Unfazed Santos explains DPL’s stance
Unflustered by Saipan Mayor Ramon Blas “RB” Camacho’s criticisms against her, Department of Public Lands Secretary Teresita A. Santos cited what’s stated in quarrying permits and the CNMI Constitution to explain the limits of what Camacho could ask of quarrying companies operating on Saipan.
At the same time, Santos said that DPL’s interpretation of a section of the Temporary Occupancy Agreement, or TOA, “has not changed since [March 2017], and DPL sees no basis to vary from it today.”
That essentially meant, Santos said, that this is contrary to Camacho’s claim that quarrying companies must contribute an unlimited amount of materials—both raw and processed materials—for free to the Saipan Mayor’s Office. She said the permit only provides that quarrying firms have to give only 100 cubic yards of coral or raw materials to the mayor’s office. Anything beyond that must be paid for.
Camacho also wants free use of quarry operators’ equipment. Santos said that is outside the scope of the permit granted to quarry operators.
In an official statement Santos issued last Oct. 13, a copy of which was also sent to Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, she said the Department of Public Lands has been notified of Camacho’s position that quarrying companies cannot invoice him for quarried materials provided to the Office of the Mayor of Saipan.
DPL’s understanding, Santos said, is that Camacho’s position is based on his reading of a specific TOA.
“DPL has closely reviewed the TOA, as well as prior correspondence and memoranda from DPL interpreting the TOA, and has thoughtfully considered DPL’s statutory and constitutional obligations to collect revenue from the management and disposition of public lands, and has determined that there must be some limits on the public benefit contribution required by the TOA,” said Santos.
She noted that former DPL secretary Marianne Conception-Teregeyo notified the Saipan Mayor’s Office on March 16, 2017, that it can obtain coral materials from public land quarry sites for up to a volume of 100 cubic yards, on the condition that the Saipan Mayor’s Office would be responsible “for any and all cost of heavy equipment rentals for the extraction, loading, and delivery on the quarry site associated with its projects.”
She said this “upholds DPL’s statutory and constitutional obligations to collect revenue from the management and disposition of public lands and remit funds to the Marianas Public Land Trust…”
Santos noted that requiring quarry operators to provide an unlimited amount of materials to government agencies “would significantly reduce” revenues DPL can collect from permittees and would also reduce the amount of funds to be remitted to MPLT.
“Therefore, as stated in my July 11, 2023 letter to you regarding this issue, DPL interprets Article 11 [of the TOA] to require the quarry operator to provide 100 cubic yards of coral or raw materials to each government agency, including the Office of the Mayor of Saipan, for roadway projects and other public purposes. In total, this will allow the Office of the Mayor of Saipan access to a total of 600 cubic yards of coral or raw material per year (100 cubic yards per year from each of six public land quarry permittees).”
She restated that government agencies must be responsible “for all costs associated with the extraction, loading, and delivery from the quarry site to the project site. In addition, processed materials are excluded from the public benefit requirement and will be subject to charges by the permittee.”
Camacho had complained that Santos is blocking his office’s efforts to fix secondary roads on Saipan and had called for people to sign a petition for her ouster.
Teresita A. Santos
