THE CNMI Scholarship Office and the Saipan Higher Education Financial Assistance program cannot administer funds collected from public land tenants if the money is intended only for persons of Northern Marianas descent because “it is considered discriminatory,” Department of Public Lands Secretary Teresita Santos told lawmakers on Tuesday.
During a joint session in the House chamber, and prior to the Legislature’s approval of the lease agreement between DPL and Suwaso Corp. for the 581,585 square meters of public land occupied by Coral Ocean Resort, Senate President Edith Deleon Guerrero asked Santos about Suwaso’s $5,000 annual contribution for educational scholarships.
Santos said DPL’s legal counsel advised her that the department cannot administer public benefit funds for scholarships. In her several meetings with officials of the CNMI Scholarship Office and SHEFA, Santos said she was told that they are supposed to be non-discriminatory.
Giving out funds only to a particular group of recipients, in this case, the NMDs, is considered discriminatory, Santos added.
The Senate president said “it does makes sense why CNMI Scholarship and SHEFA refused to accept the $5,000 because it specifically identifies a certain group…. SHEFA and CNMI Scholarship are for the general population.”
Rep. Manny Castro said Northern Marianas College can administer the scholarship fund from Suwaso.
For her part, Rep. Marissa Flores asked Santos how DPL can ensure that the scholarship funds are given to the intended recipients.
“Accountability is one of the biggest issues we are trying to address,” Flores said.
Santos said DPL will meet with Suwaso to discuss its public benefit contribution, specifically for scholarships.
For his part, Rep. Roman Benavente noted that the lease agreement is between DPL and Suwaso. He agreed with Castro, saying that NMC should administer the $,5,000 public benefit contribution for scholarships.
“I don’t want to prolong this joint session, but I want to see this done in a right way,” he added.
According to Rep. Blas Jonathan Attao, “We should allow DPL and [Suwaso] to work [with] each other rather than go to a specific entity and put in the money.”
As long as there is an understanding about the legislative intent, DPL can have access to the money so there will be accountability for the $5,000 that will be distributed on an annual basis, Attao said.
Rep. Vincent Aldan asked, “How about the Northern Marianas Technical Institute?”
“We have to be careful on how we are going to distribute this money because if we allow Northern Marianas College to administer this money, that would leave NMTech out of the picture,” he said.
Castro said the cost of college is $20,000 a year, so $5,000 is not even enough for one NMD student. “Why don’t we just leave it flexible? Suwaso…can…just identify [its] employees who are NMDs and give them the funds through its own HR office. Just leave it open,” he added, referring to the language of the joint resolution that pertains to the $5,000 public benefit for scholarship.
After further discussion on the matter, the lawmakers unanimously approved the amended version of Joint Resolution 23-2 that no longer included the provision mandating DPL to administer the $5,000 public benefit contribution for educational scholarships.
