MPLA island-hops for board meeting

Marianas Public Lands Authority officials, who reportedly flew to Guam following a board meeting on Tinian and Rota late last week, are now back on Saipan, where they convened yesterday to continue the board meeting. This means that they held a meeting on all three major islands of the Commonwealth.

MPLA’s public information officer, Ed Arriola Jr., said the board convened yesterday at the MPLA offices on Saipan to continue the two-day board meeting that occurred on Tinian and Rota last week.

The board initially convened at the Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino Thursday and continued the meeting on Rota last Friday. Arriola said the board would convene again today to continue the board meeting, which would be on its fourth consecutive working day.

This development comes amid the Fitial administration’s vocal stand to have the MPLA board abolished through legislation. MPLA travel spending and per diem fees have also been the subjects of flak, with the Office of Public Auditor recently saying that the agency’s travel expenditures would be investigated.

Those who allegedly went to Guam on official business Friday included MPLA board chair Ana Demapan-Castro, member Nicolas Nekai, commissioner Edward DeLeon Guerrero, and legal counsel Ramon Quichocho.

Quichocho, who admitted going to Guam, refused to comment when reached by telephone yesterday afternoon, referring inquiries to the MPLA’s Arriola. He said he couldn’t “divulge confidential matters” and the “purpose of the meeting” on Guam.

Arriola has yet to issue an official statement on behalf of the commissioner and the board members involved in the Guam trip. “I was not able to reach the commissioner and members of the board for their comments on the Guam trip,” he said via e-mail yesterday, but added that the comments might be publicly released today.

Earlier this January, Demapan-Castro and other MPLA officials went to Seattle, Washington to attend the Western States Land Commissioners Association conference at the Hotel Monaco Seattle on Jan. 8-12, despite the scheduled inauguration of Gov. Benigno Fitial on Jan. 9. Nekai and DeLeon Guerrero also attended the conference, with the latter reportedly reporting back to the MPLA office on Jan. 20.

The transition team for the MPLA has recommended the suspension of all-off-island travels, “unless authorized by board action for a period of 90 days, or until the board of directors amend the current travel policy and procedures to maximize its financial resources and minimize junkets.”