40 to 50-member NMI delegation in Hawaii workshop

Celina R. Babauta

The CNMI has about 40 to 50 members of a delegation that is participating in the five-day 2023 Territorial Climate and Infrastructure Workshop in Hawaii organized by the Office of Insular Affairs of the U.S. Department of Interior specifically for U.S. territories.

Saipan Tribune learned yesterday that representatives of different CNMI government agencies, including Sen. Celina R. Babauta (D-Saipan), Sen. Karl King-Nabors (R-Tinian), and Rep. Manny Castro (Ind-Saipan), are joining the workshop, to identify funding opportunities for critical CNMI projects and to engage officials from key federal agencies.

In response to Saipan Tribune’s inquiry, the Office of the Governor said travel costs for the CNMI delegation’s participants use different federal funds that agencies have received and managed through various programs.

The workshop kicked off last May 8 and will end on May 12. The venue is the Hawaii Convention Center.

The goal of the workshop is to convene U.S. territories like the CNMI, federal agencies, and other important partners to collaborate and deliver significant climate and infrastructure support, including financial support, as provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.

Public Works Secretary Ray N. Yumul, who is a member of the delegation, said there are 40 to 50 participants from the CNMI and that the head of the delegation is Christina E. Marie Sablan for the Office of the Governor, and Henry Hofschneider for Lt. Gov. David M. Apatang’s office.

Christina E. Sablan

Babauta couldn’t tell how many persons compose the CNMI delegation as they are scattered all over the convention center.

Babauta said they break out into sessions with federal grant programs from the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, OIA, U.S. Government Services, Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Safety, Maritime Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Energy, and Federal Emergency Management Office.

As a result of these direct interactions with the CNMI’s federal grantors, they provide direct technical assistance with funding opportunities, Babauta said.

She said she has met with and invited the Army Corps of Engineers to come to Saipan to provide needed technical assistance. The senator said the Army Corps is expected to be in the CNMI for about two weeks.

Babauta said she will also be meeting today with Vince Mantero, who is the director of Ports and Waterways Planning from the Maritime Administration, to maximize the CNMI’s Jones Act waiver under the Covenant with the United States.

“This will eventually lead to having interisland ferry service between Saipan, Tinian, Rota, and Guam in the very near future,” Babauta said.

The senator said she is confident that the CNMI will have interisland ferry service, where people can load their vehicles when traveling to Saipan, Tinian, or Rota.

“This will enhance interisland air service in our Marianas,” she added.

According to the Office of the Governor, Gov. Arnold I. Palacios and Apatang have stressed the need to expedite infrastructure projects (along with identifying and pursuing funds that can support these projects), and the engagement with federal partners at the workshop will help in this effort.

Equally important, the workshop will help connect agencies like DPW, Commonwealth Healthcare Corp., Commonwealth Ports Authority, Public School System, and others to specific grant opportunities to advance their organizational goals and needs, the Office of the Governor said.

Topics addressed in the workshop include water, energy, built infrastructure, invasive species, nature-based solutions, broadband, cleanup, revitalization, and recycling.