By Emmanuel T. Erediano
emmanuel@mvariety.com
Variety News Staff
BOARD of Education member Andrew Orsini wants the construction of Admiral Herbert G. Hopwood Middle School to move forward without further delay.
In an interview Thursday, Orsini said he does not want to see any additional setbacks to the $21.5 million school project, noting that hundreds of middle school students are still waiting for new classrooms.
“Whoever the new contractor is, the construction phase of the project must move forward,” Orsini said.
He noted that seven years have passed since plans began to reconstruct the school’s main building, which was heavily damaged by Super Typhoon Yutu in 2018. Orsini said the required performance bond — something the contractor, CJ Innovation Inc., ultimately failed to secure — should have been in place from the beginning.
Funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the $21.5 million design-build project was awarded to CJ Innovation, which subcontracted the demolition phase to FSM Recycling Saipan Inc. More than $400,000 of the project funding was paid to the subcontractor for demolition work, which was completed in October 2025.
In a separate interview, Office of the Governor Special Advisor for Policy and Programs Kimo Rosario reiterated that the contract was terminated due to CJ Innovation’s failure to secure a T-listed surety performance bond. He said a change order amending the contract is currently under legal review by the Public School System.
Rosario explained that the change order will retain the architectural and engineering work completed by CJ Innovation but remove the construction phase from the contract.
“PSS will initiate a pre-qualification process to vet contractors before putting the Hopwood Middle School construction project out to bid,” Rosario said. “This will ensure a strong pool of bidders with the capacity, capability, and resources to complete the project.”
Rosario added that the architectural and engineering plans are “100% complete” and only need to be stamped and submitted by CJ Innovation by Jan. 31, 2026.
“Once the stamped A&E plans are turned over, PSS will put the construction project out to bid,” he said.
Emmanuel “Arnold” Erediano has a bachelor of science degree in Journalism. He started his career as police beat reporter. Loves to cook. Eats death threats for breakfast.
