‘Pagan could be next step in inviting tourists’

Pagan, the only one in the Marianas chain of islands with black sand, could potentially be the next step in luring tourists to the CNMI, according to Commonwealth Ports Authority board member Pete P. Reyes.

He highlighted the unique features of the island as the CPA board took its first steps toward developing Pagan with the initial meeting of the Pagan Ad Hoc Committee last Dec. 19. The CPA board created the committee last month to try and develop the airport and seaport of Pagan Island.

Present at the meeting were Ad Hoc Committee members, several CPA board members, CPA staff, Public Lands Secretary Marianne Teregeyo, and Northern Islands Mayor Vicente B. Santos.

In an interview with Reyes last Friday, Dec. 20, he said that among the topics they talked about at the committee’s first meeting was the required size of the land where they would need to put up an airport.

The committee tasked the CPA staff to bring this to CPA’s engineering department to determine the size of the land they would need for the airport, said Reyes, who chairs the CPA board’s committee on seaport facilities and also serves as vice chairman of the Pagan Ad Hoc Committee.

It was the ad hoc committee’s belief, Reyes said, that they would need at least 8,000 feet of landing space, and possibly about 1,000 feet wide.

“So that would be the initial phase of the project,” said Reyes, adding that they also need to build a small terminal, somewhat similar to the commuter terminal on Saipan.

The committee will meet next in January 2020.

Reyes said they are working with the Department of Public Lands to determine which part of Pagan can they develop small airport for a 10-seater plane.

He said DPL is now awarding over 50 agricultural homesteads lots on Pagan, and whoever will be awarded these properties would need to travel back and forth between Pagan and Saipan.

Reyes said there is a need to develop reasonable improvement on the island’s dock to encourage boats from Saipan, Tinian, and Rota to go there.

He said they are hoping that the Northern Islands mayor might want to put in a fuel storage tank on Pagan, not only for the purpose of providing for any type of generators that may be used there for the residents but also for the small boats that may go there.

Reyes said some boats can only go there with enough fuel to reach the island but have not enough fuel in coming back.