Previous Story
80 landowners to lose lands to road
|
Posted on Aug 31 2005
Some 80 private landowners on Rota will have their property taken by the government for the construction of the long-awaited Route 100 Highway.
The Marianas Public Lands Authority will conduct a public hearing to hear the concerns of the landowners and present land compensation options available to them. The public hearing will be held at the Songsong Roundhouse on Sept. 2, starting 6pm.
With an approximate distance of 12 kilometers, Route 100 is currently an unpaved road that provides an alternate connection between the villages of Sinapalu and Songsong.
The $3-million road improvement project is being funded through the Federal Highway Administration with Federal Aid Highway program, Emergency Relief, and National Highway System funds. It has been in the planning stage for several years.
In an interview, MPLA public information officer Ed Arriola Jr. said the Department of Public Works would not start construction until MPLA could find ways to compensate landowners who would be affected by the highway project.
Landowners may either ask for monetary compensation or enter into a land exchange agreement with MPLA.
Most Rota landowners prefer land to money, Arriola said. “They culturally love their land because they live off it,” he said.
He also expressed confidence that there is enough public lands on Rota to compensate landowners whose properties are located on Route 100.
Only a few million dollars is believed to be left of the $40-million land compensation fund, which was released to MPLA in 2002.
Some $9.1 million was used for the Susupe adult prison project, while another $1.9 million was set aside for interim financing. The rest of the fund was budgeted for underwriter fees, amounting to $584,000, and issuance costs, including bond counsel fees, amounting $415,309.
Only the remaining $28 million of the $40 million bond was allocated to land compensation payments.
