![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/GAME-PLAN_icon.jpg\"){kind=icon}
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Despite COVID-19 pandemic, the Commonwealth Ports Authority\u2019s plans for the Francisco C. Ada\/Saipan International Airport have not changed.<\/p>\n CPA board chair Kimberlyn King-Hinds said yesterday that CPA continues to forge ahead in pursuing their goal to either upgrade and expand the existing airport facilities or build a new terminal that they believe is critical to growing a sustainable economy for the CNMI. <\/p>\n \u201cCPA is excited about this project and we are excited about the steps that we are taking on the path to helping our Commonwealth rise,\u201d said King-Hinds, when asked about CPA\u2019s plans to revive the tourism industry after the COVID-19 crisis.<\/p>\n She disclosed that they recently submitted a grant application\u2014in collaboration with the Office of the Governor and the assistance of Gov. Ralph DLG Torres\u2019 senior policy adviser Glenna Palacios-Reyes\u2014to assist CPA in undertaking a Strategic Long Range Intermodal Study, which will help CPA lay the foundation for a robust public discussion and vetting, based on hard data, projected economic growth, financial capability, and current conditions of their existing facilities. <\/p>\n \u201cWe are cautiously optimistic that, with the awarding of this grant, the required due diligence for such a huge undertaking will begin,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n King-Hinds said they want a process that\u2019s transparent, with buy-in from their stakeholders, industry partners and the community and having information that is publicly available, and it is believed that this study will be key to that.<\/p>\n \u201cWhichever course we end up pursuing, we are talking about a capital investment in the hundreds of millions potentially,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n King-Hinds said she knows it\u2019s difficult right now, given the state of the CNMI\u2019s economy, to imagine such an endeavor. \u201cHowever, we are going to end up being stuck in the same cyclical economic rut if we don\u2019t shift our paradigm in terms of what we need to invest in, to not only grow our tourism industry but to attract new, clean investment opportunities to diversify our economic portfolio,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The CNMI\u2019s ports are the first and last impression of the Commonwealth, but right now, it\u2019s not the best, she said. Even if they fix the leaky roofs at the airport, which they are currently working on, it doesn\u2019t change the fact that it\u2019s outdated and is limited in capacity. <\/p>\n Last November, the CPA board started public discussions on CPA\u2019s plan to build a new $300-million terminal to replace the existing Saipan international airport that King-Hinds described as \u201coutdated and deteriorating.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Despite COVID-19 pandemic, the Commonwealth Ports Authority\u2019s plans for the Francisco C. Ada\/Saipan International Airport…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":322389,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[124,257],"class_list":["post-322402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-cpa","tag-nmi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Kimberlyn-King-Hinds-mug-150x150.jpg\")