(Press Release) — “Collaborative partnership is key to leveraging our human capital and through which anything is possible,” stated Ana Demapan Castro, chair of the 16th Saipan and Northern Islands Municipal Council, and Antonia Manibusan Tudela, vice chair, at their recent meeting with Education Commissioner Alfred B. Ada, Ed.D. at his office on Capital Hill.
Education Commissioner Alfred B. Ada, Ed.D., center, with Saipan and Northern Islands Municipal Council Chair Ana Demapan Castro, right, and Vice Chair Antonia Manibusan Tudela.
Commissioner Ada swiftly agreed to the council’s request to meet and to share the council’s plans for the community.
He commended Castro’s proposal to immediately seek and secure the Public School System’s partnership and collaboration in installing surveillance cameras at all school bus stops on Saipan.
The council is also seeking the support and collaboration of the Legislature to identify funds and to pass legislation to dedicate the project in memory of Faloma Quitugua Luhk and Maleina Quitugua Luhk who were 10 and 9 years old at the time of their mysterious disappearance on May 25, 2011, after leaving their home to catch their bus near a public-school bus pavilion in As Teo. They have not been seen or heard from since then.
Council Chair Castro said “the primary goal as always is to augment our collective community-based efforts to preserve and promote youth safety and security.”
The council, she added, “envisions this program as part and parcel of its priority plan to reinstate the Saipan Neighborhood Watch program established and operated by prior council members, after it became temporarily inactive due to lack of funding.”
The council also proposed to collaborate with PSS in assisting, adopting, maintaining and even building additional bus stop pavilions through partnership with interested members in the community and non-profit organizations.
Commissioner Ada also welcomed the council’s proposal to help students improve their life-skills and academic performance.
He offered to personally assist and assign his designee to work on the council’s plans.
He also asked the Public School System’s directors of pupil transportation and information technology to collaborate with the council by providing technical assistance, research, and advise.
The council extends its heartfelt appreciation to Commissioner Ada and PSS for “the valuable partnership and for embracing the proposed programs aimed at augmenting our collective efforts to lift our residents’ quality of life especially during these uncertain pandemic times.”
“Both entities pledged to remain relentless in their collaboration and to apprise the community with their progress moving forward,” the council added.
The council’s priority projects that aim to benefit the youth and families in the villages are expected to implemented as soon as the government-wide austerity is lifted and needed government funding is gradually made available.
Some of the council’s priority community programs pertain to safety and security in the villages; providing youth and adults with opportunities and access to attain a high school diploma or its equivalent; workforce development training, to include employment search, application completion, and interviews; also, assistance in obtaining short-term certifications on workforce job-readiness; health and fitness activities; and cultural programs, among other things.
