Be sensitive to local sentiments

I take exception to the doling out of public land without regard to infrastructure, planning, public spaces, and public input. When the government put out its first call for casinos, it emphasized a mega-resort to be located somewhere in one place, presumably to be supported by new infrastructure and away from the main population. Now both the government and Best Sunshine are looking at several locations, Garapan included, where infrastructure exists but is already severely taxed.

In the process of reviewing locations, Best Sunshine is reportedly eyeing Kan Pacific, leased by a long-time Japanese developer. The Commonwealth needs a diversity of investment from the United States, Japan, Korea, China, and Russia but we cannot forget that our tourism industry was built on Japanese investment and this country, with which we have a long history, and is only three hours away. The CNMI went from 600,000 visitors from Japan to a mere 150,000 today for many reasons including, some suggest, because our advertising dollars are steered in another direction. First went Japan Airlines, quickly followed by other investments. Interestingly, the Japanese tourist market has not recovered in the CNMI but Guam’s remains strong.

Yesterday the administration announced that all these public land leases are in the public interest, meaning the casino development is in the public interest but there are thousands who might disagree with this assessment. The casino process was seriously flawed from the start. The casino legislation was defective and the problems not fixed by subsequent amendments. If anything, the questionable nature of the entire enterprise was made more evident by the efficiency and speed with which opposing initiatives were killed.

And now, to make matters worse, the Department of Public Lands is being asked to process any and all requests submitted by the casino developer and its partners for whatever piece of public land deemed of use to them. What is scary is the lightening speed with which this is being accomplished—and in the name of public purpose. Public purpose might mean a cultural museum, parks, wetland development, or drainage projects in Garapan where flodding is a very real safety, environmental and health concern.

There is an election pending and the administration wants all these deals cemented before November. It seems they are all in a rush because it is an election year and the timelines are connected with Best Sunshine’s pay out of millions of dollars “in consultation with the governor,” according to company pamphlets and recent news articles.

We urge Best Sunshine to conduct itself in a manner consistent with the wishes of the general public. Be sensitive to local sentiments about the use of public land, infrastructure needs and public input.

Juan S. (Santiago) Tenorio
Dandan, Saipan