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Tinian mayor supports submerged lands bill
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Posted on Apr 24 2006
Tinian mayor Jose San Nicolas said he would write Gov. Benigno R. Fitial to ask him to withdraw his opposition to the CNMI submerged land bill pending at the U.S. Senate.
“I want to write the governor to respectfully ask him to withdraw [his opposition]. I want the control of three-mile submerged land for now than nothing at all, because if we challenge the feds for the 200-mile control with no [new] justification, it may be useless,” said San Nicolas in an interview on Saipan Friday.
San Nicolas was among the government officials who attended the State of the Commonwealth Address held Friday at the Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe.
During the event, Washington Rep. Pedro A. Tenorio disclosed that Fitial recently asked New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici to withdraw from consideration the CNMI submerged land bill that was pushed by former Gov. Juan N. Babauta. Domenici is the chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Senate Bill 1831 would give the Commonwealth full control over three miles of submerged land seaward from its shores, an entitlement that is being extended to other U.S. states and territories, except Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico.
Tenorio supports passage of the bill, saying that it gives the Commonwealth parity but the governor wants to negotiate with the U.S. government for a larger grant.
“We all want a larger grant, and I wish that I can be more positive and confident that our wish could be accomplished. But we must be realistic. As I said earlier, neither the Bush administration nor the U.S. Congress is willing to give up control over a larger submerged land area than the other territories currently have,” Tenorio said in his speech before the Legislature Friday.
Tenorio suggested that the CNMI agree to a three-mile jurisdictional boundary for now and then lobby collectively with other territories and coastal states for a greater area of control.
The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld earlier rulings by the U.S. District Court on Saipan and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that the CNMI currently has no rights to the submerged lands surrounding the islands.
