The former Puerto Rico dump site will soon become a “passive park” following the completion of the design.
Construction may start in February next year.
The project will cost about $10 million and the estimated $11 million that can be generated in the future from foreign vessels fishing within the CNMI’s exclusive economic zone will be used to maintain the new park.
A federal law requires a 30- year post-closure care for the 19-acre dump, which involves twice-a-year testing of its water underneath and the gases it will emit.
In an interview yesterday, Jack Ogumoro, CNMI on-site coordinator of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, said the idea of including the Puerto Rico dump closure in a conservation plan was first conceived during then-Gov. Juan N. Babauta’s administration.
Ogumoro said back then, the CNMI faced a federal lawsuit over the Puerto Rico dump.
It was Babauta, Ogumoro said, who looked into possibility of including the dump in the marine conservation plan so that it could get funding the from Pacific Insular Area Fishery Agreement under the Magnuson-Stevens Act of 1996.
This possibility was realized when the CNMI, under the Fitial administration, completed the conservation plan which included the Puerto Rico dump closure.
The plan was submitted earlier this year and was approved during Wespac’s 143rd meeting last month in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The project aims to prevent potential harm to the people of the CNMI and further harm and destruction to the reef, fish and other marine species in the nearby waters.
The plan involves the review of existing foreign fishing agreements with inputs from different stakeholders, especially the fishermen.
Under the conservation plan, foreign fishing companies will be invited to a negotiation process that will result in an agreement between the CNMI government and interested fishing companies.
How it will work
The U.S. secretary of State can enter into an agreement that allows foreign fishing vessels to enter U.S. EEZs adjacent to any Pacific insular area.
Any foreign fishing vessels interested to fish within the EEZ surrounding the CNMI will have to get an approval from the governor.
The CNMI will then inform the U.S. secretaries of Commerce and State about the request.
The secretary of State will then meet with the head of the state of the country applying for EEZ fishing activity to discuss terms and conditions.
Under such an agreement, foreign vessels have to pay fees so they can fish within the CNMI’s EEZ, and fines, in case of violations.
This will soon become the source of backup funding for the Puerto Rico project.
