“The center is falling apart,” she said.
She said the lack of regular repair and maintenance of the center’s vehicles and facilities is so serious that it is already posing danger to the manamko’.
All of the center’s service vehicles are old and its facilities are infested with termites, she added.
Mondala said the Legislature took away the $50,000 allocation for the center’s repair and maintenance this year.
The Legislature, she added, reprogrammed the budget for the center “because we are not a priority.”
“They don’t think about us. They’re always talking about their pet projects in their precincts. Why don’t they make the center their pet project?” she said.
The vehicles are more than 10 years old and it’s “almost impossible” to fix them, she added.
Some of the senior citizens are the ones doing the repair and renovation of the center’s facility, including the vehicles, she said.
Mondala is asking the Legislature $150,000 for the procurement of new vehicles and the repair of the center’s 15-year-old dilapidated kitchen.
If the Legislature would not listen, she said, she will lead the manamko’ in a rally on Capital Hill.
Jess Pangelinan, one of the senior citizens, reminded the CNMI government about its “obligation” to the Aging Center.
On Wednesday afternoon, a van carrying five senior citizens caught fire in Tanapag after dropping some of its passengers in Kagman and As Matuis.
Mondala said it took one hour for the fire division to respond and arrive at the scene.
The truck from the Garapan fire station responded to their call, she said.
She urged the manamko’ residing in San Roque and Tanapag to ask their lawmakers to do something with the non-operational fire station in San Roque.
“Something is really wrong. It’s very frustrating,” Mondala said, referring to the delayed response of the fire division.
Yesterday, the manamko’ conducted an unscheduled fire drill at the Aging Center.
Aging Center program director Walter Manglona briefed the senior citizens about the basic “do’s and don’ts” when going out of the building.
During the drill, they discovered that some of the center’s fire alarms were broken.
Mondala said the fire hydrants are not regularly checked by the fire division.
