Open letter to the board of directors of MPLA

Dear board members,

Today Ken Moore’s permit request to strip-mine Pagan is up yet AGAIN for a vote at the MPLA.

As you consider how you are going to exercise your vote as a member of the MPLA board of directors, I hope you will consider the concerns of the many, many good people who share a strong sense of responsibility to protect our local land and waters. We are looking to you to do the right thing. We have nothing to gain from our efforts except to know that we did all we could to protect the beautiful island of Pagan and the assets of our community. These are assets that if properly managed could bring many good things that will benefit EVERYONE and not just a few. Nobody is lining our pockets. We are not trying to get some quick money to hide a shortfall. We are not helping out our relatives. We are not trying to get access to artifacts. We are only exercising our rights and responsibilities as involved and caring members of the community.

You’ve heard from us directly, you’ve heard us speak through our elected representatives at the House of Representatives, and you’ve read our letters among the many articles on the mining issue in the local papers. Just since April, there are over 164 articles in the news! If you doubt this, please count them at http://www.chamorro.com/paganwatch.

In today’s vote you are supposedly in receipt of every document that you required:

– Azmar International’s most recent articles of incorporation;

– The names of its incorporators and officers;

– The names of all shareholders, and how much shares each of them holds;

– An audited financial statement;

– Personal financial statements of the shareholders;

– Initial capital for Pagan mining;

– Names of investors;

– Names of prospective buyers;

– A letter of credit from a FDIC insured bank;

Was every single document provided? Has each document been verified and evaluated?

In today’s vote you are supposedly going to consider all you know about Ken Moore and Azmar, including:

– Initial plans to misdirect Azmar Foundation’s WWII Museum funds to Azmar International;

– A record of attempting to remove historic artifacts from the CNMI;

– An admittedly real employment contract that blatantly stated an intention to steal artifacts;

– No business plan;

– No mining experience;

– No environmental mitigation planning;

– Unsupportable plans for immediate pozzolan mining production and sales returns;

– An profit sharing mechanism that ensures that any windfall profits go to Azmar;

– A 3-year financial projection that shows that there are almost no jobs and there is no money for environmental mitigation.

We are looking for you to protect our land, waters and assets

– we expect due diligence to ensure that the permit requestor is honest, responsible, capable and deserving;

– we expect that procedures and the law are being followed;

– We expect board members to resist undue and unfair pressure by politicians and others under Azmar’s influence;

WE ARE LOOKING FOR SENSIBLE COOPERATION WITH OTHERS

MPLA has heard loud and clear from others in government, including lawmakers and agencies with jurisdiction over Pagan:

“It is the opinion of the Historic Preservation Office and the members of the Historic Preservation Office and the Historic Preservation Review Board that any mining activity on the island of Pagan would damage cultural and historic properties. Therefore, at this time, no use permit may legally be issued to allow any activity on the island of Pagan until such time as the conditions of 2 CMC 4831 are fully complied with. This action has been taken following consultation with the Office of the Attorney General”—HPO director Epiphanio E. Cabrera Jr., in a letter sent to Ana Demapan-Castro, Sept. 4.

“2 CMC 4831 basically states that public lands cannot be sold or leased if the HPO believes that the activity might damage historic properties”—assistant attorney general Jeffery Moots, Oct. 4.

The House of Representatives would urge the Marianas Public Lands Authority to suspend the conditional approval for Azmar International Inc.’s pozzolan mining venture on Pagan, directing its legal counsel to look into reports that the company had intended to claim ownership of historical artifacts that might be found on the island.—Saipan Tribune, Oct. 4

“They’re [Azmar representatives] basically telling their employees not to follow CNMI laws. Azmar has no respect and no regard for CNMI law.”—House Rep. Joseph DeLeon Guerrero, Oct. 4

Neither “inquiries” on environmental concerns nor application for a major siting permit had been received from Azmar. He added that CRM board will reiterate its concerns with MPLA not to allow any activity to commence on Pagan without a major siting permit. The major siting permit will require Azmar to conduct an environmental impact assessment—which determines any impact pozzolan extraction may have on the environment. The EIA is required by the board consisting of officials from the Coastal Resources Management Office, Division of Environmental Quality, Department of Lands and Natural Resources and four other government agencies. —CRM board chair Joaquin D. Salas, Aug. 4

The intent of the House is for “competitive bidding, due diligence and thorough study” on the mining proposal. The House leadership will maintain its position that a thorough study on Pagan “as indicated in House Bill 14-204” should be made by the government. What the leadership will be pushing now is for MPLA to get an environmental impact study of the pozzolan mining proposal. “I want to point out that the bill was passed unanimously by the House of Representatives and was supported by the petitioners.” —Charles Reyes Jr., House leadership spokesman, quoted by the Saipan Tribune on the issuance of a conditional permit, Aug. 4.

“[As a taxpayer], I am very disturbed by the board’s action [on Tuesday] approving mining of Pagan’s products. To me, it requires proposals from different bidders. Unfortunately, MPLA didn’t request any proposals from any bidders.”—Former Commonwealth Development Authority and housing director Juan Sablan, Aug. 4

WE ARE LOOKING FOR CONSISTENCY

We are looking to see that you do what you say you will do. Take, for example, these statements from MPLA officials:

“If they submit those documents, then we will start negotiating for the two-year permit. But we never gave any conditional permit to Azmar,”—Ana Demapan-Castro, Sept. 4

“We know it’s crazy to issue a mining permit when we don’t even have enough information on Azmar’s financial status. And even when Azmar submits all the requirements, we will not automatically give them a permit. We have to review their capability,” —Nicholas Nekai, Sept. 4.

“I’m not sure about making a decision, even to give a conditional permit. I want to make a decision, but I don’t want to be pressured. I’m not convinced that [Azmar’s] financial backing is there,” —Benita Manglona, Aug. 4.

“The Aug. 17 MPLA board meeting started with the MPLA chair’s brief remarks about proposals to mine pozzolan from Pagan. [Demapan-Castro] noted that the matter seems to be over-exaggerated in terms of value, and then launched into the various reasons why Azmar failed to satisfy MPLA’s standards.”—Saipan Tribune on Ana Demapan-Castro’s remarks. [Manglona] added that the firm’s name itself is confusing—Azmar International or Azmar Marianas. “I’m still not satisfied that certain information were met. I don’t know if we are ready to make a decision. …I’m still trying to comprehend how we can give Azmar conditional permit without financial support” Manglona said.

“During the [L.A.] meeting, we laid down [to Mr. Moore] what have been discussed by the board, including the conditions we have set for the issuance of a mining permit. [Azmar officials] said they will do anything to comply with all the conditions,” —Ana Demapan-Castro, Oct. 4.

“They want MPLA to give them a permit and a conditional agreement. They also promised they would not lay foot on Pagan within 90 days, or until all the requirements are met”—Ana Demapan-Castro Oct. 4.

Pozzolan mining “in the remote island of Pagan” would require an enormous amount of money and resources. The development of a safe and permanent dock, quarry operation facility, heavy machinery, housing, power plant, and shipping facilities—which are all needed to conduct mining activities—could cost millions of dollars. “Yes, the risks are very high. But if they can show the money and the real investor—we don’t want words only—then let’s go for the mining of the Pagan pozzolan.” She stressed that MPLA was greatly concerned about Azmar’s move to substantially reduce its initial $46 million projected revenue for the first year of operation. She also enumerated other reasons why Azmar failed to satisfy MPLA’s standards. Azmar, she noted, does not have a local attorney retained on island and has failed to prove any financial records. —Ana Demapan-Castro, quoted by the Saipan Tribune, Aug. 4.

These are rightful expectations of a government agency by citizens, taxpayers, and indigenous people who own public assets.

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DO VOTE TO GIVE KEN MOORE A PERMIT?

In the event of a permit being granted to Ken Moore, you can count on questions being asked as to why our expectations were not met. If it takes a Federal investigation, subpoenas, a civil lawsuit, a criminal investigation or whatever legal means is required, these questions will be answered and you can count on it. If you have doubts, you might consider that PaganWatch has never let up in the fight to protect our community from the Azmar threat. On the contrary, our ranks have grown and our efforts have only intensified as more and more red flags have appeared to alert us that something is very, very wrong about the handling of this permit request.

Every document will become public and every decision made based on these documents and on other information in your hands will be scrutinized.

We will be looking for answers:

– What went on in meetings between MPLA officials at the permit requestor’s residence in Arizona?

– What went on in closed-door meetings between MPLA officials and Ken Moore and his supporters in the CNMI?

– What happened in Los Angeles that led the Governor and MPLA to promise Azmar a “certificate” that bypasses all known laws and procedures and represents that Ken Moore has obtained the rights to mine Pagan?

– Why has the public been consistently been shut out, denied task force participation as called for the both the House and the Senate, and denied disclosure of the terms and conditions of the permit request?

Please, MPLA board, save everyone a lot of work and grief! Don’t just ignore your community who’s interests you are honored with the responsibility to protect. Give the RFP process a chance to produce a real, qualified developer that will not destroy our beautiful island and run away with our money.

Do the right thing today!

Peter J. Pangelinan Perez
PaganWatch