{"id":411952,"date":"2024-08-05T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-05T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=411952"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"Ayuyu-open-to-negotiating-payment-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/Ayuyu-open-to-negotiating-payment-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Ayuyu open to negotiating payment plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Commonwealth Ports Authority board chair Joe Ayuyu said from CPA\u2019s point of view, Star Marianas Air, Inc. owes CPA money for the use of airport facilities. However, he says he is open to negotiating a possible payment plan as a show of good faith and willingness to move forward.<\/p>\n

Last Friday, CPA held a special board meeting to discuss the controversial dispute between them and Star Marianas. The dispute has left the communities of the CNMI at the edge of their seats following Star Marianas\u2019 notice of possible suspension of air service as a direct result of this disagreement.<\/p>\n

Following the meeting, one thing was clear, CPA is adamant on collecting fees from Star Marianas as the Tinian-based inter-island carrier has allegedly refused to pay invoices for airport use fees dating back to October 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom CPA\u2019s point of view, Star Marianas owes us. It\u2019s simple. I have to say, I do recognize the contribution of Star Marianas to our island, they serve a vital role in providing inter-island transportation. I want to thank Mr. Robert Christian for that. However, doing that doesn\u2019t mean [Star Marianas] can use the services of our island, for free. Its incomprehensible. It takes people to run the airport and [CPA] has to pay them. CPA doesn\u2019t get any [subsidy]. I hope Mr. Christian will come to his senses. Nowhere in this world should a business be using a public facility and paying zero. It\u2019s ridiculous. That\u2019s my problem with Star Marianas,\u201d Ayuyu said.<\/p>\n

Ayuyu noted that in an effort to move forward, he is even willing to negotiate an installment plan or even a discount, pursuant to the entire board\u2019s approval.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m even opening to the idea of an installment payment, maybe a discount on what they owe us. I\u2019m really flexible, of course with approval from the board of directors. The problem is there is no opening for me in these conversations because Star Marianas refuses to pay anything at all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ayuyu added that he is at his wits end stating that CPA has provided Star Marianas with all the details they\u2019ve claimed to not have gotten as part of CPA\u2019s recent letter demanding payment of $1.2 million in airport fees.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe letter was accompanied by [invoices] regarding why we\u2019re charging them the $1.2 million. Every charge is added up based on these invoices. SMA asked for details, I know we provided details, so I don\u2019t know what else we can do. The case pending in court, that\u2019s the same rationale he\u2019s using not pay for fees dating back to October 2022. We\u2019ve done everything we can,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ayuyu, as a last-ditch effort to resolve the ongoing dispute, suggested mediation with a third party like Gov. Arnold I. Palacios or even the leaders of all CNMI islands.<\/p>\n

\u201cI approached Mr. Christian, when I first got on board in CPA, and I wanted to negotiate something where we all left happy so we can put this issue behind us and move forward. The first thing he did was present me a book stating CPA is not complying with Federal regulations and all that. If that\u2019s the case, then we should sit down and identify these problems and possibly resolve them. The idea is to move on. I would hate to open another court case so I\u2019m talking with the governor, who is trying to mitigate the issue, so we can come up with a compromise. I\u2019ve tried everything I can, we gave him a letter, he refused to pay, and so my only suggestion is to work with the administration so we can talk with the leaders of the island. Mr. Christian has been very negative in terms of making even a $1 payment. Meeting with him will not result in anything, so we need a third party like the governor or the leaders of the island to step in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

CPA board member Ramon Tebuteb, for his part, remined Ayuyu to be cautious in terms of inviting CNMI elected leaders to mediate this sensitive issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith all due respect, I appreciate the governor trying to help out in this issue. But I\u2019m going to be extra cautious not to go that far until perhaps we get more legal guidance as…the issues now are similar to pending litigations. I don\u2019t want us to say anything that could compromise the pending lawsuits. To be clear, our elected officials are immune. Our role in CPA is beyond elected officials because we can be held personally accountable. Elected officials can say whatever they want but, in our case, our fiduciary duty is much higher,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

CPA is currently going through the standard process of demanding payment from Star Marianas and will respond to Star Marianas\u2019 letter this week (should not payments be made).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Last Friday, the Commonwealth Ports Authority held a special board meeting to discuss the controversial dispute between them and Star Marianas Air, Inc.<\/p>\n

-KIMBERLY B. ESMORES
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Commonwealth Ports Authority board chair Joe Ayuyu said from CPA\u2019s point of view, Star Marianas…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-411952","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\/411952","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=411952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411952\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}