Another junket for MPLA officials?

Some officials of the Marianas Public Lands Authority allegedly went to Guam on official business after the agency’s board meeting on Rota Friday, even as the Office of Public Auditor disclosed that it has been investigating the propriety of travel expenditures by the agency.

Sources who requested anonymity said the officials who went to Guam include board chair Ana Demapan-Castro and member Nicolas Nekai, commissioner Edward DeLeon Guerrero, and legal counsel Ramon Quichocho.

“They [MPLA officials] continue to do this [junket] despite the imminent abolition of the board,” a source alleged.

MPLA’s public information officer, Ed Arriola Jr., couldn’t be reached for comment on the matter Friday and yesterday.

Earlier this month, MPLA insiders said that two of the agency’s employees who allegedly have close ties with Demapan-Castro—a son-in-law and a son of her co-worker at a private company—purportedly left for the Philippines to complete a two-week computer course at the expense of the government agency.

The sources further alleged that a third employee, Frank Borja, went with the two others for the trip, but added that Borja is the only computer technician among those who went off-island. They said the two employees stand to receive per diem fees of $300 per day, which would reach $4,500 for each of the staff covering the 15-day trip. The MPLA spokesman deferred disclosure of details regarding the trip requested via an Open Government Act letter.

Also earlier this January, Demapan-Castro and other officials went to Seattle, Washington to attend the Western States Land Commissioners Association conference at the Hotel Monaco Seattle from Jan. 8-12, despite the scheduled inauguration of Gov. Benigno Fitial on Jan. 9. Nekai and DeLeon Guerrero also attended the conference, with the latter reportedly reporting back to the MPLA office on Jan. 20.

The transition team for the MPLA has recommended the suspension of all off-island travels, “unless authorized by board action for a period of 90 days, or until the board of directors amend the current travel policy and procedures to maximize its financial resources and minimize junkets.”

Fitial earlier declared he would push for the abolition of the MPLA board.