‘We are also sensitive to needs of Rota and Tinian’

The Commonwealth Ports Authority gave this assurance to residents of both islands in reaction to an accusation that CPA was not giving enough attention to needed facilities at the Rota and Tinian airports.

CPA executive director Carlos Salas maintained that there were continuing efforts to find ways to have a state-of-the-art landing system installed at the two airports.

CPA initially asked the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to fund the project but FAA turned this down, saying it was not cost-effective, given the low passenger traffic on both islands.

The Instrument Landing System could cost as much as $3.5 million to $4 million to install.

However, Salas reported that Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino was assisting in having a private firm install the landing system at the Tinian International Airport. He declined to provide further details, except that the company specializes in aviation equipment.

He added that CPA continues to negotiate an arrangement wherein FAA would reimburse the CNMI for expenses to be incurred in maintaining the facility once it is installed.

“A lot of effort has been made by CPA in trying to come up with the ILS. We’re also sensitive to the needs of Rota and Tinian,” said Salas.

Furthermore, he maintained that CPA was floating bonds for the concrete paving of the Saipan seaport container yard because the project is long overdue and much needed—not because Saipan facilities were more important for CPA than Tinian and Rota’s facilities.

Senators Joseph M. Mendiola and Diego M. Songao, the respective chairs of the Tinian and Rota legislative delegations, wrote CPA last week to call for the inclusion of the ILS project in CPA’s future bond considerations.

“It is very disappointing to find that, although we have been requesting assistance in the installation of [ILS], the other islands of this Commonwealth, namely Rota and Tinian, have yet to receive a similar assistance in terms of floating bonds for such development,” Mendiola and Songao had told CPA. “Instead, bonds are issued, once again, to improve only Saipan facilities.”

The senators noted that many flights bypass Rota during inclement weather due to its lack of an advanced landing system.

For its part, Tinian had already put in a lot of effort toward getting an ILS for their airport—from researching the availability of companies to install the ILS and researching funding sources, to pleading with the FAA to consider the project.

“Despite all this effort, [the] CPA board of directors has continued to close its ears and eyes to our needs. Instead, we now learn in the media that CPA has the ability to float bonds to undertake such project as the paving of the Saipan seaport container yard,” they said.

They added: “While we understand that the income, revenue, and funds between the seaports and airports are statutorily segregated and that since this bond is for improvement of the Saipan seaport facilities and backed by seaport income, CPA may be unable to include our dire need for ILS at the Tinian and Rota airports. However, we urge the board of directors to take heed of our request to explore and include the expansion and the need for an ILS at our airports in further bond considerations.”