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CNMI govt, military set up another meeting
The CNMI government will be conducting another meeting with the U.S. military today.
It is widely expected that one of the items on the agenda will be a discussion on a draft environmental impact statement on proposed military activities on the Commonwealth.
Press Secretary Ivan Blanco confirmed that Gov. Eloy S. Inos will be at the meeting.
Lt. Gen. Anthony Crutchfield, deputy commander of the U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii, is expected to lead other military officials during the meeting.
Just last week, a high-ranking official of the U.S Department of Defense met with lawmakers on Capital Hill to discuss proposed military activities on the CNMI particularly on Tinian and Pagan.
Robert M. Scher, DoD assistant secretary for strategy, plans, and capabilities, said his primary purpose is to hold dialogues with the lawmakers
The official also said the talks on proposed military activities and land leases on Tinian and Pagan remain at an “early stage.”
“We need these kinds of engagements. We are still at an early stage in the talks and we have to get down to the details,” Scher said, while addressing questions from lawmakers. He assured lawmakers that he agreed to meet to further “listen.”
One of the questions thrown at Scher was the actual impact of live-fire exercises on Tinian, considering its close proximity to Saipan.
It was not made clear if discussions will also include the initial findings of Dentons US LLC on the draft EIS.
Dentons has been hired to conduct an independent review of the draft EIS and days after signing the contract, the group reported a not so flattering review of the draft EIS calling the document “illegally inadequate.”
