Except for the 30 people on Alamagan and three on Agrihan, there is no estimate of how many other individuals are residing on the other northern islands.
Saipan hosts 500 former residents of the Northern Islands, and they will be happy to return to their home if they are awarded parcels of lands there, Taisakan said.
All islands north of Saipan are considered public lands, he added.
The mayor said awarding homestead lots to settlers is one way of developing the Northern Islands.
Leo Saures, 43, his wife Mary and daughter Leona arrived from Agrihan on Aug. 15.
Saures, who grew up on Agrihan, said he left his brother, and three nieces there. His father’s parents and their other ancestors were buried on the island and their surviving kin are still there, but they don’t have a legal document that states they own the land where they live.
Aside from Saures, the other families former residents of the Northern Islands who now reside on Saipan include the Pangelinans, Kaipats, Castros, Taisakans, Iginoefs, Santoses, Mettaos and Maratitas.
Recently, Taisakan urged House Floor Leader Joseph James N. Camacho, R-Saipan, and Rep. Justo S. Quitugua, D-Saipan, to pass a bill that will establish village and agricultural homestead program on Sarigan, Alamagan, Pagan and Agrihan.
On Aug. 21, House Bill 16-146, or the Northern Islands Agricultural Homesteading Act of 2008, was introduced by Quitugua. In his letter to the lawmakers, Taisakan said a similar bill was introduced before but it “died” in the Senate.
He hopes that the new bill will be supported by both the House and the Senate.
The mayor said for so many years the government has ignored the potential and importance of the Northern Islands.
