Demapan: CNMI is being lowballed with $23M offer
The $23 million for live-fire ranges in the CNMI that was discussed in early negotiations between past administrations and the U.S. military is too low a figure compared to the reported $6 billion that Guam is getting in infrastructure projects for a planned military buildup in coming years, according to Rep. Angel Demapan (R-Saipan).
These numbers were discussed during a Natural Resources Committee meeting Tuesday, where lawmakers mulled a Senate bill to prohibit the Department of Public Lands from leasing land for U.S. military purposes.
The genesis of that bill comes out of protest of the U.S. military’s proposed high-impact live fire ranges on Pagan and Tinian. S.B. 19-42 is authored by Sen. Arnold Palacios (R-Saipan), former secretary of the Department of Lands and Natural Resources.
Members of the House Committee on Natural Resources discussed Tuesday whether the bill would foreclose the opportunity to negotiate with the military.
For one, if the CNMI received the nearly $6 billion or $7 billion the government of Guam has reportedly gotten for the military base in Guam, then that “would fix all our problems,” said Rep. Anthony Benavente (Ind-Saipan).
Demapan agreed with the benefits but noted that the military in early negotiations did not propose an acceptable plan.
Demapan was press secretary of Gov. Eloy S. Inos and then-governor Benigno R. Fitial.
According to Demapan, the “highest” offer the CNMI government got from the U.S. military was $23 million.
Demapan said if the military had proposed a more formidable plan for Pagan it may have been accepted.
He noted that Guam would get billions “when the damage is going to be done here.”
“Heaven’s falling in Guam but not here,” he added.
At least someone’s doing his homework. Indeed, Guam gets all the taxes while we slide by with none.
It is indeed a shame to be linked in any way imaginable to a certain group of people who did not take the time to fully read what the military has planned for our islands and still cling on to the hope that there is something beneficial for our islands. I cannot say and defend their positions that they are naive. It is not being naive that gets a person to conclude that this is something up for negotiation and that there will be a win win situation. It is being neglectful of your duty to make sure that your decisions truly represent the best interest of your people, popular or not, but it is for their best interest. I fail to see how bombing these islands would be beneficial to the people of the CNMI! There is no amount of money that will take care of the damages after they are done! Please! All you need to do is look around you, near and far. You will see that no place has become whole after they are done with their raging bombs!
These elected are so ignorant. They will sell out anything for the proper amount without even a thought about the consequences in the future. They would sell their own mother for a price.
Besides that they are saying a large amount would be “the solution to all our problems”.
Besides the INABILITY to handle any and all funds, as has been constantly shown for the last few decades, they would sell Pagan out and allow that pristine island to be destroyed. They would allow the military to accomplish what the volcano did not do.
It also seems that they would sell out Tinian along the way without any regards to the populace OR any regards to the voice of the people and their concerns..What about Rota? How much is the price tag on that Island?
What a bunch of self serving misfits. The only thing that the majority of these useless elected look at is how to get their hands on any money to enrich themselves..
They now have their sights set on DPL funds, the last account that they have not completely devastated as of yet.
I sure hope that the voters remember these irresponsible acts of these ignorant attempts to “sell out” the Islands one by one without listening to the people. (as they did with the Casino)
BTW it also seems that they do not even have the ability to comprehend the difference between the land area and populace in regards to Guam and the NMI.
With this type of attitude by our elected by putting a price tag on the Islands it may enhance the Military to pursue “Eminent Domain” in the future and we would lose Pagan for sure along with 2/3 of Tinian.
Not much different that Fital offering to sell “one of the Islands” to the Chinese or Tenorio to “lease Pagan” for the Nuclear waste from Japan.
And these iare what the voters continually keep voting for due to “family” instead of ability to serve the people. So sad.
What do you guys expect? Every single offer we get will be lowballed because because the world thinks we are idiots on a rock with no natural resources. It’s true, we have nothing. Our tourism industry is a joke, mediocre theme parks make more in a year just off of tickets than our entire yearly tourism revenue. Let’s be real here, we sell ourselves cheaper than a Thai hooker even for petty things.
The the guy who commented about the agriculture industry on Saipan: let’s not lie to ourselves. We’ll never do anything with AG. It simply won’t scale because we have no farmable land. Our best shot at increasing our GDP was the commercial fishing industry (look at alaska: 78k jobs, 5bil revenue) but you idiots screwed that up by getting in bed with the USA. This added 30x to the overhead of starting a commercial fishing operation, which no local can afford, because we now have to follow federal regulations and hire crew appropriately. Other nations that aren’t in bed with the united states and don’t need to follow their rules (china) are reaping the benefits of OUR waters.
We sold ourselves out when we voted to establish a commonwealth and operate under the USA as a territory. If we were to keep our sovereignty, we’d have negotiating power in many sectors. Look at Saint Kitts and Nevis, they make 1 billion every year simply selling passports and their local population is less than ours.
Your best shot for your children/grand children is to send them away to obtain a proper education and tell them to never come back. Hopefully within the next century, we’ll be blessed with our own Chamorro ‘Zuckerberg’ with a legitimate vision for the islands and the financial resources to turn it around.
23 million is a joke – I can point out on 5 houses in my neighborhood whose owners I know for a fact have more than $23 million in assets. It amazes me how you guys will let someone destroy an island for such a little amount of money. You’d get more by selling the island to a wealthy guy that wants to use it for his vacations LOL.
This is a freaking island we are talking about. It’s rare, there won’t be any new ones created, there are a finite amount of mature islands in the world.
Really though, if you lawmakers need $23 million that badly, go suck off some gay wealthy guy out here in silicon valley who has a fetish for islanders. With enough blows, you’d probably end up with 23 mil.
$23 million isn’t enough for the greedy Senators and Representatives up on the hill, but if they did get the right amount, the land would be turned over no problem. They don’t care (as much as they try to showboat about the opposite) about the “natural resources” and “our land”. They care about making themselves wealthier through raises and discretionary funds. For those who think CNMI would have been better off not becoming a Commonwealth is laughable. If the current government cannot handle the surplus of money that the US gives to the people of the CNMI as it stands now, how do you think they would be able to handle their own money. If not for the US, you would not be sovereign country; you would have been grabbed up by the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, etc. and wouldn’t have a leg to stand on to say otherwise.
Put it this way, if you don’t accept the US’ offer and try to prohibit DLNR from leasing public land to the US, they will just TAKE it…. You do not have a say… Get that in your head! What are you going to fight them with, the lazy locals slinging rocks towards their tanks as they invade??