ABOUT $40 million has been transferred from the Marianas Public Land Trust to the CNMI governments general fund, an MPLT board member and a government lawyer told yesterday.
MPLT board member Pete Guerrero said they are œaddressing [concerns about the transfer] very seriously.
Speaker Froilan C. Tenorio, Covenant-Saipan, believes that the funds have been mistakenly transferred to government coffers and should be returned to MPLT.
He said he understands though that this is not the best time for the cash-strapped CNMI government to come up with $40 million.
But once the CNMI economy recovers, he added, the CNMI government should pay MPLT.
The initial amount of over $17 million paid by the U.S. government for the lease of Tinian lands has grown to $70 million today.
The annual interest earned from this figure was transferred to the general fund each year during the past 30 years.
Tenorio said the CNMI Constitution allows only the interest earned from the Tanapag Harbor lease to be used for the maintenance of American Memorial Park with the remainder going to the general fund.
The Constitution, Tenorio added, does not allow the transfer of the interest earned from the lease of the Tinian property.
House legal counsel John Cool said for over three decades now, the interest from the Tinian land lease earnings has been transferred to the general fund each year.
He said MPLT has been relying on legal analysis regarding the Covenant that supposedly allows the transfer of such funds.
Cool agreed that theres ambiguity in the relevant provisions of the law.
Tenorio said MPLT should stop the fund transfers.
He also wants the government to acknowledge that the MPLT funds have been mistakenly transferred to the general fund.
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial, in an earlier interview, said he disagreed with the speaker.
Article source: http://www.mvariety.com/2010110931825/local-news/tenorio-govt-owes-mplt-$40m.php
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