MPLA keeps mum on JG Sablan permit

The Marianas Public Lands Authority is keeping mum on the status of a permit issued to JG Sablan Rock Quarry Inc. to mine Pagan pozzolan.

MPLA board member Nicolas Nekai, who was designated to lead the formation of a task force that would study Pagan pozzolan, said JG Sablan’s permit was “under negotiation.” He refused to say anything further on the matter.

“It’s going through negotiation. The nature of the case is confidential at the moment,” said Nekai.

A nonprofit, watchdog group has been demanding that MPLA clarify the status of JG Sablan’s permit, which it claimed should already have been terminated, given the company’s alleged violations of the terms and conditions of the permit.

Citing documents obtained through an Open Government Act request to MPLA, PaganWatch noted that JG Sablan’s mining permit allowed MPLA to automatically terminate the permit should the company fail to generate or report any revenues from its mining activities on Pagan for two consecutive years.

The permit also gave MPLA the authority to declare the permit void if JG Sablan violates any term or condition of the permit.

On Feb. 19, 2004, MPLA reportedly issued a notice of violation to JG Sablan for several violations including: failure to submit required reports to MPLA showing the amount of materials removed from Pagan by JG Sablan; failure to obtain MPLA permission to erect structures on Pagan; failure to submit a proposal indicating how JG Sablan intended to develop pozzolan and basalt on Pagan; and failure to secure public liability insurance for its Pagan activities.

JG Sablan had neither rectified the violations nor requested a hearing of the violation from MPLA, according to PaganWatch.

“It is and remains the position of PaganWatch that the permit issued to JG Sablan has either been affirmatively terminated by MPLA, automatically terminated under its own terms and conditions or should be terminated for the noticed breaches of JG Sablan and the fact that the permit lacks a critical [description of the area in which JG Sablan could operate on Pagan] without which no mining activities can be or should ever have been conducted.

“What is lacking is for MPLA to make this information public in order to clarify the
status of the JG Sablan permit once and for all, and to take appropriate action to evict JG Sablan from Pagan,” said PaganWatch. (Agnes E. Donato)