GOVERNOR Benigno R. Fitial says the U.S. military is considering leasing the northern island of Pagan for its drills and exercises but the proposal remains on the drawing board because future funding for the Guam buildup project that will spill over here hasnt been chose in Washington.
Fitial said the U.S. Congress hasnt passed a budget yet for the Guam buildup and reports reaching his office indicate that the deadline to determine how much the financially troubled nation can spend for related projects was set for March 4.
Pagan is about 47.2 square-kilometers with a maximum elevation of 570 meters and is the fourth largest island of the CNMI.
The island has an air-strip and was used by the Japanese forces during World War II. After the war, the Americans further developed its air-strip which was also used by locals who were later evacuated to Saipan in 1981 following a major volcanic eruption.
The governor said the CNMI, just like Guam, has high hopes that the buildup could stimulate economic growth in the Marianas.
He expressed hope that Washington will push through with the buildup, which is estimated to cost Japan and the United States at least $10 billion.
The buildup will relocate some 8,600 U.S. Marines from Okinawa, Japan starting 2012 through 2014.
After the Record of Choice was signed in September last year, signaling the start of the construction phase for the facilities that will accommodate the troops who will be went to Guam, the U.S. and Japan agreed to release over $1 billion.
But that money is to be spent entirely within the fence. Civilian-related projects like building new roads, facilities for water and power utilities, among other things, have no clear budget yet.
Fitial said there is already an assurance that Tinian will be used as a warm base for the relocating troops.
According to the ROD for Guam and the Northern Marianas, four firing ranges will be built on Tinian " the Known Distance rifle, Pistol/MP, Platoon, and Field live fire training ranges on north/northeast, north, or northeast alignments.
The documents described the training on Tinian as œa higher level of training than the individual skills level training conducted on Guam, and is essential to the end-state of sustaining combat readiness of the Marine Corps personnel on Guam.
œBecause Guam cannot accommodate all training for the relocating Marine Corps forces, Tinian, which is approximately 100 miles away and has greater land availability, provides the best opportunities for training groups of 200 Marines or larger, the next step of the training continuum, it added.
Two-thirds of public lands on Tinian are leased to the military for 99 years.
œThe ranges on Tinian would provide a training capability not available on Guam. They would enable tactical scenarios training in combination with the battalion landing and maneuver exercises and other larger unit training. Currently, DoD leases the Military Lease Area of 15,353 acres on
Tinian from CNMI. The Military Lease Area consists of two areas, the Exclusive Military Use Area encompasses 7,574 acres and the Leaseback Area contains 7,779 acres, the ROD stated.
Article source: http://www.mvariety.com/2011020334009/local-news/military-eyes-pagan-too.php
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