‘US Air Force divert operations on Tinian not yet final’

The Commonwealth Ports Authority has not made a final decision on the proposed Pacific Air Force Divert Exercises and Activities on Tinian that is estimated to release $375 million to improve the Tinian International Airport by building additional facilities and infrastructure.

“There is no stage of negotiation yet for leasing the property or award for construction. You can see that there is no construction going on,” said CPA board member Barrie Toves.

Last July, the U.S. Air Force disclosed that it would hold a public hearing on Tinian on its Pacific Air Force Divert Exercises and Activities.

The Air Force plans to use the Tinian airport for its divert operations, humanitarian assistance staging, exercises, and other aircraft support activities. All operations will take place within a maximum of eight weeks per year of exercises at the Tinian airport.

Toves said, “There is no negotiations yet because the first step for us is to submit the airport plan to the Federal Aviation Administration so that they [can check whether what] the U.S. Air Force is planning to build on the north side of the Tinian airport facility is conducive and not in violation of any regulation of the FAA.”

“The FAA is the agency that checks all the changes that we do. Whatever infrastructure we plan to do, we need to submit a draft of the lay-out plan for them to see,” he added.

As chairman of the airport facilities committee, Toves is convinced that, even though the U.S. Air Force has removed the CNMI Joint Military Training infrastructure-related projects at the airport, there is a concern of overlapping with the proposed PACAF Divert and Exercises and Activities.

“If you look at the layout plan, when CJMT and the PACAF divert airfield are put together, the requirements with the CJMT still overlaps with the divert airfield. Take out the CJMT and one can still see the residue underneath. Why not make some changes that will accommodate the CJMT?” Toves said.

Many more questions surround the PACAF Divert Exercises and Activities and the CPA is doing its best to know all the facts and prioritize the people of Tinian who are directly affected by the military operations.

“Before we open the door and submit to FAA, we want to make sure that we are in line in protecting the CPA’s best interest and especially the economy of Tinian. A lot of things associated with CJMT would affect the economy of Tinian and we don’t want that to happen.” Toves said.