Del Rosario also informed the senators that DPL has ceased issuing land compensation awards due to lack of funding.
He said there are about 300 land compensation claims that may total $60 million.
He added that the list of pending claims was “bloated” by inclusion of wetlands.
“This is an issue we will set aside for the time being,” he told the senators. “Yes, some wetland claims have been awarded. [But] DPL will [now] focus strictly on right-of-ways and resolve wetland claims on an as-needed basis.”
This means that wetlands acquisition will be based on the real needs of the CNMI government, he added.
Del Rosario said DPL also discovered that the government was compensating right-of-ways that were already paid under the Micronesian War Claims Act.
“We are reviewing these cases to recover what we view as double compensation…we will also review pending right-of-way cases to ascertain that we do not repeat what we feel is an illegal compensation,” he said.
Del Rosario said some claimants have sued DPL in hopes of securing compensation.
“Let it be known that [land compensation] isn’t part of the constitutional or statutory obligations of DPL,” he said.
He said the resolution of this issue is “far from encouraging” given the CNMI’s dismal financial condition.
Claimants, he added, may have to wait until the local economy recovers from its decade-old slump.
“Only when revenue streams improve could we realistically revisit this issue,” he said. “We even explored bond floatation to put land compensation to rest. Again, the decline in revenues doesn’t offer much help in our effort to resolve…these issues…. And the only avenue available is the imposition of additional taxes earmarking collections for this purpose.”
Del Rosario, however, said imposing new taxes in not a “prudent alternative” given the CNMI’s dismal economy.
Regarding Saipan homestead lots, he said there are about 3,400 applicants, most of whom submitted their applications in the 1980s.
But only a third of this figure can get homestead lots in Koblerville, Capital Hill and Marpi, Del Rosario said.
He said the government can no longer issue homestead lots the “old fashion way” on Saipan.
The hearing on Tuesday was conducted by the Senate Committee on Resources, Economic Development and Programs.
