The newly formed Office of Planning and Development has already started putting together a comprehensive sustainable development plan for the CNMI. <\/p>\n
According its director, Kodep Ogumoro-Uludong, they are at the phase where they are taking stock of what is needed to devise a comprehensive plan for the CNMI. <\/p>\n
\u201cAssess what we already have in terms of existing planning capacity and then work to move forward with what we have and build on that\u2026the idea is to take stock,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
The Department of Planning and Development is a newly created office under the Office of the Governor that would basically serve as a middleman for all government agencies and their plans for development. <\/p>\n
During the Rotary Club of Saipan\u2019s weekly meeting on Tuesday at the Hyatt Regency Saipan\u2019s Giovanni Restaurant, Ogumoro-Uludong shared with the club\u2019s members the office\u2019s purpose, which is to increase coordination between all government agencies and to compile all their plans and ensure that they coincide with one another. <\/p>\n
\u201cSince the launch of the office, there has really been a lot of going out, introduction, and getting to know the various agencies,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Some of the major development comprehensive plans that the office is looking into are plans for housing, plans for the revitalization of Garapan, developments for the Northern Islands, and more. <\/p>\n
For the current housing shortage, for example, Ogumoro-Uludong said they are taking into account how much housing is currently available in order to devise the appropriate plan to improve the CNMI\u2019s shortage. <\/p>\n
\u201cHousing is certainly a priority area and a priority need for the Commonwealth at this time but the idea is to take stock of\u2026what sort of housing resources we have in conjunction with the Northern Marianas Housing Corp.\u2026and then determine from there what is best\u2026whether to get rid of substandard housing or figure out some way of addressing it as well as looking at what other areas are potential sites for housing developments,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The office is pushing for additional technical personnel to join their team of four.
\n\u201cWe are initially looking at hiring three planners with very specific backgrounds and that would also help to supplement what is already out there,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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