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4/24/2025—Former lawmakers Juan I. Tenorio and Sheila Babauta are opposed to E-Land Group’s proposal to lease the unoccupied Mariana Resort & Spa property in Marpi with the former saying he’s against monopolies and the latter citing environmental concerns in building another golf resort “we don’t need,” among others.
Tenorio and Babauta made their comments during a joint public hearing of the Senate Standing Committee on Resources, Economic Development, and Workforce and House Standing Committee on Natural Resources last Tuesday, April 22, at the Tanapag Youth Center.
“E-Land at the moment is operating Kensington Hotel. They're operating Coral Ocean Point and Pacific Islands Club. Now, I have nothing against E-Land, but I am really against monopolization of the business opportunity here in the CNMI,” he said in an interview with Marianas Press after the public hearing.
Tenorio also contends that he doesn’t believe E-Land will be able to financially renovate the Marpi golf course given its current state of disrepair.
“I know its amenities because the golf course has to start from ground zero up to where it's going to be able to accommodate golfers. Again, I have nothing against E-Land. It's just that we needed new, fresh investors to come into the CNMI. We are struggling and if we're going to continue to just spread out what we have here, then we're not going to go anywhere. We're going to be stuck as to where we are and even in the future, we're still going to be here as it is now at the present moment.”
Tenorio also said that rumors abound that a workforce reduction is coming for E-Land’s three hotel properties in the CNMI—Kensington Hotel, Coral Ocean Resort, and Pacific Islands Club Saipan.
“That only tells us one thing, that financially, they're not going to be able to continue with their current three businesses, Kensington, Pacific Islands Club, PIC, and Coral Ocean Point. That's why we are so concerned about them handling the Mariana Resort because Marianas Resort is going to be huge. It's going to have a lot of employees to operate the golf course, to operate the hotels, to operate the intended shopping center.”
He even alluded to another investor waiting in the wings and ready to plunk down $600 million to take over the former Mariana Resort property.
“That's why I am asking the Legislature to please consider and open up perhaps another bid so that we can have new investors coming in from outside the Commonwealth and not from within. I met some people and also a member of this company and I told them up straight that this community needs real investors. And that's when they literally told us that they are ready to pump in $600 million. True or not, I don't know. And that's why perhaps the only way to find out is to open a new bidding process so that we can see all of these new investors that are willing to come in,” he said.
Babauta, for her part, plainly said the CNMI doesn’t need another hotel or golf course.
“I really just want to encourage and highly emphasize that we don’t need another hotel. We have trouble filling up the rooms that we already have, and [the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands] has come up with data on that just this month. We don't need another golf resort. We have finally let the land heal up there at Mariana Resort, and the property has can start from scratch many investors said if we’re going to turn this to another golf resort again it’s going to cost even more money because of the grass because even though they’re cutting it, it’s not prime for golfing anymore.”
She said that means more pesticides, more chemicals in the water and in the land, impacting the residents of Precinct 4.
“We don’t another golf resort and in addition this company E-Land already leasing so much of our public property, having already many community commitments to fulfil and workforce issues who are foreign and we know our people won’t be the head of this type of business and we know many of the profits will be leaving our islands.”
A better use for the property is to open it for use for the Indigenous peoples of the Commonwealth, according to Babauta.
“What we need is to develop this space for our people. We need space to carve canoes, we need space to teach our children how to weave, we need space to have fully cultural immersion programs so that we can sustain the language. We already see the language dying with the generation now and the generations below us, but in many indigenous cultures, it only takes one generation to make the shift. I still have a lot of hope. We just need the space to do it. We need space to practice and learn ceremony, how to dance, how to chant, and spaces to teach this to our future generations. We need space for agricultural programs, for ocean research, for sustainable programs, hosting community gatherings, and this is a great space for that.”
Rep. Vincent C. Camacho flat out said that this early he’s leaning to saying no to new lease proposal by E-Land Group.
He agreed with Tenorio that as it is E-Land is already heavily invested in its other hotel and golf properties in the CNMI as well as rumored planned furlough of employees.
“E-Land already has obligations to fulfill with the deal that they have with COP. You know, how about you finish that first? And then when that's done, how about you deal with the PIC, you know, lease that's coming up? Because I'm pretty sure that's going to affect your pocketbook.”
He asked if E-Land is truly about to cut staffing because the economy is not doing good, what in the world makes them think they could afford another million-dollar project?
“That means to me, it's telling me that the parent company is not willing to take their external funds and actually invest it in here. But they're sure as hell interested in making money here and bringing it somewhere else. You know, it just doesn't make any sense. You know, and I'm really worried. And like everybody said, you're taking too much off the land and you're controlling too much of the tourism industry here. And this is the one thing that I can honestly say right now that I don't support this at all.”
And being formerly an employee of Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC, Aldan said he knows very well the impact of broken promises.
“We're putting our eggs, all of our eggs in one basket. And it's extremely scary. I've seen one company go down and the rest of their projects go down with it. And all the promises that were made backfired. But yet you can't move forward, why? Because it's contract, it's leased. You can't go backwards on it.”
Another joint public hearing E-Land Group’s proposal to lease the unoccupied Mariana Resort & Spa property will be held starting at 5:30pm today at the Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School.
Story by Mark Rabago
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