MPLA: The public will be heard on Azmar

The public will have a chance to voice its opinions before the Marianas Public Lands Authority makes a final decision on Azmar International’s mining permit application, MPLA said yesterday.

MPLA chair Ana Demapan-Castro issued this statement amid criticism over the MPLA board’s decision to hold 15 days of confidential negotiations with Azmar, which seeks to extract pozzolan from Pagan.

Demapan-Castro decried recent media coverage and public comments which, she said, suggest that MPLA is engaged in “secret” transactions with Azmar. She also sought to clarify the apparent misconception over MPLA’s dealings with Azmar, she said.

“The Board of Directors of the [MPLA] wishes to assure everyone that no official MPLA action will take place without the public first being informed of all the facts and circumstances,” Demapan-Castro said. “Without a doubt, the public will be provided an opportunity to give comment.”

She stressed that the MPLA board, at its Nov. 16 special meeting, did not enter into nor commit itself to providing Azmar with anything more than a draft document for consideration and negotiations.

At that meeting, the board authorized MPLA commissioner Edward Deleon Guerrero and attorney Alan Lane, legal counsel for Public Lands, to present a draft conditional permit to initiate negotiations with Azmar. The decision was made despite Azmar’s failure to submit majority of the documents earlier required from the company.

The board also entered into a confidentiality agreement that would require both parties to keep mum on the negotiation proceedings while the talks are ongoing.

“As with all negotiations involving private business entities, MPLA has an obligation to protect the confidentiality of the business unless and until an agreement in principle is reached,” Demapan-Castro said. “This procedure is not unlike other business negotiations between the government and the private sector. This is done to ensure that competitive advantages of either party are not diminished by the untimely release of certain information.”

The MPLA chair, however, assured that all required public information about Azmar will be disclosed after the talks, pursuant to the CNMI Open Meetings and Records Act.

Demapan-Castro said the public will be fully informed of the agreement and its contents, and will be offered a chance to comment on MPLA’s findings. Any action on Azmar’s application will be taken at a publicly announced regular or special meeting, she added.

MPLA’s decision to hold confidential bargaining talks with Azmar drew criticism from various sectors, including lawmakers and the watchdog group PaganWatch, which had urged Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Interior David Cohen to intervene in the matter.