Edward Deleon Guerrero, the executive director of the Commonwealth Ports Authority, said capital improvement project funds worth $400,000 are being spent for the repair work on Tinian.
“Right now, we are working with the regular CIP. We are doing the repair on Tinian dock. We are putting up fenders to take care of the tankers that deliver gasoline to Tinian so we can reduce their impact on the main dock,” Deleon Guerrero told the Variety.
“We are also putting up new boilers for better anchorage and we are also repairing some of the cracks at the dock,” he added.
The CPA chief said a complete feasibility study master plan for Tinian’s seaport is also being considered.
“To see what our priority projects should be. As you know, the Tinian breakwater needs to be replaced. And there are other things that should be fixed. But we will not know that unless we have a new master plan,” he said.
Previous studies showed that the Tinian municipality would need at least $40 million to fix the island’s damaged outer seawall and breakwater.
Tinian’s harbor was built during World War II.
Its outer seawalls and piers were damaged by extreme weather conditions and marine traffic.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did an assessment and an initial design to repair the damage.
Part of it is bringing big rocks to the damaged portion to prevent further erosion.
Two-thirds of public lands on Tinian are leased to the U.S. military which intends to use them for training and other drills once the estimated 8,600 Marines stationed in Okinawa, Japan are relocated to Guam.
