CPA sends Star Marianas second notice

The dispute between the Commonwealth Ports Authority and Star Marianas Air, Inc. remains unresolved with CPA sending Star Marianas a follow up collections notice.

Last week, the 30 days CPA gave Star Marianas to make payments toward a collections notice of over $1 million expired. However, Star Marianas and CPA remain at an impasse on the matter.

According to CPA executive director Leo Tudela, due to legal matters, he is unable to disclose specifics about the current situation with Star Marianas, but he did share that a follow up collections notice was sent out as of last week.

“Our lawyer has [advised] that we not speak on the Star Marianas issue right now as we are in litigation. But we did send out another collections notice last week. We didn’t reply to any comments because we’re under litigation,” he said.

CPA board vice chair Antonio Cabrera said CPA will be putting a hold on any public comments regarding the dispute with Star Marianas due to it being a sensitive legal issue.

“Because this is a very sensitive issue, we prefer to put publicity on hold because we [are at an impasse]. We don’t want to create confusion. We’re just doing our part and we’ve sent them a follow up collections notice. That’s it for now,” he said.

Meanwhile, in an interview with Gov. Arnold I. Palacios on the matter, he said he has spoken to all parties in this matter but because both are standing firm on their positions on the matter, he must find another way to help for the sake of CNMI community members who rely on Star Marianas for air service.

“I’ve talked with Star Marianas, they have their own position, I’ve talked to CPA and they have their own position. So, now I’ve got to pivot and see what I can do to figure out if we can resolve this situation between both parties,” he said.

However, at the end of the day, Palacios said this matter must go through CPA as it is an autonomous agency.

“This must go through CPA. There is a lawsuit that is pending so I’m going to try everything I can. But CPA is an autonomous agency, and I don’t want to appear like I’m overly involving myself with matter concerning CPA. But, this is a community concern that we need to address regardless of that. We need to see where we can work and what can be done,” he said.

Last month, CPA sent out a debt collection notice to Star Marianas for payment of over $1.2 million in airport fees dating back to 2022.

Star Marianas, for its part, sent a letter in response to CPA’s notice stating that they do not agree with CPA’s method of collecting its fees and that should the matter not be resolved, Star Marianas would have to cease operations come October.

Tinian and Rota leadership have both reached out to CPA and Star Marianas pleading for a resolve stating that it is the island’s people who would suffer should this dispute remain unresolved.