PaganWatch Answers Arkle & Farrell

Letters to the Editor

Wednesday, October 24, 2007


'Got ground-penetrating radar?'


The recent pre-election letters to the editor by Mr. Thomas Arkle and his friend Don Farrell needs a response for the sake of those who don’t already know the history of these two Azmar employees.

In 2003 and 2004 Azmar tried every dirty trick in the book, from secret meetings with politicians to attempted character assassination of anyone who opposed them, in order to gain exclusive mining rights to large areas of Pagan. Unfortunately for them, J.G. Sablan Rock Quarry Inc. already had a permit and friends inside the Marianas Public Lands Authority who were determined to help them keep it.

While it might be hard to prove, many people close to the issue believe that MPLA never seriously considered the Azmar application. At the time, Cinta Kaipat and PaganWatch fought hard to get MPLA do its due diligence and both evaluate the mining opportunity and give all interested parties a fair chance to bid in an open and above board manner. Ultimately, we prevailed and Governor Fitial created the Pagan Mining Task Force to support the new Department of Public Lands in evaluating the mining opportunity and determining the terms under which legitimate mining companies can bid for a mining permit. These terms include following the law in regards to protections for the environment, and following a clearly defined bidding process to ensure that all bids are evaluated fairly.

Arkle and Farrell’s group is welcome and encouraged to bid. However, the terms of their original mining proposition to MPLA was certainly not in the best interests of the CNMI and is not likely to be successful. That proposal could only be characterized as grossly exploitive. There was lots of risk but very little financial benefit to the community, while the principals of Azmar, which included Arkle and Farrell, would have enjoyed windfall profits. There were no environmental safeguards planned, no verifiable financing, and no mining operation plan. Over the years, Azmar has behaved more like a retired military men’s club than a serious business. There are also grave concerns about Azmar’s disregard of the Historic Preservation Office’s instructions that cultural and historic artifacts in the Marianas were not to be touched or removed from the islands.

J.G. Sablan and its would-be partner, real estate company Bridgecreek Development, are also invited to respond to an RFP and bid on the mining opportunity in an open and fair manner. However, like Azmar, J.G. Sablan does not welcome a competitive bid process. Instead, J.G. Sablan wants the original terms of the decade-old permit restored and has been pursuing that goal in court. This has had the effect of killing any interest by legitimate mining companies since a court decision in favor of J.G. Sablan would undermine their own mining investment. In this way, J.G. Sablan, the company that squandered the mining opportunity for a decade while nature literally washed and blew most of the pozzolan into the sea, continues to block any progress on mining what pozzolan is left on Pagan. Nothing can be expected to change until the court actions are finally ended.

Meanwhile, Arkle and Farrell might consider using this time to prepare a legitimate bid. But if they are at all serious, they would do well to disassociate themselves from the Azmar group and find some legitimate and capable business partners. Azmar seems to be less interested in mining than in collecting World War II artifacts and finding that elusive WWII underground Japanese aircraft hangar that is rumored to be somewhere on Pagan. Or perhaps Arkle and Farrell should concentrate on that instead. Maybe if they try the ground-penetrating radar again, but over a wider area this time, they’ll be successful. It would be a very interesting find, and I, for one, am pretty sure there is no danger of anyone trying to smuggle that out of the Marianas.

Peter J. Perez
PaganWatch

Bitter Azmar Officials Talking Out of 2 Sides Of Their Mouths As Usual

***There continues to be efforts by bitter old men intent on exacting revenge, and even going so far as to mislead the public, if they thought this would accomplish their goal. They must think the public has a short memory or that the people are dumb and stupid.

Let me show you their hypocrisy, using their own words:
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Letters to the Editor
Friday, October 19, 2007


Mr. Demapan's pozzolan


Sir, I am happy that you brought this issue up. As you, and many others may remember, I wrote many letters during 2004 and 2005 on the pozzolan issue-favoring its removal and sale by an investment company specifically formed, capitalized and ready to move with the best experts in the world. All of that was for naught as it was fought vigorously by those who felt, as you stated, that "billions" would fall into the coffers of the CNMI if only the "right" company would just beg the CNMI to let them do it. You simply cannot fight emotionalism with science.

Well, at least five "right" companies have tried and all were unceremoniously discredited and practically run out of town on a rail-all because a few self-righteous individuals got greedy in the name of "protection" and "preservation". Through the last few years there have been many such attempts at various projects besides pozzolan; all have failed to materialize. You know why.

Well, pozzolan is no different and I can now predict with a high degree of assuredness that there will never be a single shovel of pozzolan sold from the CNMI. The "expert" hired published his findings a few months ago and they were quite sufficient to dash the aspirations of any reliable company and he must surely be enjoying the only money that will ever come from pozzolan. Not that such was not already the case because just about every cement manufacturer in the world heard about it. Because of my involvement, not only with Azmar, but later correspondence with others as well, I have personally seen some of the correspondence from these potential buyers.

The CNMI has been discredited throughout the industry and much of the correspondence has served to vilify the CNMI to such an extent that it would be almost impossible to persuade anyone to attempt such a venture again. Additionally, the quantity and quality of pozzolan is now so poor as to make any such venture a sure-fire lose-lose situation. "A bird in the hand."

Dr. Thomas D. Arkle Jr.
San Jose, Tinian

Click here for the Tribune article.

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***This is what Arkle had to say about one of those five companies, JG Sablan:

Letters to the Editor
Friday, February 18, 2005


Pagan? The REAL Environmental Story


As Azmar’s reclamation biologist, it is good to see that Sen. Joaquin G. Adriano and the members of the Senate are still supporting our application to extract pozzolan from Pagan.

It is unfortunate, however, that a reporter found it necessary to repeat old news that was manufactured for public sensationalism by PaganWatch. If Cinta Kaipat and PaganWatch are so truly concerned about Pagan’s environment, why aren’t they hounding DEQ to look into the 30 or so rusty, leaking barrels of oil at J. G. Sablan’s work site on Pagan? Why aren't they screaming over the several discarded equipment batteries leaking sulfuric acid into the ground? Why aren't they hollering about the derelict hulks of machinery wasting away as eyesores upon the landscape? This sight was aired for everyone to see on KMCV when the governor visited there during the typhoon relief presentation he made last year. Apparently, not one of the "PaganWatch" followers had the courage to call DEQ or do anything at all. Does that demonstrate a commitment to environmental protection?

...

Note: The rest of this article can be retrieved from www.chamorro.com/paganwatch. As to Arkle's question as to why I didn't oppose JG Sablan in light of all the environmental damages caused on Pagan, at the time PaganWatch and I were exposing Azmar's attempts to rob the people of the CNMI blind, JG Sablan's mining efforts were in limbo. Despite being given the permit, JG Sablan had nothing to show for it for 11 years except the environmental damage reported by Arkle and others.

Another reason I couldn't do anything about JG Sablan earlier was because I lived abroad for years working and putting myself through school. The decision to give JG Sablan the mining permit came about while I was absent.

And another thing, I did bring up the environmental damage on Pagan with DEQ & CRM but, short of personally enforcing the laws myself, what else am I to do?


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**This is what Arkle's pal and selective memory "historian" has to say about Arkle's latest letter to the editor. People who know what I campaigned on two years ago know that his allegations are false and make him just plain silly. He needs to distinguish truth from fiction. And regardless of the fact that he is married to a close relative of mine (Carmen Dela Cruz), I will NEVER allow him or his friends to rob the people of the CNMI blind and steal military artifacts from Pagan as is their secret mission:


Vol. 35 No.156
©2006 Marianas Variety Friday, October 19, 2007 www.mvariety.com
Serving the CNMI for 35 years



© 2006 Marianas Variety
Published by Younis Art Studio Inc.
All Rights Reserved

Email : mvariety@vzpacifica.net Too kind

TOM Arkle was too kind in his manner of reminding former Senator Demapan why the Pagan pozzolan deposit was wasted. Mr. Demapan, of all people, should remember how Anna Demapan Castro hid vital documents from the rest of her MPLA board members, causing them to cast a negative vote for Azmar’s permit application. She was too busy traveling and trying to take control of indigenous rights to pay attention to economic development issues.

But the person most responsible for killing the CNMI’s opportunity to harvest the pozzolan deposit on Pagan was Cinta Kaipat. She made killing any effort to market the pozzolan on Pagan her campaign issue in the last election. In order to maintain front page stories for herself, she claimed more studies and an RFP were needed before issuing a permit, so. The study took a year and half, and told us that as Tom said, there ain’t enough high quality pozzolan left to make the effort worthwhile. The RFP, of course, has never been issued. Pagan Watch went back to San Francisco. Worst of all, the people of Pagan she claimed to support were, and are, left nothing.

The only person who gained anything out of Pagan pozzolan was Cinta Kaipat, Covenant, Precinct 1, who won her coveted seat in the House of Representatives. The rest of the people of CNMI lost. The voters in Precinct 1 might keep that in mind when they go to the polls this year.


DON A. FARRELL
Marpo Heights, Tinian

Click here for the Variety article.
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****Here's an e-mail I received from the same Thomas Arkle in June 2006. I tried to reason with my colleagues in the House and Senate not to pass a bill reinstating JG Sablan's permit after the DPL finally took corrective action to terminate the permit, but EVERYONE voted for the bill, except for Rep. Waki and me:


from Thomas Arkle hide details 6/1/06
to cnmiservant@cintakaipat.com
cc daisiec.repkaipat@gmail.com
date Jun 1, 2006 8:39 AM

subject Pagan mining bill/Sablan-Bridgecreek

Dear Rep. Kaipat,

I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere regret regarding the apparent passage of a Senate Bill authorizing the return of a mining permit to J.G. Sablan and Bridgecreek.

I am sure that everyone is now well aware of the absolute rape of the CNMI that was attempted by that venture before it was stopped by Mr. Willens and company. I simply do not understand the mind set of a Senate Chamber that would even consider supporting such a disastrous path for the CNMI and attempting to circumvent the more business-like approach of controlled competitive bidding. This is simply beyond all reasoning - but, more importantly, it sends the wrong message out into the world of investment and capital venture.

I have personally had messages from TWO highly placed investors that if the message of the Senate is to be confirmed and made law, the CNMI would most certainly resume its slippery slide down the slope of self-destruction through political whimsy. It was hoped that with the "new" administration, doing business with this government would become more amenable to honest and ethical processes that would benefit everyone involved.

The Senate has, regretably, resumed the path of "politics as usual". The investment and business world really IS watching.

I know that you are a fair minded person with admirable goals for the people of the CNMI. Please try your best to keep the CNMI on the road to a healthy business relationship with the rest of the world. I urge the entire House to kill this self-interest bill that would allow the rape of the CNMI to continue.

Please feel free to share this email with all your colleagues and rally their support. I really don't want to be the receiver of any more comments from the outside world like: "What in the world are you people doing out there?"

One other item of note before I close; please take a close look at Senate Bill # 15-47, recently passed by that body. I am writing a series of letters to the editor commenting on many of the conditions of that bill. While the overall premise has merit, the bill, as passed, will result in a new generation of elderly people with NO income whatsoever. Please read the bill carefully and do some research on its long term consequences I hope that my letters will assist in this endeavor.

Sincerely,

Dr. Thomas D. Arkle, Jr.
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***In case you missed the paragraph above, here it is again:

I know that you are a fair minded person with admirable goals for the people of the CNMI. Please try your best to keep the CNMI on the road to a healthy business relationship with the rest of the world. I urge the entire House to kill this self-interest bill that would allow the rape of the CNMI to continue.

SO, who's telling the truth here? Who's doing what to protect the people from these acts of exploitation?