The Northern Marianas government says building a divert airfield on Tinian is in the long-term best interests of both the United States Air Force and the CNMI.
The Governor, Eloy Inos, says the Air Force has not properly calculated the true worth of using the island as an alternative site if Andersen Air Force Base in Guam becomes unavailable due to weather or war.
He says the Tinian alternative can fully satisfy all the mission requirements set out in the assessment work completed to date, as opposed to Saipan, and choosing the island would foster goodwill between both parties.
Mr Inos had said earlier the Air Force's request to lease 14 hectares of land on Saipan for the next 50 years for a proposed divert airfield was undesirable and would impede future commercial development in the area.
On Tinian, two-thirds of the lands is already leased to the US military.
