ON SNM’S UNPAID LEASE DPL: No to debt forgiveness

The Division of Public Lands is opposed to a request of the Rota Resort and Country Club to write off its debts to the government representing unpaid lease charges as it has begun weighing seriously the plan of the Legislature to extend its lease agreement.

DPL Director Bertha C. Leon Guerrero said the issue on land lease payment will be considered when public land officials meet with representatives of SNM Corporation, the owner of the financially-troubled resort.

Based on the financial records of the division, SNM owes $291,000 in unpaid rent and $180,000 in late fees. But the resort claimed they have paid their dues since the agreement was enforced in 1991.

Initially the division had pegged the total debts to more than $700,000, but went down to $471,000 when it excluded lease payments charged between 1989 to 1991 because the agreement had yet been implemented at that time.

Public land officials and Rota Resort executives need to iron out their differences regarding the current lease agreement within this week as the Legislature is expected to receive a draft of their arrangement by June 15 for their approval.

DPL has come under fire over apparent stalling by some officials on the plan by lawmakers to grant a 15-year lease extension to the Japanese-owned resort which has threatened to shut down due to falling business revenues.

SNM has said they need the extension to entice other investors and allow them to borrow money from financial institution in a bid to infuse more funds into their operations.

But Guerrero defended the division against the criticisms, saying that the resort has bypassed the DPL when it made its request to the Legislature as provided under the law.

“It was never brought to our attention,” she explained in an interview. “We need to protect the interests of the NMI descent and I can not negotiate on very blatant terms, that what they are asking is not unreasonable.”

Both the House of Natural Resources Committee and the Senate Committee on Resources, Economic Development and Programs are currently reviewing the request, although legislators have openly supported extending the lease.

The panel has ordered public lands to sit down with SNM representatives to thresh out problems plaguing the current lease agreement of the resort, including terms on the 200-room requirement, lease payment and legal dispute involving encroachment into private properties.

SNM’s capability to meet the room requirement is also expected to be one of the contentious issues that DPL needs to push as the company has claimed they have satisfied the term with about 192 bedrooms have already been built.

“By June 15, we have to come up with proposals to resolve some of these problems. The Board of Public Lands will have to decide soon,” Guerrero said.