THE Commonwealth Ports Authority board of directors was set to decide on CPA’s lease agreement with Rota Terminal and Transfer Co. Inc. on Friday, but a “short recess” requested by CPA board member Thomas P. Villagomez resulted in the cancelation of the meeting.
RTT’s lease agreement with CPA was on top of the agenda in the board meeting originally scheduled for Thursday but was moved to Friday.
On April 26, 2024, the CPA board gave RTT 30 days to correct the following lease contract violations: failure to remove damaged equipment, failure to maintain operable crane, and failure to maintain a CNMI business license. RTT’s deadline was on May 26, 2024.
CPA Board Chair Jose C. Ayuyu on Friday said, “If they are not financially sound they should be honest to come to the board and say, ‘We cannot do the job anymore and please find another operator.’ The company really needs to be honest to itself. You know, if they can do that job or if they cannot do the job.”
Ayuyu said they cannot place the community in jeopardy, noting that everyone on Rota depends on ship deliveries. If shippers cannot bring in food from Saipan through the seaport, “that is unacceptable,” he added.
Board member Joseph Diaz said RTT has breached its lease contract, but “I would like to see also that CPA … come up with a master plan or timeline.”
He was cut off by Ayuyu, who said, “Let’s not play around with blaming the [CPA] staff because a contract is a contract.”
He said RTT has an obligation and must meet that obligation. “If they are going to blame someone else, in the first place, we, [CPA] gave the contract to the wrong person,” Ayuyu added.
“There’s a reason why we put everything in writing. You are supposed to follow it. If you don’t have the money and resources, be a gentleman enough to say, ‘I’m sorry I’m not going to accept the contract to run the port because I don’t have the resources.’ So … it’s a black and white thing whether you do the job or you don’t. So please, I just want to clarify that. Because when you say it’s CPA’s responsibility, I don’t think that is right,” he told Diaz.
Board member Steve Mesngon, speaking in Chamorro, said as the board member from Rota, he should always be consulted and informed about all matters pertaining to RTT. He also said that former Sen. Victor B. Hocog, RTT’s president, has sent the CPA board a letter asking for an extension of the notice of default.
Mesngon said he had not decided yet whether to support the termination of RTT’s contract or Hocog’s request for an extension. But he said he wanted to consider Hocog’s request.
Mesngon also complained that he doesn’t get copies of CPA communications and correspondence, especially those pertaining to Rota.
Ayuyu turned to CPA Executive Director Leo Tudela and said, “We agreed that every correspondence coming in must be shared with the board of directors.”
He said it was “a little bit outside the subject,” but since it was brought up, he agreed that “there’s quite a number of correspondence to the members, and … I try to be transparent, but certain people here are leaking it to the media. I don’t appreciate that.”
He told all board members to “give us an opportunity to look at the letter before you open your mouth.”
At this juncture, board member Villagomez called for a short recess, and asked members of the public and the media to “give us a few minutes, please.”
A few minutes turned into almost an hour.
Board member Dolores P. Kiyoshi later came out of the conference room to tell members of the public that the meeting was still on recess, and if they didn’t hear from the board in 24 hours, the meeting was considered canceled.
Asked why the meeting was canceled, Villagomez said they were accommodating a motion to delay action on the matter. He said in the meantime, they were not going to terminate RTT’s lease contract.
Gov. Arnold I. Palacios then arrived to have a “casual conversation” with CPA board members.
Also present were CPA Vice Chairman Antonio Cabrera, board member Ramon A. Tebuteb, Rota Port Manager Albert Taitano and other CPA officials.
Commonwealth Ports Authority Board Chair Jose C. Ayuyu speaks as board members Ramon Tebuteb, left, vice chair Antonio Cabrera, second right, and board member Dolores Kiyoshi, right, listen during a board meeting Friday in the CPA’s board conference room.
Commonwealth Ports Authority board member Steve Mesngon speaks as board members Ramon Tebuteb, Joseph Diaz and chair Jose C. Ayuyu listen.
Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, center, speaks as Commonwealth Ports Authority board member Joseph Diaz, board member Steve Mesngon, vice chair Antonio Cabrera and board member Dolores Kiyoshi listen during a break from a CPA board meeting on Friday.
