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Scoop
09-08-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
CNMI to request 60-day extension on comment period for US military's plans for the territory
, RNZ Pacific Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas correspondent The Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) wants more time for residents to share their thoughts about the United States military's plans for the territory. CNMI's delegate to the US Congress Kimberlyn King-Hinds said the CNMI administration will be requesting a 60-day extension on the comment period for the Revised Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Mariana Islands Training and Testing and CNMI Joint Military Training. "I know that the governor will be submitting a request for an additional commenting period, 60 days," she said. She said CNMI's leaders might have to sit together and be very strategic in terms of responding to the plans. The first-term congresswoman said the draft EIS is the CNMI's best opportunity to make requests on the impact of heightened military activities in the Commonwealth and the mitigations that need to be built in. "I do know there are a lot of conversations happening both in the House and the Senate with regards to additional footprints here today and making additional investments, whether it be the port rehabilitation at the roads back to the North Field. "But that we should put our collective heads together and work with the governor and have a firm statement, a firm statement in terms of specific asks in response to the EIS," she added. King-Hinds said she agreed with Senator Jude Hofschneider's comment during the town hall meeting that the impact of the CJMT will be significant on Tinian. She said that is why the CNMI should make its specific asks now, so those requests can be included in the National Defense Authorisation Act. "I've been tracking and communicating with Alan Perez [Tinian Mayor Edwin Aldan's chief of staff] with regards to some of the asks for remaining funds for the roads, for example. And so, you know, there's more than one way to skin the cat, and we're all, we're doing it all. "I'm really happy that the governor, if you know what I mean, is down to put our heads together and begin to work," she said. Last month, four community groups from the CNMI and Guam-From Luta, For Luta, Micronesia Climate Change Alliance, Tinian Women's Association, and Our Common Wealth 670-as well as dozens of concerned community members and the diaspora, called for a 45-day extension on the comment period for the Draft EIS. The original draft EIS 75-day public review and comment period started on 6 June and its deadline is 20 August. Aside from the Apatang-Mendiola administration's request for an extension, King-Hinds also discussed and answered a myriad of questions from the around 50 people in attendance during the townhall meeting. The venue of the From the Hill to the Vill event-the Tinian Youth Center-represented King-Hinds' first foray into government services as she served as its director in the early 2000s. During her time as head of the Tinian Youth Center, King-Hinds said she used creative ways to pay staff by seeking the help of the Work Investment Agency. The center also used to have a swimming pool, and she commissioned a replica of the Washington Monument on its premises-a portent of things to come as far as her political career went.
Scoop
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
CNMI and Guam decry rushed military proposal, demand more time for public input
, RNZ Pacific Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas correspondent Community groups from the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and Guam are calling for a 45-day extension to the public feedback period on a US military proposal for joint military. From Luta, For Luta, Micronesia Climate Change Alliance, Tinian Women's Association, and Our Common Wealth 670, as well as dozens of concerned community members and the diaspora, have rasied concerns about the Revised Draft Environmental Impact Statement (RDEIS) on the Mariana Islands Training and Testing (MITT) and CNMI Joint Military Training (CJMT) proposals. The 75-day public review and comment period started on 6 June. The deadline for public feedback is 20 August. In a letter, titled "For Our Home, Our People, Our Responsibility" that was submitted to CNMI elected and appointed officials, the groups raised urgent concerns about rushed timelines, inaccessible documents, and the lack of meaningful public participation in decisions that carry generational consequences for the Marianas. "This is not an opportunity to comment. This is an overhaul of our lives, our land, and our right to self-determination," the letter stated. "We are not asking for symbolic gestures. We are asking our leaders to use their power to slow this process down, ensure our people are not left out, and make sure that local agencies are not silent." Key concerns raised in the letter include; inaccessible documents and broken links on the CJMT website; delayed translations, with Chamorro and Carolinian versions only posted 17 days after the EIS release; rushed and siloed public meetings, with no space for open dialogue or community exchange; and lack of agency response, including absence of comments or guidance from CNMI regulatory bodies. "We write to you as people of this land. As descendants of fishermen, farmers, weavers, and healers. As stewards who carry forward traditions of protection, relationship, and inafa'maolek-even in the face of harm. We write because what is happening now threatens not just the environment, but the very future of our home," the groups said. They said the MITT and CJMT are not routine documents, as the proposals outline expanded war games, live-fire training, and permanent transformation of the Mariana Islands and its surrounding waters. They added that the Revised DEIS carries real, generational consequences-yet was released on overlapping timelines, updated quietly (as recently as June 23), and shared through broken links and inaccessible formats. "Public meetings [were] rushed across Tinian, Saipan, and Rota - while most of our people still have no meaningful access to the materials. The public meetings further highlighted these barriers. "There was no space for open dialogue. No opportunity to witness or engage with the thoughts, questions, and concerns of our neighbors. "Community members were directed to submit comments in isolation-asked to step aside, into a corner, to speak or write without visibility, without affirmation, and without the collective process that our cultures are built on. This is not meaningful and substantive participation. It is performative, procedural, and extractive," they said. In addition, the community groups from Saipan, Tinian, Rota, and the diaspora are also urging the CNMI leadership for transparency, accountability, and meaningful community inclusion not only on the Revised DEIS but also on ongoing US Air Force developments on Rota. The groups also took issue with recent developments that saw Guam being used as a decoy in global headlines for B-2 bomber attacks in Iran. To this end, the groups are calling for three immediate actions: A 45-day extension to the MITT and CJMT public comment periods; full, transparent, and equitable access to materials across all islands; and public engagement and comments from relevant CNMI agencies, shared openly with the community. The signatories emphasised that this is not only about environmental review-it's about the future of the Marianas. "Our islands are not expendable. Our people are not collateral. This is a moment to lead-not through silence or compliance, but through courageous alignment with the values we were raised in."
