THE office of Department of Public Lands Secretary Teresita A. Santos has issued the following statement:
“The [Mayor’s Office of Saipan or] MOS submitted a request for designation of public lands on August 17, 2023 and DPL replied on September 12, 2023….
“For the record, the MOS has an existing designation for public lands in Chalan Kanoa, in particular Lot No 012H 57, containing an area of about 6000 square meters for the construction of a permanent office for the MOS and the Saipan Municipal Council.
“In addition, the MOS has another designation of public lands located in Koblerville, containing an area of about 25,000 square meters, primarily to use as a staging area as a designated place to set up heavy equipment vehicles, supplies and equipment for convenient use and to provide a safe and designated area to train employees to operate these specialized equipment’s.
“The MOS has elected not to utilize these public lands designations and has selected other parcels of public lands, in particular, in As Perdido, containing an area of about 110,000 square meters, for the MOS office space, staging of heavy equipment, drivers training and etc.
“Thus, in response, DPL has officially responded and notified the MOS that prior to the designation of any subsequent public lands for the same purpose, the MOS must reconvey the designations of the Chalan Kanoa and Koblerville public lands, submit a schematic design and survey map of the public lands to be designated as these are prerequisites to any public lands designations.
“Absent these documents, DPL cannot designate the public lands the MOS is requesting for.
“Furthermore, by submitting a schematic plan, DPL would be able to determine the amount of public lands necessary to accommodate the MOS request.
“DPL is mindful of the fact that there is scarcity of public lands available on Saipan.
“When public lands are designated, the inventory of public lands significantly reduces, thus will impact the amount of public lands remaining for DPL to meet the rising demand for land exchanges, agricultural and grazing permits, homestead developments and economic development.”
