Officials to get tour of Pagan

NORTHERN MARIANAS – Local and federal officials in the Northern Marianas are set to tour the remote island of Pagan this weekend as part of ongoing talks on US plans for a live-fire training facility.

Governor Ralph Torres will be leading a joint CNMI and US panel and to show Pagan to the federal officials to give them an idea of its environment.

He says he wants to also see the military’s proposal for live-fire training on Pagan.

Esther Kia’ana and Steve Eisner, from the Office of Insular Affairs will comprise the US panel, while Torres will be accompanied by his legal counsel Wes Bogdan, Senate Vice President Arnold Palacios, and Representative Angel Demapan.

The United States military forces plan to use Pagan as a live-fire training site for units associated with an imminent, large-scale build-up of US marines in neighbouring Guam.

Marianas authorities and residents are firmly opposed to the plans, and have been submitting their concerns to the US in a series of consultations.

One of the main concerns is that the plans could badly damage the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands’ fast-growing tourism industry.

The US plans have been in the pipeline for at least six years, with American officials having conducted various consultations and received thousands of submissions on them.

Pagan, which is described by one American biologist as a “biological treasure house”, remains largely uninhabited following volcanic eruption in 1981.

Yet, Pagan’s indigenous community hopes to one day return to resettle there.

While the US plans for the CNMI appear central to their efforts to counter the rapid surge of China’s military in the western Pacific, it seems timely that Chinese interests are coming in to play in the Marianas.

They come primarily in the form of two major casino developments that are helping transform the otherwise struggling Marianas economy.

In the past two years, Chinese money has been a big part of the territorys emergence as an attractive gambling hub.

- RNZI/PNC