JG Sablan: Govt is mistaken

Saying he is still shocked over the news, businessman John T. Sablan said the government is mistaken when it terminated his 1995 Pagan mining permit.

“I think it’s a mistake,” Sablan. “I’m very, very disappointed. I don’t know what to say. I’m quite disappointed.”

He said the matter “is not over yet.”

“We have 60 days to respond. It’s not over yet,” he said.

He said Bridgecreek feels very disappointed as well over the whole issue.

Sablan received the termination letter issued by the Department of Public Lands yesterday morning. He said his attorneys are now looking into the matter.

He said he would get the services of the Torres Brothers and lawyer Richard Pierce.

Unfair treatment

Sen. Frica Pangelinan, who attended yesterday’s news briefing at the Governor’s Office, spoke in support of JG Sablan and Bridgecreek, resulting in a brief exchange between her and Rep. Cinta Kaipat.

Shortly before the media briefing ended, Pangelinan who was seated listening to Kaipat’s accounts on JG Sablan and Bridgecreek, rose to speak.

“Can I say something? On the surface of it all, it really appears that they [J.G. Sablan and Bridgecreek] have been mistreated,” said the senator.

Cinta acknowledged the senator and urged her to continue airing her opinion during task force meetings.

Sticking to the issue, the senator said that the government’s action might scare other investors.

“This might not give a good message to other investors, the way we treated Bridgecreek [and J.G. Sablan]. Because if the permit has been there in the past five years, we should have terminated it right there, and if it’s the fault of our MPLA employees, we should carry that,” said Pangelinan.

She said she just hopes the matter would not result in another litigation where the government would lose big time.

Cinta defended the termination decision, saying, “It’s being done for the decency of what’s right for the entire commonwealth.”

Pangelinan said: “But I feel that Bridgecreek really followed the rules and respected the laws of the CNMI, and they have been dragged on to this. …This is not really not fair.”

“Senator, I’ve been dealing with Bridgecreek before [you came]. …I even invited them to bid. They were supposed to team up with Triple J. When Triple J said that they wanted to wait for the task force and bid like everyone else, Bridgecreek decided to drop them and go with JG Sablan,” said Kaipat.

“I have another story to that side but it’s confidential,” said Pangelinan.

“I think it’s a matter of perspective. But I thank you for your comments,” said Kaipat.

“I just feel that they’re being treated unfairly,” reiterated the senator.

Since 1991

In an earlier interview, Sablan said that he received a five-year Pagan mining permit in 1991. In 1995, he got a 20-year permit.

He said he learned about pozzolan from a volcanologist from Hawaii in 1990. He then visited Mt. Pagan that year and saw firsthand the rich deposit of volcanic ash, an expensive type of cement additive.

Based on his estimate, there are about 100 million to 200 million metric tons of pozzolan in the area, which he says is Class N or natural pozzolan. He said the rich deposit was a result of the 1981 Pagan eruption. Before this, there was only a small amount of it in the area.

Sablan said he had the Pagan pozzolan tested in Atlanta in 1990 and “it came out very good.”

Since he wanted to pursue the project, he bought a ship and a helicopter to get to Pagan. He said he bought a ship for $950,000 and a helicopter for $650,000 in 1991. Due, however, to the lack of expected activities, he ended up selling the helicopter in 1996. He also chartered the vessel for other’s use in 2000 but in 2003, it ran aground in Yap.

Sablan, 46, said he has his own 46-footer sports fishing vessel now. He last went to Pagan in 2004.

“Imagine my investments in this project, plus my $20,000 a year payment since 1995. I’ve not seen any return of investment, but I remain hopeful about pozzolan mining,” said Sablan.

He said his losses so far exceed $7 million.

Sablan said his venture has not been commercially productive for lack of reliable marketing network overseas and the high shipping costs.

He had expressed confidence that, through Bridgecreek, the business would finally take off.