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Senator wants oversight hearing on CPA
A Saipan senator is working with the administration of Gov. Ralph DLG Torres to conduct a possible oversight hearing on the Commonwealth Ports Authority.
In an interview with Saipan Tribune, Sen. Sixto K. Igisomar (R-Saipan) said that he is currently working with CPA board members and the Torres administration to gather information before a planned oversight hearing on CPA.
Igisomar did not disclose an exact date.
“…I met with Gov. Ralph DLG Torres to try and see other discussions with respect to what is happening at CPA and to get more information. The governor and I agreed to work together and see how we can collaborate with CPA to get things done,” Igisomar told Saipan Tribune.
Through the oversight hearing, Igisomar wants to clarify a range of issues, from the United Airlines issue to noise pollution complaints.
“There [are] serious issues I have heard from our constituents locally and it is a matter of me trying to have an effective meeting with the CPA at a management level in respect to their master plan on overall airport matters,” he said.
At a June 6, 2018, session on Capital Hill, Igisomar expressed frustrations with CPA in relation to Senate Bill 20-50, which he claims could have prevented United Airlines from suspending its code-share partnership with Cape Air, which would have sustained flight services to Rota.
S.B. 20-50 seeks to mandate CPA to implement incentives and discount programs to entice airlines to boost flights to the CNMI. Igisomar stated that, according to a previous meeting with CPA, the Marianas Visitors Authority and the Commonwealth Development Authority, CPA maintained the position that Federal Aviation Administration guidelines prohibits them from doing so. The bill currently sits at the House Committee on Transportation.
“It is cost-prohibitive. That bill would have allowed CPA to get on their feet and work on [applying under the provisions of FAA] to ask for an incentive airline to help [Rota]—and they never did,” Igisomar earlier said. “…There are people on Rota that are suffering because of our inadequacy and our inability.”
The CNMI government is currently reviewing United Airlines’ proposal to extend flights to Rota with annual subsidies ranging from $1.1 million up to $8 million.
