Kimberlyn King-Hinds was re-elected chair of the Commonwealth Ports Authority board during an election of officers at the As Paris Restaurant on Rota Friday morning. <\/p>\n
Roman T. Tudela Sr. was elected vice chair and former Saipan senator Thomas P. Villagomez was chosen secretary.<\/p>\n
The board\u2019s committees assignments remain on status quo, except for the financial affairs committee, which will be now be chaired by Ramon Tebuteb.<\/p>\n
Barrie C. Toves chairs the airport facilities committee, Pete P. Reyes chairs the seaport facilities committee, and Joseph Diaz chairs the personnel affairs committee.<\/p>\n
The biggest and most critical issue the new board faces is the planned construction of a new terminal to replace the aging and antiquated terminal of the Francisco C. Ada\/Saipan International Airport.<\/p>\n
King-Hinds said yesterday that the Saipan airport is perhaps one of the most, if not the most, critical economic infrastructure in the CNMI. With the CNMI having a tourism driven economy, that means the airport is the first and last impression of the Commonwealth.<\/p>\n
King-Hinds said the terminal is clearly deteriorating.<\/p>\n
The chair noted that many industry partners have expressed the need for CPA to get with the times and meet the industry demand of providing an environment that\u2019s conducive to a good traveling experience. Yet CPA doesn\u2019t have the money and neither does the CNMI government.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut saying we don\u2019t have the money to fix the problem is not an option,\u201d King-Hinds said. \u201cWe believe the time [to build a new terminal] has come. We are daring to dream. And we are going to work our heart out to make that dream a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n
King-Hinds said she also wants to see the completion of the Tinian international airport. CPA is eyeing the money from the divert airfield project to federalize the terminal, build a hangar, and a fuel storage facility.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a little tricky right now because we don\u2019t have the hotel rooms and so we are so cautious on spending those funds,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
King-Hinds said she knows there are people who believe in the idea of \u201cbuild it and they will come\u201d\u2014a popular line from the movie Field of Dreams. \u201cI personally don\u2019t and I believe that we have to be a little pragmatic,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She said they are going to build the airport\u2019s capacity to welcome international flights, but the question is to what scale.<\/p>\n
As for Rota, King-Hinds said there some renewed interest in investments on Rota and that CPA will work aggressively to heed the call of the Rota family. All the priorities are about infrastructure improvements and, with CPA\u2019s limited resources, that\u2019s going to be a challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we are up for it and we are going to roll up our sleeves and work our heart out to make it happen,\u201d King-Hinds said.<\/p>\n
In December 2018, King-Hinds was elected CPA board chair, replacing longtime chair Jose R. Lifoifoi. King-Hinds is the first woman to chair the CPA board.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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