THE House of Representatives on Friday presented to the Commonwealth Ports A uthority a resolution commending the agency for obtaining a national certification from the National Board on Fire and Emergency Services Certification Program.
Speaker Heinz S. Hofschneider, R-Saipan, said “it’s about time” that CPA be given due credit for its efforts to continually upgrade its standards for the safety of the community and the people using the local airport.
“The House of Representatives…finds it gratifying to recognize the Commonwealth Ports Authority’s achievement in attaining National Certification from the National Board on Fire Service Professional Qualifications, qualifying CNMI’s very own (CPA) firefighters to be at par with the rest of the nation’s airport fire fighters,” the resolution reads.
Hofschneider said the resolution aims to boost the morale of port firefighters.
“The (port firefighters) are one of the best in the community of airport firefighters,” the speaker said.
“This part of CPA function, especially on the airport side, is rarely talked about. But in the international community, this component of the airport function is critical to the safety aspects of passengers coming in and flights coming into the CNMI,” he added.
CPA Executive Director Carlos H. Salas, CPA Fire Chief Stanley C. Torres Jr. and Martinez R. Jacobs, staff officer of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Airports Division, were also commended in the resolution.
The certification means that the CPA’s Fire and Emergency Services Certification Program may now be used to certify other firefighters in the CNMI and other countries in the Asia Pacific region.
The Federal Aviation Administration has also chosen Saipan as the newest site where a fire training facility in the Pacific will be built.
