House leadership urges caution on Pagan mining

House Speaker Benigno R. Fitial reiterated his concerns yesterday over Pagan mining in view of the Marianas Public Land Authority’s impending decision on the issue.

The Speaker, through House leadership spokesman Charles Reyes Jr., cautioned the MPLA against any “premature” act of awarding the contract.

He said Fitial is very concerned about the project’s social and environmental impact.

“If they’ve got the best bidder, then we’ll also be in favor of it, but it shouldn’t be done prematurely or hastily awarded [to a company],” he said.

Reyes, on behalf of the Speaker, spoke on the matter during yesterday’s board meeting of MPLA.

Earlier, the House passed a bill, authored by Fitial, which aims to suspend any new pozzolan mining activity on Mt. Pagan without a comprehensive study. The bill authorizes the governor to reprogram any unobligated funds to finance the conduct of the study. The bill calls for the creation of a task force to oversee the assessment project.

The task force shall be chaired by the MPLA commissioner. Other members would include representatives from the Office of the Mayor of Northern Islands, Division of Environmental Quality; departments of Lands and Natural Resources, Commerce, Finance, and Public Works; Coastal Resources Management, and the Commonwealth Development Authority.

The Senate, however, has not acted on the bill, with some members even expressing support to have the contract awarded to proposer Azmar International.

“The Senate refused to act on it,” said Reyes.

Authorities estimate that there are more than 200 million tons of high-grade pozzolan deposits on Pagan, believed to be worth $45 to $70 per ton at today’s prices.

A local group of Northern Islands residents on Saipan has thrown its support behind the bill, saying it merely provides for a short period of time to verify the quality and quantity of pozzolan and investigate its marketability.

“The CNMI risks nothing by allowing a short period of time to protect our resource, its value, and our environment… We have nothing to lose by educating ourselves about this tremendously valuable resource,” said the group called Pagan Watch.

“We will never have another opportunity like this one. We will never have another Pagan,” it added.