CPA on hunt for new stevedoring operator
Following the termination of Rota Terminal and Transfer’s contract as Rota’s sole stevedoring operator, the Commonwealth Ports Authority is now in the process of naming a new stevedoring operator for Rota.
Last month, the CPA board, by majority vote, terminated RT&T’s sole-source stevedoring contract for the company’s failure to comply with policies detailed under its contract with CPA to operate at the Port of Rota.
Immediately after RT&T’s termination, CPA executive director Leo Tudela got to work seeking out a temporary stevedoring operator on Rota.
In an interview with Tudela, he said CPA has heard from two applicants interested in providing stevedoring services on Rota temporarily.
“The application process ended two days ago so we’re going to review that and select a stevedoring operator that will be operating temporarily for a 120-day period,” he said.
The CPA executive director said he may be awarding the temporary contract to one of the applicants on Monday.
Tudela shared that naming a temporary stevedoring operator on Rota is part of the process of naming a permanent operator.
“After [this], we will be issuing a public request for bids. We would like to see much better operations and much better rates. We’re also forming an advisory board to be part of [this process]. We want to be transparent, and we want to involve the community. We are including the [Rota] Mayor’s Office, the Commerce office, and the local community so we can establish something reasonable, acceptable for the people of Rota and CPA,” he said.
“We want to expedite this, but we want to do this right. We want to follow CPA rules and regulations while also including the people of Rota. It’s complicated and definitely a challenge, but it’s nothing we can’t overcome,” Tudela added.
Tudela said as of press time, he could not disclose the two applicants and who the current stevedoring operator is on Rota.
RT&T and CPA entered into a lease agreement in 1996, allowing the local stevedoring company exclusive use of the seaport for shipping and stevedoring operation.
The annual rental fee was $50,000 per year plus 5% of the company’s gross revenue.
In 2009, the lease agreement was amended, replacing the annual rental fee plus 5% of gross revenues with a monthly rent of 50 cents per revenue ton transacted.
Last April 26, the CPA board gave RT&T 30 days to correct the following lease contract violations: failure to remove damaged equipment, failure to maintain operable crane, and failure to maintain a CNMI business license.
RT&T’s deadline was on May 26, 2024.
On July 9, the CPA board voted to terminate RT&T’s sole-source contract for its failure to cure three of the five violations previously cited by CPA back in April.
The violations RT&T was cited for was lack of a business license, failure to fix a broken crane that was sitting at the Rota port for over five years, and failure to take care of its equipment.
Leo B. Tudela
