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429 Tinian families are granted homestead lots
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Posted on Apr 30 2009
The Department of Public Lands yesterday granted homestead lots to 429 Tinian families who have waited for years for a place to build their homes.
A long line of people lined up under the sun from morning to late afternoon at the Tinian Youth Center for the drawing of lots.
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial, Public Lands Secretary John Del Rosario, and Tinian officials led the ceremony.
“This is the first time it’s happened on Tinian and I was really thrilled. People waited under the sun [for the lottery drawing],” Del Rosario told Saipan Tribune. “Four-hundred twenty-nine lots were distributed and the lottery drawing was still ongoing when I left Tinian.”
He said he instructed DPL Tinian resident director Ray M. Cing to continue the drawing of lots today if needed. Each homestead lot has a size of anywhere between 800 square meters to 1,000 sq.m.
Del Rosario said Tinian residents will be given up to four years, instead of the normal three-year period, to develop the lots granted to them.
“As the governor told the people, ‘use it wisely. If you don’t use it, you lose it,’” Del Rosario added.
Surveyors have been subdividing the lots and this process is expected to be completed soon. Del Rosario also said the Division of Environmental Quality has yet to decide whether to allow individual septic tanks or a common sewage system, and power, water and roads are also being worked on.
Del Rosario said homestead lot distribution on Rota, meanwhile, hinges on regulatory agencies’ decisions. He said there are currently 550 homestead lot applications on Rota but only 180 lots have so far been identified for use.
