Enrique K. Seman, administrator for the Rogolofoi estate, said he and his family later met with Gov. Benigno R. Fitial over lunch for over two hours to talk things over.
“We will not divulge the details of our agreement but we can say that we are satisfied with the conditions for the moment,” Seman said.
He said the next thing they will do is to wait for the government to fulfill its promise.
“If they fail to deliver their end of the agreement, then we will have to go out and block that road again, and we mean business,” Seman said.
About 20 members of the Rogolofoi family blocked the highway at past 8 a.m. and removed the barricades at past 9 a.m. after the governor promised to meet with them at noontime.
Seman said they had to block the road to force the government to finally talk to them.
“We’ve been given the run-around for so long. It’s sad that we have to resort to this measure so they can realize that we are serious,” Seman said.
They lifted the barricades to allow big trucks and buses to pass through, but smaller cars had to go around the detour.
“The diversion road is too narrow for the big trucks and we don’t want accidents to happen so we allowed them to pass,” Seman said.
The motorists were “very nice” and understood why they had to close the road, he added.
He said the Rogolofoi family members and relatives helped direct traffic toward the diversion road because “the police officers who were in the area did not do anything.”
“They were just standing around looking at us,” Seman said.
Department of Public Safety Commissioner Santiago F. Tudela told the Variety on Wednesday that he would not deploy any police officer to direct traffic in the area.
Tudela yesterday said they told the Rogolofoi heirs to remove the barricades and allow the regular flow of traffic to continue.
“It might have been their land, but they were wrong to block a public road,” said Tudela who was in the area yesterday with Attorney General Edward Buckingham.
Based on the order of Superior Court Presiding Judge Robert Naraja on May 12, 2009, the government owes the Rogolofoi heirs about $2.7 million in rent and road compensation for taking their private land.
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