Torres lauds partnership with FEMA in recovery efforts

Gov. Ralph DLG Torres, front row, fifth from right, is joined by representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, CNMI Infrastructure and Recovery Program, and other participants during the start of the Coastal Construction Training “Building Resilience” at the Aqua Resort Club in Achugao yesterday. (OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR)

Gov. Ralph DLG Torres underscored yesterday the importance of the CNMI’s partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency in CNMI’s recovery efforts from devastating typhoons and in finding ways to build capacity to restore, design, and construct resilient buildings.

“For each of the natural disasters we have faced, our FEMA partners followed through to ensure that we have had the relief needed to rebuild our Commonwealth,” said Torres in his remarks during the start yesterday of the Coastal Construction Training “Building Resilience” at the Aqua Resort Club in Achugao.

The CNMI Infrastructure and Recovery Program hosted the training, with support from FEMA Building Science, Mitigation Assessment Team, which sent a team to the CNMI to conduct the training, and FEMA Interagency Recovery Coordination.

The free trainings and small group sessions will take place throughout November to address coastal construction techniques. FEMA MAT instructors will lead the trainings and be available for small group meetings and virtual office appointments from Nov. 3 through Nov. 17.

The first two-day coastal construction training started yesterday and will continue today, Nov. 10, with the second on Nov. 15-16. Both sessions will be held at the Aqua Resort Club from 7:30am to 4pm.

Torres said the CNMI has dealt with some of the most challenging natural disasters that the Commonwealth and the country have ever seen. Even as the CNMI was still in the middle of recovery efforts from devastating typhoons that have severely damaged the CNMI’s infrastructure, COVID-19 pandemic happened, Torres said.

“Now, we are still working toward recovery with this added challenge. However, I know firsthand that the people of the CNMI are a hardworking, resilient community,” he said.

The governor said the trainings focus on a concept that stays true in the CNMI: Building Resilience.

He said the CNMI’s infrastructure impacts people’s daily lives, and that the Commonwealth is still on the path of development to be more resilient through safe, smart growth.

“By providing this opportunity for our local professionals in the construction industry, we are all constructing resilience for the future,” Torres said.

These trainings are specifically directed toward residential construction workers, general contractors, building inspectors, code enforcement officials, design professionals who want to learn more about coastal construction techniques and their applicability in the CNMI.