CPA terminates RT&T’s contract

The Commonwealth Ports Authority, by majority vote, has terminated Rota Terminal and Transfer’s contract as Rota’s sole stevedoring operator for its failure to cure three of the five violations previously cited by CPA back in April.

Following a heated exchange between board members, six of the seven CPA board members voted in favor of terminating RT&T’s contract as Rota’s sole stevedoring operator contract with one abstention.

Aside from members of the CPA, also present to witness the voting was Lt. Gov. David M. Apatang, Sen. Paul A. Manglona (Ind-Rota), and members of the CNMI community.

During the special board meeting, CPA executive director Leo Tudela presented his recommendation to terminate RT&T’s contract citing three violations from previous default notices that has not been corrected.

“A letter was sent out last July 8, confirming that there are three violations that have not been corrected. The most important one is that [RT&T] still doesn’t have a business license, No. 1 there is still the issue of a broken crane that has been there for the past five years, and it remains an eyesore, and the last one is that there is still equipment that has not been taken care of. However, their insurance came out yesterday for fire and their warehouse. The last 28 years they’ve been operating like this, and we’ve been giving them multiple default notices. After reviewing, my recommendation is to terminate RT&T’s contract,” he said.

Tempers flared following Tudela’s presentation as CPA board chair Joe Ayuyu wanted a swift decision-making process while other board members still had their concerns.

“Think about the people of the Marianas who are suffering,” he said.

Board members Thomas Villagomez—citing due process rights—wanted a specific recommendation stating although he supports the termination (pursuant to Section 13 of the contract agreement which is RT&T’s lack of a business license) he wants a clear recommendation on the record and not just a simple “yes” or “no” to termination.

“I’m willing to support this but not without guidance. There are five default notices that went out and it’s saying that we have two critical violations that is not being addressed. I’m willing to support guidance to terminate the lease but [chair Ayuyu] has to understand that I’m not voting just because he tells me to vote. Let’s be specific, what is the reason for termination. In fact, we can terminate the RT&T agreement based off any one of the violations. I just want to make sure we are doing this the right way, and that due process has been done, I want to support that, not just a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ I’m supporting termination pursuant to Section 13,” he said.

Meanwhile, board chair Ramon Tebuteb brought up questions about the tariff rate violations which sparked a heated debate between him and chair Ayuyu who claimed that the tariff violations were irrelevant at this point.

After a long back-and-forth exchange, Tebuteb decided to abstain from voting.

Vice chair Antonio Cabrera, for his part, calmly expressed that RT&T’s contract must be terminated because their incompliance opens a door of liabilities for CPA.

“I need to abide by my responsibility as a board member to protect CPA from serious liabilities. These violations, we should not just [wait] until something happens. As a board member, it’s been hard for me to find peace of mind, go home and sleep, knowing these violations exist and is a liability for us. Alot of accidents can happen at any time,” he said.

Board member Steve Mesgnon, as Rota’s representative on the CPA board, said all he wants is to resolve the suffering the people of Rota has faced for years.

Following the heated exchange, members of the board managed to end the meeting amicably with board chair Ayuyu apologizing to his colleagues stating that all he wanted was to not beat around the bush in deciding Rota’s fate because as conversations continue, the only ones hurting are the members of the Rota community.

Manglona, in a statement to the press, said after years of fighting for the people of Rota in regard to the high prices of basic commodities, he is grateful that CPA has finally taken action on the matter.

“For many years, I have been voicing the people of Rota’s concerns about the high prices of basic commodities. For many years, Rota’s voice has been left unheard. Today, Rota’s plea for help has been heard and answered. A very big thank you to the CPA board for taking action on this decades long issue and terminating Rota Terminal & Transfer’s stevedoring contract. RT&T managed to keep stevedoring fees high all the while being in noncompliance for so long,” he said.