DURING a press briefing on Friday, Governor Ralph DLG Torres said that private partners and the governor’s council of economic advisors continue to renovate tourist sites in the CNMI.
He said that about 35 companies have signed up to be partners in these island beautification endeavors.
22 sites, he said, are being renovated.
“Overall the goal is to make the CNMI — including Rota and Tinian — a world class destination,” he said.
He added, “This is our downtime and it’s the best time for us to make sure that we give as much effort, resources, and manpower to renovate and fix up our tourist sites.”
The governor said that the team is excited.
“We’ve seen a lot of progress. We can see around the island that there’s a lot of beautification that’s happening,” he said.
Work is being done on multiple tourist sites, including the Grotto, which now has new railings above the observation deck and is having its stairs revamped.
Other popular sites include the Governor Froilan C. Tenorio Beach Road Pathway, Garapan Central Park, Suicide Cliff, public parks, beaches, and trails.
The sites will also have new signs and will be maintained by organizations that have taken it upon themselves to be responsible for the upkeep of these sites.
Governor Torres extended his gratitude to all private partners, non-governmental organizations, and volunteers for their commitment to the renovations.
“I hope that we can also do that as a community: maintain the beauty of what we have because… that’s why we have tourism: to showcase our islands, to showcase the beauty of what we have, our culture, our language, and our people,” he said.
The CNMI hopes to make a stronger statement or impression when tourists return to the isles.
“It’ll be a new tourism. It’ll be a new way of appreciating tourists. There’s a new way of travelers and we want to make that [strong] first impression back to the islands,” he said.
Every flight that will come in, he said, is basically like an inaugural flight.
“I hope that our community, as we see these renovations — painting and so forth — being done around the island, please take care of it. It’s what we have,” he said.
Governor Torres encourages the community to extend their appreciation to all private partners, non-governmental organizations, and volunteers for their commitment to making the CNMI a better place.
For updates on the public private partnership program through the governor’s council of economic advisors, visit https://www.facebook.com/cnmigov.economy.
Governor Ralph DLG Torres
