MPLA protests planned use of Managaha landing fees

A newly enacted law and another House local bill appropriating money from the Managaha Land User Fee Trust Account would leave the Marianas Public Lands Authority without enough funds to continue employing full-time Managaha rangers, MPLA said.

House Local Bill 14-48, which was signed into law on Wednesday, appropriates $600,000 from the Managaha user fee account to assist local farmers and fishermen affected by typhoons Tingting and Chaba, among other purposes.

Similarly, HLB 14-49 seeks to allot $300,000 from the Managaha trust account to fund the operation of all youth centers in Rota.

MPLA Commissioner Edward Deleon Guerrero pointed out, however, that as of Feb. 23, the amount available for appropriation under the Managaha trust account stands at $913,331.82.

“Therefore, it is clear that the amount requested under these two appropriation measures represents a whopping 98 percent of funds available, leaving other agencies including the MPLA with 2 percent to work with,” Deleon Guerrero said. “This is dismal news to us since at present, our office uses its general funds to carry out the mandate provided under Section 2 of Public Law 11-64 to collect a $5-landing fee from ‘each nonresident passenger who disembarks on Managaha island’.”

P.L. 11-64 is the law that authorized the Department of Finance to establish the Managaha trust account.

Deleon Guerrero also noted that MPLA has hired two full-time rangers who are primarily tasked with collecting the $5 landing fee and who are paid for overtime work during the weekends.

Hence, MPLA is entitled to portions of the funds derived from the landing fee imposition, he said.

“We believe that our office should be afforded at least $100,000 of this money annually, for operational expenses associated with the act, [such as] continued employment of Managaha rangers and employee overtime expenses,” Deleon Guerrero maintained.

Ultimately, he added, the bills would affect MPLA’s ability to collect landing fees.

“For future collections, the MPLA forecasts that it will not have the financial means needed to continue paying its full-time Managaha rangers with overtime, especially if [the] funding necessary to shoulder the operational costs and defray other expenses incurred as a result of this act is not provided to our office,” Deleon Guerrero said.