FYI to Ruth Tighe

Ruth, thank you for recognizing that the MPLA board chairwoman should be fired. That would go a long way toward resolving not only the problem with the Azmar permit, but also for solving the CNMI’s financial condition and the problems of the hundreds of other people who have problems with MPLA.

The single largest problem facing the successful excavation of the pozzolan deposit on Pagan is the weather. The bay that was created just below the Mt. Pagan volcano is open to the west. That means ships can only approach shore with the help of tug boats when the normal trade winds are blowing from the northeast, or a dead calm. When the winds come around to the west, as during the rainy season/typhoon season, the ships will be in peril.

One of the previous companies that received a permit with no public exposure had an interesting plan to skirt this problem. They were going to build a large barge that would house their all their employees, feed them, and carry all their equipment. When the typhoon season arrived, they would simply up anchor and leave until the next season, much like the salvage operations that were conducted on the Nuestra Senora de la Conception at Agingan, Saipan and the Santa Margarita on Rota.

Unfortunately, they could only load about 200 days a year. They could not ship enough ash at a good enough price to make it pay and they dropped out.

JG Sablan’s plan was simply to barge it to Saipan and then transship it. Although they apparently did make at least one such shipment, they could not get a buyer to commit to a large enough quantity to make it pay.

We took a much longer term approach to the problem. With an estimated 200 million tons of product on Pagan, it will take decades to efficiently remove it all. We decided that it was better for us to help resettle the island as we removed the pozzolan. That is why our original proposal was titled The Pagan Resettlement and Pozzolan Extraction Project. In that plan, we set aside $3.5 million solely for the resettlement of the island. Why do this? With a permanent facility and local labor, we could load approximately 300 days a year. That is why Mr. Moore was able to make a deal to sell one million tons. With that large a volume, we could get a price that was profitable to everyone.

It’s good business sense to have your employees living close at hand with their families. We can give them a good job at federal minimum wage, now $6.25 an hour. We can give them good health care at our infirmary in association with the Commonwealth Health Center. We can give them a good education in our own Pagan Public School in cooperation with the CNMI Public School System. And we can give them their own church to give thanks for their new life.

Keep in mind that not all the employees of the Pagan operation will be heavy equipment operators. There have to be cooks and payroll officers and mechanics and electricians and all the other people that make a complete business. And, we will need to buy local vegetables, eggs, fish, pigs and cattle.

As the company grows, Dr. Thomas Arkle will need help with his horticultural experiments. We expect to help with long-term archaeological surveys, geologic surveys to support our geothermal energy plant, and other scientific studies that might lead to other commercial opportunities that Pagan locals can participate in. They will need an office/lab and food to eat.

That is why Azmar is the only company to make it a policy that we would only hire U.S. citizens, nationals or citizens of one of the freely associated states. In plain language, that means locals.

Now Ruth, maybe you can help us all understand why Ms. Kaipat is opposing this.

There should be no question about our ability to do business. Check out who Greg Whitehorn, our chief operating officer, really is. He is the man who was trusted by the Seagrams company to establish their market in China. He worked so well with the Chinese government over the 15 years he was there, that he was given the responsibility and privilege of building a huge commercial building in Shanghai. He is retired now, living comfortably in Phoenix and is among Ken Moore’s many business friends, ready to come out of retirement and put his talents to use in the CNMI. These are the kind of men we need to help make this project work. Don’t belittle them. They are pillars of their community, particularly in the world of finance. It is too bad that MPLA board member Nick Nekai forgot about this after he met them at Jeffrey Finley’s law office in Phoenix and then spoke with them at length after a dinner catered in Mr. Moore’s back yard in Scottsdale. The members of the Senate certainly have not forgotten it.

Ruth, I put up with remarks similar to yours when, as chairman of the Board of Education, I fought for equal rights for our local teachers. My colleagues supported me when I had 168 nonresident teachers’ contracts non-renewed. As a result, all those jobs are now held by locals, and the slings and arrows of media pundits then bear no scars on me today. If I can help the real people of Pagan get a new home with utilities and a job on their island, then your words will hurt me no more.

Don A. Farrell
Marpo Heights, Tinian