MPLA to be abolished through legislation

The new administration has decided to abolish the Marianas Public Lands Authority through legislation and it will not in the interim suspend the MPLA Board of Directors, Gov. Benigno R. Fitial said Friday.

According to Fitial, his legal team is now working on a proposed legislation that will be submitted to both the Senate and the House of Representatives for consideration.

In the meantime, Fitial will allow the MPLA board to continue administering the Commonwealth’s public lands.

“[The legislation’s] main objective is to abolish the MPLA and to bring the administration of public lands back to control of the Legislature and the Executive Branch whose members are elected by the people of the Commonwealth and could be held politically responsible for their administration of public lands,” said attorney Howard Willens, the governor’s legal counsel.

Willens, who served as counsel for the Mariana Political Status Commission in the Covenant negotiation with the United States, acknowledged that the abolition of MPLA may have adverse consequences. But he maintained that the action was badly needed.

MPLA has been much criticized for its excessive travel expenses, board compensation, and overall conduct. It is currently facing investigation by the Office of the Public Auditor.

“The governor and the Legislature are convinced that, after everyone has had a chance to evaluate the proposed legislation, people would understand that the situation has disintegrated to such an extent that the authority has lost all respect within the Executive Branch, the Legislature, and the people,” Willens said.

He also lashed at certain sectors that believe Fitial was taking too much power for himself. Barely a month in office, the governor now possesses unrestricted reprogramming authority and direct control of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.

Willens noted that the Marianas Public Land Trust, in violation of its constitutional intent, has been remitting a very limited—if any—amount of money to the general fund since 1991.

According to the Constitution, MPLA is tasked with managing leases of public lands. After deducting administrative costs from the collected fees, MPLA remits the balance to the Marianas Public Land Trust. MPLT then invests the money on behalf of the people of Northern Marianas descent. Income earned from those investments is transferred to the general fund for appropriation by the Legislature.

“To a very modest extent, the Trust has been remitting a very limited amount of money over the past several years. Of course, one of the issues here is that the Trust and the Authority have been at odd over the years. The Trust has been seeking judicial guidance over its responsibilities. There’s been litigation over the years. I think it’s fair to say that the system has not worked out as the naïve drafters of the Constitution hoped that it would,” Willens said.

All the Fitial administration wants to do is to address the complicated issue “squarely and openly,” he added.

“So I would advise the critics, who find it too easy to say, ‘too much power,’ to reserve their criticism until they see our proposal, see the safeguards that are going to be built into the proposal, and rather than stick to the old familiar clichés, analyze the extent of the problem in the Commonwealth and whether this is the best way to deal with it,” Willens said.