GOVERNOR Ralph DLG Torres last week provided written testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources oversight hearing on how the Biden Administration’s Build Back Better Plan can benefit U.S. territories such as the CNMI.
“As a nation, we have collectively realized for many years now that our infrastructure is in critical state. That is no less true in the CNMI and in fact is magnified,” said the governor, noting decades of pre-Commonwealth neglect, lack of infrastructure development, extreme natural and weather-related challenges to the CNMI infrastructure, as well as a lack of adequate funding resources.
The Build Back Better Plan, the governor said, is supported by the “Smart, Safe Growth” planning and project implementation efforts in the CNMI, a framework that was developed in partnership with local development planning and regulatory agencies supported by the US Federal Emergency Management Agency and US Environmental Protection Agency’s Region IX Pacific Islands Office, highlighting strategies to ensure the growth of communities with thriving economies and healthy environments that are resilient to natural disasters, using a concept of “comprehensive planning” that emerges from hazard mitigation, climate impact adaptation, and smart growth.
He said that the CNMI is currently devoid of basic air and sea port, water, and electrical power infrastructure, citing several deficiencies, such as a single power plant that is dependent on outdated generator units, an inadequate water collection system, an inefficient wastewater management system, substandard road conditions, limited landfill capacity, as well as limited air and sea port capacities.
Current small residential populations on these islands are especially challenged by the lack of adequate water catchment and distribution systems, electrical power, and air and sea ports.
Investment in the CNMI’s social and built infrastructure is anticipated to help diversity and stabilize the local economy, an effort that is needed now more than ever as we work to recover from the financial and community impacts of Covid-19, said the governor.
Increased use of the Northern Islands for residential and agricultural use and future will require an investment in basic infrastructure, he added, noting that these islands are ideally suited for alternative energy solutions.
“Dedicating resources toward the financing of infrastructure is critical but is only one step toward the modernization of the CNMI’s infrastructure,” said Governor Torres.
He noted that the relationship between infrastructure developments and access to labor under the CW-1 visa classification and the NMI US Workforce Act is not solely limited to the availability of workers, though multi-year labor cost projects do represent a significant hurdle toward prudent utilization of available resources.
Governor Torres said that the CNMI needs the support of its federal partners to streamline processes, reduce the obstacle of complex requirements and lengthy approval periods, and allow for significant flexibility.
Rather than a “one size fits all” approach, the governor said that the challenges that are unique to the territories require a plan that can be customized by and for the territories, such as the capital improvement project funds that have been going towards the creation of a modern infrastructure that would support the advancement of the CNMI people.
“The people of the CNMI, hard-working folks who are used to struggle and hardship, are also deserving of a modern infrastructure that supports economic development, a better quality of life, safety and health, and consideration for the health of the environment,” said the governor.
The “Build Back Better” initiative, he added, is an opportunity to address many of the CNMI’s long-standing concerns that are specific to its ability to better manage its economic development and make a real investment in its infrastructure and the lives of its people.
Governor Ralph DLG Torres
