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Public Lands director reassigned
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Posted on Mar 17 2006
Homestead division chief Connie Togawa has been relieved from her post and transferred to another division within the newly created Department of Public Lands.
DPL spokesman Ed Arriola Jr. confirmed yesterday that Togawa, who is closely associated with former MPLA chair Ana Demapan-Castro, was transferred to the Planning Division.
Appointed as acting Homestead Division chief now is Jerome Aldan.
The changes took effect Thursday.
Arriola said an investigation is being done but refused to say if it is aimed at Togawa herself or the division she used to head.
“There’s an investigation at the homestead division. …In the meantime, she’s transferred to the planning division,” he said.
In an earlier report prior to the abolition of MPLA, Togawa allegedly circulated a petition against the abolition bill and in defense of the MPLA leadership.
Some MPLA insiders had alleged harassment of employees to sign the petition.
Togawa had denied spearheading the circulation of any petition on behalf of the MPLA management.
Meantime, Togawa’s transfer to another division came even as the Governor’s Office decided this week to reinforce a moratorium on homestead applications.
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial said he would restore the moratorium on homestead applications because of the dwindling amount of public land available on Saipan. The previous administration had lifted the homestead moratorium last year.
There are close to 4,000 applications for residential homesteads currently pending with the Department of Public Lands. About 3,500 of these applications are from Saipan. The remaining 500 are from Tinian and Rota.
Meantime, a source in the department cited “a slow” process of reorganization, citing that “many loyalists” of the previous Marianas Public Lands Authority board remain at the office.
“It’s almost a month since the abolition of MPLA yet the people that are expected to go remain working,” said the staff.
Acting Public Lands Secretary John Del Rosario earlier warned that more heads would roll at the department, noting that the office has more personnel than it actually needs.
