TWENTY-nine government officials and four private firm representatives are headed for Palau for the 21st Annual Pacific Islands Environment Conference next week.
Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente will be heading the 33-member delegation for the June 24 to 28 event to be held at the Palasia Hotel in Koror.
This year’s theme, “Merging Tradition with Modern Technology,” shows how island communities have traditionally managed their natural resources, and how the lessons learned from these traditional practices can be used to augment modern technology as the islands consider stewardship of their resources in the future.
Thomas G. Yocom of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and co-chairman of the conference, said the response to the event has been “unexpectedly strong.”
“Whereas we had originally hoped to have 160 registrants, we are now likely to have roughly 250,” said Yocom in letters to event participants.
The event is co-sponsored by EPA and Palau.
Of the 33-member delegation of the CNMI, 11 are from the Division of Environmental Quality, including its director John I. Castro and five program directors.
“This is going to be an important event because the environment is of major concern in the Pacific islands. One of our marine biologists, Peter Houk, will also be doing a presentation on the conference,” Castro told Variety.
There are also eight representatives from the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. headed by acting executive director Bernard P. Villagomez, Board member Francisco Q. Guerrero and legal counsel Brien Sers Nicholas.
House Vice Speaker Manny Tenorio, Rep. Martin Ada and Rep. Benjamin Seman and Frank Taitano, special assistant for customs and quarantine policy and research, are also included in the list of conference participants issued by EPA.
The other CNMI agencies and private entities represented in the delegation are the Department of Public Works, Ericco Enterprises, Allied Pacific Environmental Consulting and Maeda Pacific Corp., Clean Earth, Inc.
Over the past 20 years, the annual PIEC has brought together recognized experts and leaders from across the Pacific and around the world to share experience and knowledge on a variety of topics.
