By Gemma Q. Casas
Variety News Staff

FORMER residents of Pagan Island who are against the proposed pozzolan mining in their hometown called on visiting Interior Department Deputy Secretary for Insular Affairs David Cohen to help them.
Labor Hearing Officer Cinta Kaipat, also the president of the United Northern Islands Association and Pagan Watch – nongovernment organizations pushing for the issues and rights of Pagan residents – made a surprise appearance yesterday at Gov. Juan N. Babauta’s office on Capitol Hill, to bring to Cohen’s attention the issue on Pagan.
Cohen who was then just about to leave along with Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente for another meeting, briefly stopped to talk with Kaipat.
Cohen, who is also on island for an international environmental conference, said he will “read” documents that Kaipat gave him and do whatever is appropriate.
Kaipat said they are soliciting help from local leaders and federal officials to tackle issues about Pagan.
At issue right now is whether or not the Marianas Public Lands Authority should grant an Arizona-based firm the permit to mine and extract pozzolan—a rare mineral used as an additive in cement—in Pagan.
Pagan, a remote island in the CNMI, is believed to be one of only three volcanic islands in the world with rich pozzolan deposits.
MPLA has yet to grant the permit to Azmar International. The agency says it first wants Azmar to provide more financial documents and post at least a $5 million security deposit from a local bank.
Azmar is offering MPLA a 7 percent royalty fee and other taxes in exchange for the permit.
But Kaipat’s group believe this is not a fair deal considering what Pagan would be left with after it has been mined.
She said their group wants MPLA to bid out the project so that the best firm can get the permit to mine at Pagan.
Yesterday, Kaipat and other Pagan supporters submitted to the Legislature a copy of their petition letter signed by over 500 former residents pushing for the passage of House Bill 14-204 or the Pozzolan Extraction Act of 2004 at the Senate.
The House already passed the bill which calls for the suspension of all extraction activities on Pagan pending the promulgation of rules and regulations about it.
It also calls on MPLA and other government agencies to conduct a study on the actual value of Pagan’s pozzolan.
“Surface-mining more than 20 percent of the land mass of Pagan, with its potential environmental and social impact, is not to be rushed into, especially when it represents what is perhaps the most valuable natural resource that the CNMI possesses,” said the petitioners.