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‘Covenant should have addressed submerged lands issue’
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Posted on Mar 02 2005
The ownership of submerged lands in the CNMI should have been addressed specifically in the 1976 Covenant to avoid any legal tussle with the federal government—as what is happening now, said House minority bloc congressman Ramon Tebuteb yesterday.
“Our founding fathers may have overlooked this area when they were negotiating the Covenant. Right now, it’s pretty much in the air,” said the lawmaker.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected last week the CNMI’s appeal against the U.S. District Court decision declaring that all submerged lands in the Northern Marianas belong the federal government.
Tebuteb said that other than the judicial process, “it’s a matter for elected leaders to pursue this matter.”
He said the government can still hope for a favorable action through the Section 902 negotiations, during which the CNMI and U.S. government representatives sit down to discuss any concerns relating to the Covenant.
U.S. District Court Judge Alex R. Munson earlier ruled that the U.S. “possesses paramount rights in and powers over the waters extending seaward of the ordinary low water mark on the Commonwealth coast and the lands, minerals, and other things of value underlying such waters.”
