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DPW, DPL sued for trespassing
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Posted on Dec 07 2000
The Department of Public Works and the Department of Public Lands have been summoned to court to answer charges of trespassing on a property owned by Saipan resident Luis. T. Hocog.
The plaintiff has called on the Superior Court to grant him secured rights to one parcel of real property situated within the municipality of Sadog Tasi that he has owned since Dec. 7, 1979.
According to the civil case filed through the plaintiff’s counsel Joseph Aldan Arriola, the defendants have indicated to the plaintiff their desire to improve a designated right-of-way and has proceeded to Mr. Hocog’s land to mark the route of the project.
The markers, according to the plaintiff, however, show a route that shall further encroach upon land that Mr. Hocog privately owns.
Moreover, DPW has allegedly been dumping refuse on the private property along the private coral road which has created an unclean environment for the plaintiff and his neighbors, thus, creating a potential health hazard to residents of the surrounding area.
On several occasions, the plaintiff reportedly attempted but failed to make DPW cease and desist from illegally dumping waste near his property.
Also unsuccessful was Mr. Hocog’s efforts to negotiate with DPL regarding the government’s plans to designate a right-of-way.
In a bid to settle the conflict, Mr. Hocog requested certification of the existing road which is on his property for a land exchange or monetary compensation.
But the plaintiff claimed his proposal was rejected by DPL despite the agency’s acknowledgment in a memorandum that the existing right-of-way is encroaching on Mr. Hocog’s land.
The plaintiff has then asserted that the two government entities in question be held jointly and severally liable for trespassing.
Mr. Hocog is also suing DPL and DPW $500,000 in general damages and another $250,000 in special damages, including attorney’s fees and costs of the recently filed suit.
