With a vote of 25 in favor — all nine senators and 16 of the 20 members of the House — the Legislature approved Joint Session Resolution 17-3 that grants the telecommunication firm another 15 years land lease.
Rep. Stanley T. Torres, Ind.-Saipan, abstained while Covenant Saipan Reps. Froilan C. Tenorio, Raymond D. Palacios and Sylvestre I. Iguel were absent.
IT&E executive vice president Larry Knecht said they can now move ahead with infrastructure improvements on Rota. Once these are completed, he said consumers will see improved service and pricing in the CNMI.
The relay station project in Sabana, which involves the construction and operation of transmitters and antennae for microwave radio and other facilities, will improve the capacity of the whole network, he added.
Micronesia Telecommunication Corp., which is now IT&E, had a lease agreement for 25 years with the Marianas Public Land Corp., the predecessor of Department of Public Lands that took effect in Sept. 1985.
The lease expired last month but the company said it wanted to continue improving its facilities on Rota.
During the deliberations, Rep. Ramon S. Basa, Covenant-Saipan, and Vice Speaker Felicidad T. Ogumoro, Covenant-Saipan, brought up what they saw as ambiguity in Article 11 of the CNMI Constitution which stated that “the corporation may not transfer a leasehold interest in public lands that exceeds twenty-five years including renewal rights.”
The provision added, “An extension of not more than fifteen years may be given upon approval by three-fourths of the members of the legislature.”
Basa and Ogumoro said these two sentences seem to contradict each other.
Senate President Paul A. Manglona, Ind.-Rota, as well as the legal counsels of the House and DPL clarified this provision.
Prior to the adoption of the joint resolution, Eric Barcinas, the IT&E telecom technician on Rota, urged the lawmakers to support the lease extension because “communication is an important tool for everyday life and is vital to our homeland security.”
