, the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs, the Office of the Governor, the Capital Improvements Project Office, and CUC.
