THE delay in the construction of U.S. Air Force’s divert airfield on Tinian will give the Commonwealth ample time to build local manpower, said Special Assistant to the Governor for Military Affairs Glenna SP Reyes.
In May 2019, the CNMI government and the U.S. military signed a 40-year lease agreement for the construction of a divert airfield on Tinian.
In an email interview, Reyes said that the Covid-19 pandemic “created a lot of setbacks for a lot of things, to include the Divert project.”
She added, “The delay, however, provides more time to support [the] ongoing efforts by Mayor Edwin Aldan and the [rest of the] Tinian leadership toward developing an apprenticeship program on Tinian to augment existing skills with the objective of providing opportunities to Tinian residents to participate in the development of the Divert projects.”
In addition to exploring other options to “enhance Tinian’s internal labor force,” Reyes said Senate President Jude U. Hofschneider has requested that the administration engage with Northern Marianas College and the Northern Marianas Technical Institute for the development of an apprenticeship program “specific to the Tinian Divert labor force requirements.”
Reyes said her office has initiated its own engagement with NMC Interim President Frankie Eliptico.
“The delay of the Divert project, in essence, allows more time to support ongoing initiatives and we look forward to partnering with NMC,” Reyes said.
A source said the initial bids for the Air Force divert facility construction exceeded the government estimate and procurement level.
So the work has been “de-scoped” by the military and rebid using a large multi-award contract: an IDIQ (indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity) contract with four teams to compete for the award, the source added.
Construction is now targeted for 2022.
In a separate interview, Commonwealth Ports Authority Chairwoman Kimberlyn King-Hinds said CPA has been advised of the delay.
She said aside from the reasons provided, “we assumed that there would be a delay as a result of Covid-19’s impact on travel and movement of logistics.”
She said the “delay should not come as a surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention to the Guam build-up.”
“There have been many delays in that project for one reason or another and I don’t foresee that being any different here,” she added.
“I think that this delay makes it very difficult for businesses to plan. I’ll give you one example: There’ve been several companies that have shown interest in building housing accommodations for construction workers. Originally, the divert airfield construction was planned in phases with a certain number of workers expected to be on island during those phases. Based on that plan, investors were planning to build housing accommodation based on the need for a particular phase.
“With this latest news, there’s no clarity as to what the new requirements would be, which makes financial planning challenging for those who are either looking to invest on Tinian or those who are looking to expand their businesses to accommodate the expected influx of people and traffic as a result of this project,” King-Hinds said.
