Public lands officials have launched an investigation into the recent sale of the Rota Resort & Country Club after learning the property had changed hands without the local government\u2019s approval.<\/p>\n
Department of Public Lands chief John S. Del Rosario on Friday said his staff is examining the details of the sale, a move that comes in the aftermath of an order by the CNMI Attorney General\u2019s Office directing the resort\u2019s new owners\u2014a branch of the Guam-based firm JMSH LLC\u2014to vacate the property or face a lawsuit.<\/p>\n
However, Del Rosario declined to give details on the issue during a press conference, saying it \u201cinvolves an active investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re reviewing everything we need to know,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
The AGO order, issued Monday, points to a report in the Saipan Tribune on the resort\u2019s sale\u2014which followed a report in the Pacific Daily News\u2014and says that if the report is accurate, the resort\u2019s new owners are trespassing on public lands.<\/p>\n
The order prompted an outcry among lawmakers, who said the new investment at the resort is crucial to reviving Rota\u2019s suffering tourism industry. <\/p>\n
The resort\u2019s sale came after JMSH had already poured millions into the resort to revive its operation. The company has also launched a major campaign to boost tourism through chartered airline service to the island from Korea and planned a series of renovations to attract new visitors.<\/p>\n
DPL controls the property on which the resort sits. <\/p>\n
The resort\u2019s management has not responded to several requests for comment on the matter. Meanwhile, staff at the resort said their management has yet to give them any notice of a closure and they are continuing to take reservations. <\/p>\n
Charles Reyes, spokesman for Gov. Benigno Fitial defended the AGO\u2019s order this week, saying the office is merely enforcing the law. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Public lands officials have launched an investigation into the recent sale of the Rota Resort & Country Club after learning the property had changed hands without the local government\u2019s approval.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126595\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}