CPA eyes higher port rental fees

Increasing leases at the seaport, establishing a new coffee shop and imposing parking fees at the airport are just some of the revenue-generating measures which the Commonwealth Ports Authority will undertake this year to raise the needed money for its debt payment.

With the completion of the $43 million Saipan Harbor Improvement Project, the ports authority will begin reviewing the lease agreement with its various tenants for higher rental payment.

Board chairman Roman S. Palacios said the current lease agreement provides for a renegotiation once the seaport is equipped with modern facilities. Aside from having a 2,600 linear feet of berthing space and a 22-acre container yard, the harbor now is minus 40 ft. deep. In addition, the channel, turning basin and berthing area have been expanded to accommodate a large number and greater variety of vessels.

Among its list of clients include Mobil, Shell, Wespac, Saipan Shipping and Saipan Stevedore. So far, only Saipan Stevedore has signed a new lease agreement.

The renegotiation of contracts is one way of raising the needed revenue to repay the $33 million seaport bond. CPA officials are now looking for alternative sources of revenue with the expected pullout of the garment manufacturers when the trade barriers are removed by the World Trade Organization.

At the same time, the ports authority is looking studying the possibility of setting up a kiosk or a coffee shop at the airport as another source of revenue.

CPA executive director Carlos H. Salas said the establishment of a coffee shop is just another way of making the airport a friendlier place since it would provide a comfortable waiting place for relatives and friends of passengers. He said plans are being finalized with LSG since it will provide the food and beverage in the planned airport coffee shop.

“We always see a big number of people everyday who stay for a few hours either waiting for their friends and relatives to arrive or simply saying goodbye so we thought a coffee shop would make them at least comfortable,” said Salas.

In addition, airport authorities will begin charging parking fees effective July 1, 1999 which will give an estimated $250,000 revenue to CPA every year. Searching for a new source of revenue has become imperative as the Asia’s financial crisis and decline of the tourism economy brought a heavy toll on the ports authority’s operations. With a huge debt to pay amid declining revenue, CPA had continuously implemented various cost-cutting measures to survive.