First $200K lease payment for La Fiesta finally settled

Almost a month after the due date, the La Fiesta shopping mall’s original owners finally received last week the government’s first $200,000 payment for the lease of the facility.

Kimberlyn King-Hinds, chair of the Northern Marianas College Board of Regents, said that the Governor’s Office deposited the payment to Hotel Nikko Saipan and Coco’s Lagoon Development Corp. last week.

The initial payment, which is part of the $4-million lease for the La Fiesta land, had been due since Oct. 29.

“It took a while, but we’re very appreciative that the governor bailed us out on this. We’re also thankful that Hotel Nikko was very patient,” King-Hinds said.

She said the college is looking forward to signing the official transfer of La Fiesta to the CNMI Executive Branch on Dec. 4 or 5.

She noted that NMC needs to get the transfer of responsibility formalized before Dec. 8—the deadline set by a Western Association of Schools and Colleges visiting team for NMC to submit any updates or additional documents regarding the college’s financial status.

The three-member WASC team made a two-day visit to the college starting Oct. 27 to validate NMC’s statements in its progress report, which included NMC’s response to WASC recommendations on resource allocation and program evaluation.

King-Hinds said the team is currently preparing its report from its visit and will be accepting additional information from NMC until Dec. 8. That report will be presented to the entire WASC accrediting commission in January.

“So any kind of positive news we can give them regarding La Fiesta will be of real help for us when the commission reviews our status,” King-Hinds said.

The college was placed this year on warning status by WASC’s two accrediting commissions—for Junior and Community Colleges and for Senior Colleges and Universities—due to its inability to correct finance-related problems and failure to comply with certain accreditation standards.

WASC’s Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges placed NMC on warning status last January and retained the same status despite NMC’s submission of needed reports last June. It expressed concern over NMC’s purchase of the La Fiesta complex, citing the college’s lack of resources to maintain two campuses.

Early in July this year, WASC’s Senior College Commission issued a warning to NMC for non-compliance with standards, as had been cited by ACCJC.

The SCC’s warning has put the college’s four-year elementary education program—its only baccalaureate program—at risk.

Last September, Gov. Juan N. Babauta and the NMC Board of Regents signed a memorandum of agreement transferring responsibility over La Fiesta to the executive branch but the agreement could not be finalized without the approval of the mall’s original sellers.

Hotel Nikko and Coco’s Lagoon have now consented to the transfer. Currently, the agreement is undergoing legal review by the Attorney General’s Office.