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CPA: Some airport projects will be put on hold until ’13
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Posted on Nov 10 2011
Budget constraints at the national level will hinder efforts of the Commonwealth Ports Authority to implement upcoming projects, according to executive director Edward Deleon Guerrero yesterday.
He disclosed that the Federal Aviation Administration has notified them of a possible holdup in some projects, including the building of an ARFF Center on Tinian, which was supposed to be funded and constructed this fiscal year.
“We were informed by FAA that some of our projects may probably be moved back to one fiscal year like the Tinian ARFF which was now moved back to 2013 instead of this year,” he said.
The expansion of the Saipan International Airport’s ARFF Center, which is ongoing, will continue, he said. A notice to proceed has already been issued for the construction of a mock plane, he added.
He also described as “on target” the ongoing rehabilitation of Saipan International Airport’s runway in February. The project’s original completion deadline was October 2011 but this got pushed back after the discovery of last-minute problems. The project costs about $19 million, all funded by FAA.
According to Deleon Guerrero, CPA submitted to FAA a five-year “wish list” of projects it wants to build on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota airports. To date, CPA has yet to know how much it will get from FAA’s airport improvement project program this fiscal year, he added.
During last year’s Micronesian Chief Executives Summit on island, it was learned that FAA gave away over $955 million or nearly $1 billion in airport improvement project funds to Pacific Islands’ airports in the last 10 years.
