CNMI’s plea for help to repair Tinian breakwater backed

The Commonwealth’s lobbying for federal funds to finance the rehabilitation of the dilapidated breakwater on Tinian gained grounds after Guam Delegate Robert Underwood vowed to press the United States Congress to allocate money from the next fiscal year’s budget for the project.

Ports Authority Executive Director Carlos H. Salas said Mr. Underwood has pledged that he will lobby for legislative funding to kick off the construction of a new breakwater on Tinian, underscoring the dangers posed by the existing facility especially during harsh weather conditions.

“Delegate Underwood has informed us that he is aware of the current condition of the breakwater and he vowed that he will help us lobby for funds for the undertaking,” Mr. Salas told reporters in an interview.

He said CPA’s lobbying efforts have gone a long way, being able to secure the support of the United States Department of Transportation and the Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs for the badly needed repair and rehabilitation of the Tinian breakwater.

Mr. Salas said federal officials have been made aware of the magnitude of potential problems that may be caused by the dilapidated condition of the facility on the island’s residents and business activities.

Mr. Salas recently met with OIA Director Danny Aranza and other federal officials in Washington D.C., where other CPA projects that need federal financial support have been discussed.

OIA previously pledged support in identifying sources of funds for the urgent rehabilitation of the breakwater on Tinian.
“I have presented to OIA the urgency of getting the Tinian breakwater repair project funded because it has deteriorated enough to threaten the livelihood of the island’s residents,” he told reporters.

Some $100,000 have been earmarked by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conduct a study on the extent of the breakwater’s damage in order to identify how much work should be done and how much money is needed to restore the facility.

Tinian continues to face economic disaster threats if CPA failed to raise some $25 million in total amount for the rehabilitation of the deteriorating condition of the island’s breakwater.

The possible collapse of the Tinian breakwater has the potential to seriously plunder the island’s struggling economy due to Tinian’s heavy dependence on its seaport for trade and tourism.

The 4,600-foot breakwater built on the shallow fringing coral reef has already deteriorated and no longer serves its original intent to provide protection to harbor basin from waves.

While a second 3,500-foot breakwater originally constructed of interlocking steel sheet pile in a circular cell configuration to protect the ocean-facing side of the Tinian seaport had been destroyed by Typhoon Pamela in the late 1970s.

Also, the eastern most 1,000-feet at the end of the breakwater had likewise been diminished and advance deterioration of cells in other sections have exposed the facility to complete failure.

The Tinian Harbor was constructed in late 1944 by the US Navy Seabees and the US Army Corps of Engineers to implement the final phase of the Manhattan Project, and nothing has changed — from structures to materials — since then.