Marianas Visitors Authority Managing Director Chris Concepcion, left, listens to Rep. Manny Castro following a hearing conducted by the House Committee on Commerce and Tourism on Monday.
THE Marianas Visitors Authority on Monday expressed support for Senate Bill 23-2, which would “enhance MVA’s promoting capabilities in attracting tourists to visit” the CNMI.
The bill would enable MVA to plan, design and develop construction projects for enhancement of recreational and public facilities.
Based on the current language of 4 CMC Division 2 Section 2103, MVA has no jurisdiction over construction or maintenance projects for public sites around the island.
MVA Managing Director Chris Concepcion told the House Committee on Commerce and Tourism that MVA supports the bill in general.
He said MVA was created to be a marketing agency but is “the first to get called when anything happens at [tourist] sites.”
“We would like the authority to improve where improvements are needed,” Concepcion told the committee, which is reviewing the bill.
Concepcion said MVA is the co-administrator of a $1.4 million-tourism Economic Development Authority grant awarded to the Office of Planning and Development.
He said one of the grant requirements is for administrators to “have some jurisdiction over the sites” and that S.B. 23-2 keeps them in line with meeting grant requirements.
Rep. Manny Castro said he is not completely against the bill, but stated that it “is going beyond the scope of what MVA was established for.”
Castro said he supports a “sunset clause” in the bill to give MVA a timeframe to exit any potential role it has in managing construction projects.
“The root cause of the issue at hand is maintenance of a lot of public facilities,” Castro said, adding that maintenance of public facilities should fall on the Department of Public Lands, the Division of Parks & Recreation, and the Saipan Mayor’s Office.
Castro recognized that funding is also an issue.
He said the “real solution” is to provide appropriate funding to agencies “that are supposed to be doing the job.”
But he added that if MVA does a good enough job managing construction projects, he could support “legislation that would make [construction authority] permanent.”
