MANY years ago the geniuses who ran Marianas Public Land Corp. came up with the idea of land banking. Under this policy, public land, like the land now being used for Laulau Bay and Kingfisher golf courses, and a couple of large hotels, would be leased out at cheap rents to foreign companies and 40 years later, after the leases expired, the indigenous people would regain control of their land from the “land bank.” Sounds nice, doesn’t it? Can you imagine a Chamorro-Carolinian Village sitting where the Laulau Bay golf course now sits 30 years from now??? Neither can I!
It now appears that $4 million collected over the last 20 years from the rental of public land sits in the Bank of Saipan, along with another $12 million in retirement and executive branch funds, and no one knows whether all or a part of it will be recovered. Why am I fearful that public land funds are going to end up paying for receivers’, attorneys’, special judges’ and other expert fees in this “baby” Hillblom case?
Will the public break even? Will it earn any interest on its $16 million? Will the public be the one who “eats it” when the dust settles? Is this what they meant by “land banking”? When candidate Benigno Fitial said “we shall deliver,” did it have anything to do with Bank of Saipan?
Shouldn’t government officials be concerned with the safety of the public’s money? Shouldn’t they pick the most solid financial institutions to do business with? Why would any public official put the public’s money in a non-FDIC insured-rejected bank?
Why not? After all, when it comes to deciding what to do with public land, fiduciary duty has never been an important factor. Why should being good with money be any different?
Fiduciary responsibility, on both a personal and governmental level, has never been a big part of the culture of the Northern Mariana Islands. The fact that $16 million of the people’s money is now at risk demonstrates more than ever that it is now time to change this aspect of the culture and make fiduciary duty, involving land and money, an important part of everyday government life. This new administration must set the standard and that standard should be: if you can’t handle the public’s money responsibly—no government job and no board membership.
For starters, BB can make sure that all public money is deposited safely and wisely only in federally insured banks with assurances that it can be withdrawn, in full, at any time. It’s time for the public to stop footing the bill for local banking big-shots who think they are so good with money when they really are not.KENNETH L. GOVENDO
Dandan, Saipan
