Edwin Aldan
TINIAN Mayor Edwin P. Aldan, the Tinian Legislative Delegation and the Tinian Municipal Council want the U.S. military to establish “partnerships” with key local government agencies to build local capacity that can support the Defense Department’s mission.
In a joint letter to the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, the mayor, Tinian delegation chair Sen. Karl King-Nabors, delegation members, Municipal Council Chair Joseph E. Santos and other council members provided suggestions on how they can work together to mitigate areas of concern as discussed in the first iteration of the CNMI Joint Military Training Project’s environmental impact statement.
The suggestions include additional personnel, equipment and infrastructure for fire and security services.
The Tinian officials recommended that the Department of Defense partner with the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services, the Commonwealth Ports Authority-Ports Police and Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting unit to provide fire and security services with commensurate compensation and training opportunities.
The Tinian leaders said this will foster and reinforce the partnership between DoD and the local community while allowing CNMI government agencies to obtain direct financial benefit from the training activities.
The Tinian leaders said the CNMI does not have adequate funding to provide DPS, DFEMS, CPA Ports Police and ARFF with adequate training opportunities, equipment, and facilities.
They said DoD’s partnership with local agencies would “mitigate the impact of the increased military activities and populace that would result from the training exercises, while fostering a strong partnership between DoD and the local community.”
