NORTHERN Marianas College, through its Cooperative Research and Extension Education Services, is working with the Tinian Mayor’s Office and the Tinian Legislative Delegation through the office of Senate President Jude U. Hofschneider in developing a cattle industry there.
NMC Interim Dean Patricia Coleman, who is assisting in the development of the cattle industry on Tinian, is also working with the Commonwealth Development Authority.
Right now, she said the focus is a slaughterhouse that is certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The name of the proposed slaughterhouse is Tinian Kualidat Meat Processing Center.
Coleman said the work includes certification training for those who will operate the USDA-certified slaughterhouse.
“We are hoping that in very near future we will have a USDA-certified slaughterhouse on Tinian. As you know, Tinian has [a] history of cattle ranching, and in the past used to be the bread basket of the NMI. So we hope to tap into the collective talent that Tinian has in cattle ranching and work with them to enhance economic activities, ranching and other agricultural output on island,” she said.
NMC Interim President Frankie Eliptico said, “This is part of our many efforts to increase food security and to stimulate economic activity in the CNMI, with a particular emphasis on Tinian.”
Tinian Mayor Edwin P. Aldan, in a separate interview, said he is excited to see a USDA-certified slaughterhouse on Tinian soon.
He thanked NMC and CDA for “such a very important work that will enhance Tinian’s economic activities.”
His office, he said, will run the facility.
“But I don’t want to open a slaughterhouse that is not certified by the federal government. There has to be proper equipment and certified personnel in the slaughterhouse before we can open it,” he added.