“Look at us — our face is pale; we haven’t had beer for almost two months,” said a Rota resident who just arrived on Saipan yesterday.
With only one custom inspector on Rota, he said, it took almost two days for the 31 containers of goods to be unloaded from the port.
The custom inspector was “very religious” in her job, which further prolonged the inspection, he said.
Rota’s beer consumers, he said, asked that beer and liquor should be unloaded together with the food supplies.
But majority of the residents wanted rice and other basic commodities unloaded first, he added.
There was no untoward incident that occurred during the unloading of the 31 containers that were accumulated over the 54 days because the barge could not enter the port due to adverse weather conditions.
The resident, who asked not to be identified, is urging the mayor to address the recurring problems with the island’s port to avoid a scarcity of food supplies.
He said the municipal government should designate the “right vessel” that can navigate even in rough seas.
When the MV Super Shuttle — Saipan Shipping Company’s regular vessel servicing Rota — was on dry dock, SSC used a barge to transport cargoes to Rota.
A short-term solution is to use a good vessel that can deliver 15 containers, the resident said.
He said the long-term approach is to fix the port.
“But it would not be justifiable,” he added.
He said five years ago, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimated that $60 million would be needed to develop a modern port on Rota.
