Public hearings on military buildup

Public hearings on military buildup

Monday, 11 January 2010 00:00

THE CNMI Military Integration Management Committee would like to encourage the public to participate in the upcoming Joint Guam Program Office public hearings that are scheduled for Tinian on Thursday, Jan. 14, and Saipan on Friday, Jan. 15, a media release stated.

The committee, or MIMC, coordinator Tom Linden will be on hand at both of these public hearings to answer any questions in regards to how the CNMI is dealing with the regional military buildup.

These meetings will be an introduction to the draft environmental impact statement, or EIS, that has been prepared for both Guam and the CNMI.

While the CNMI government understands the complexity of the document which is to be commented on, the MIMC office encourages active participation. In an effort to ensure that the community has an opportunity to fully digest the contents contained in the EIS, the MIMC in partnership with Office of Economic Adjustment, or OEA, and the Guam Advisory Consulting Team, or ACT, will be hosting a public forum on Jan. 27 at the multi-purpose center in Susupe.

Representatives of the OEA and ACT will breakdown the 11,000-page EIS and be willing to answer any questions in regards to the military buildup in our region.
The public hearings will be a great introduction to the EIS and then allow the public time to review and comment prior to the public forum which will be held on the 27th.

The MIMC public forum will also be broadcast to both Tinian and Rota through a VTC provided by Northern Marianas College and IT&E.

The MIMC and the Department of Commerce will have representatives on Tinian and Rota to help answer any questions.

Members of the public are urged to submit questions ahead of time to the MIMC coordinator by e-mailing them to cnmi.mimc@commerce.gov.mp This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
The MIMC was created through a charter in June 2009.

It serves as the planning and policy making entity for all activities that relate to the expansion of military training and other defense transformation initiatives in the CNMI and Guam.

The CNMI-MIMC is the official entity through which the commonwealth will interface with the Department of the Navy, the Marine Corps, JGPO, the Department of Defense, and all other military representatives in regards to the military buildup in the region.

The policy making committee is chaired by Gov. Benigno Fitial and consists of the governor, lt. governor, Senate president, speaker of the House, and the mayors of Rota, Tinian, Saipan and the Northern Islands.

Due to the overwhelming scope of this military relocation, the MIMC realizes that the path to success will require a partnership with Guam and both Fitial and Guam Gov. Felix Camacho have pledged their support of one another to ensure that the entire region benefits.