Boat captains, deck crews and marine sports operators hold signs to express their opposition to the proposed amendments to the rules and regulations pertaining to Managaha’s commercial use.
MORE than 40 motor sports operators, boat captains and deck crew staged a protest at Garapan Fishing Base late Thursday afternoon, expressing their opposition to the proposed amendments to the rules and regulations for Managaha’s commercial use.
On Tuesday afternoon, they staged a similar protest at the entrance to the Department of Public Lands office in Dandan.
Captain Knights Charter LLC owner and operator Elsa Duenas Nieto told Variety on Thursday: “We are here today in support of the local marine sports operators, captains, deck crew and their families. At the same time, we are opposing the new Department of Public Lands rules and regulations giving exclusive marine sports activity to Marianas Global Inc.,” Managaha’s concessionaire.
DPL has announced that it will conduct two public hearings regarding the proposed amendments to the Managaha commercial rules and regulations.
Both hearings will start at 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 16 and 19 in the DPL conference room at the Joeten Dandan Commercial Building.
“This is wrong and it’s not good for our economy, and definitely not good for our local people,” Nieto said referring to the proposed amendments.
“We appreciate the support from many motorists passing by — it tells me how important our fight is. We want to keep everything the way it is because it works for everybody,” she added.
In a press conference on Wednesday, DPL said it had notified Marianas Global about its non-compliance with the concession agreement, including the payment of rent, BGRT, among other things.
Marianas Global is supposed to pay an annual rent of $800,000. In addition, the concessionaire “shall pay DPL 9% of its business gross receipts derived from the agreement.”
“Since the very first public hearing, we have been hearing that they [Marianas Global] have been struggling with money,” Nieto said. “The thing is, DPL is trying to give them more privilege and exclusivity when they cannot even handle what they have right now. From what we’ve learned … MGI is really in trouble financially,” he added.
Variety was unable to get a comment from Marianas Global.
