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Inos appoints Roman Tudela to CPA board
In another executive appointment, Gov. Eloy S. Inos issued a memorandum nominating Roman Tudela to the board of the Commonwealth Ports Authority.
In the memo, Inos said Tudela is nominated to sit as a member of the CPA board “to represent Saipan.”
Tudela’s appointment requires the advice and consent of the Senate. If confirmed, he will serve the four-year term recently vacated by Fermin Sakisat.
Inos expressed confidence in Tudela, adding that he will be “an asset on this important board.”
Tudela is a former official of the CPA.
The CPA is currently handling important concerns in the CNMI, including the U.S. Military’s Divert Initiative.
CPA officials last month met with lawmakers to give a briefing on the U.S. Air Force’s divert airfield plans for Saipan and Tinian.
CPA outlined their position—from their September 2014 resolution—to “site divert at CPA’s facilities on Tinian,” according to executive director Maryann Lizama.
“The concerns of siting divert on Saipan, particularly within the Dandan plateau of the airport affecting the surrounding communities and residents” was also outlined, as contained in last year’s resolution, she told Saipan Tribune.
Saipan is the Air Force’s preferred alternative for its divert plans in the CNMI, according to a draft environmental impact statement published earlier. The CPA board of directors essentially said “no” to this alternative in their September resolution.
The resolution echoed concerns the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had over this alternative, where they had declared the Air Force’s DEIS to be “insufficient.” The agency cited noise impacts on Saipan residents as severe, saying this is inconsistent with directives requiring hearing loss risk to be properly estimated.
