ALL the dignitaries who spoke at the February 22, 2022 groundbreaking for the construction of the Air Force’s new Divert Facility on Tinian called it an historic event, and that is certainly true. 2-22-22 will be an historic date for Tinian and the Commonwealth. Thankfully, it will also be an easy date for CNMI History students to remember!
Ms. Kim King-Hinds, a daughter of Tinian and chairwoman of the Commonwealth Ports Authority board of directors, said it best when she quoted the late, great President John Kennedy, who once used the phrase “a rising tide lifts all boats.” It has come to mean that an improved economy will benefit all participants and that economic policy, particularly government economic policy, should therefore focus on broad economic efforts.
What does it mean for the working-class people of Tinian and the CNMI?
The construction of the Air Force Divert Facility will only provide a flash in the pan to Tinian’s economy. The contractors and their men will pack up and go home when the job is done. There will be no permanent troops stationed at the Divert Facility, thus little income to Tinian in the years to follow. However, if Tinian and the CNMI focus on a long-term economic development policy for Tinian now, as the tide begins to rise, then, Tinian’s sunken “ship of state” may rise again, and provide revenues for the Commonwealth.
The problem is that the Commonwealth Ports Authority has no plan for the use of the $21.9 million they were paid by the Air Force on May 3, 2019, for their lease on half of the old West Field, Runway Echo, adjacent to the current runway (Fox Trot) used for the Tinian Commuter Terminal.
Thus, our “ship of state” has a hole in its hull. If that hole isn’t patched, the ship cannot, will not, rise to set a course for the general economic development of Tinian and the Commonwealth.
DON A. FARRELL
Marpo Heights, Tinian
