By Bernadette H. Carreon

President Tommy Remengesau Jr. has called for calm as the ongoing dispute over the airport expansion project despite the Supreme Court ruling in favor of the government over the alleged violation of the Open Government Act by one of its ministers.

Remengesau in his press conference said the matter should be put to rest following the Palau Supreme Court Trial Division dismissal of the case filed by five members of the Senate over the non-disclosure of information on the airport expansion project.

Remengesau said that that the members of the Senate minority bloc, prior to the court judgment vowed to follow the outcome of the court’s decision.

“The court has certainly ruled that the government has been following the transparency, I wish everybody will also follow what they said, that they let the court decide and we will honor the court, so the court has decided, let’s honor it and put this to rest,” Remengesau told reporters during his press conference Wednesday.

The president, however, fears that there is a hidden agenda in efforts to continue the discourse over the airport expansion project.

“I suspect there is more to this than just trying to be transparent, I think they actually have a hidden agenda, too bad that these hidden agendas are being confused with the so-called transparency,” Remengesau said.

The president also said the government adhered to transparency in the negotiation of the airport expansion project.

“I would say this is a big project that has been as open as you can,” Remengesau said in his response to the question on government transparency.

He said the decision on the project was a combined discussion among the executive branch, state, and national leaders.

Remengesau said the decision was for Palau to enter into a Public Private Partnership with the Japanese firms to move forward with the expansion project.

“This is not just a one person’s decision,” Remenegsau said. He said senators, delegates, and lawmakers in the approval process of this project represented the public.

The president also reminded the senators who filed the lawsuit that in an attempt to smooth out the dispute, they have made the documents available to the lawmakers, which they refused.

Sen. J. Uduch Senior declined to comment on the president’s statement.

The minority bloc has questioned the government’s failure to make public the airport documents.

In the meeting among members of the Belau Tourism Association, Palau Chamber of Commerce, Minister Obichang , Presidential Chief of Staff Secilil Eldebechel and representatives from JATCO and SOJITZ, the government said it only wanted to  keep business information of the Japanese firms confidential to protect their partners from unfair competition and violation of the trade secret.

Despite the ongoing dispute, Remenegsau said the project would push through.

However, on May 22, senators Regis Akitaya, Camsek Chin, Rukebai Inabo, Uduch Senior  and Mason Whipps asked the court to review the airport documents, alleging that the documents reviewed held by the Senate legal counsel  appears to have a discrepancy with the draft airport documents presented to the Senate for approval in May 2017.

The minority senators want the documents produced by Public Infrastructure, Industries and Commerce Minister Charles Obichang on January 25, 2018, to be evaluated against previous versions of the airport documents presented to the OEK in May 2017.