$2M for MRC isn’t a bailout

Since the beginning of the MRC controversy, we’ve seen the use of confusing terms by the media and politicians such as “bailout” with reference to the $2 million appropriation bill.

Intentional or otherwise, they only add political spin to an already confused issue as to blind the multitude why the proposed $2 million appropriation.

At Issue: The public land upon which MRC’s facilities were built is NMI public land that belongs to the indigenous people. The $2 million will pay the owners for their expenses incurred while the NMI retrieves, via the first rights of refusal, the land in question.

Otherwise, the NMI loses such rights granting the bank the right to sell it—public land and facilities—in order to recoup money borrowed from it by MRC’s owners. It’s the protection of Marianas public land.

Taking the property back gives the NMI the opportunity to lease it once again so it becomes a revenue-generating venture. Now we ask: Which is which?

John S. DelRosario, Jr.
Koblerville