These poles, the protesters said, are not only unnecessary but are also destroying the “aesthetics” of one of Saipan’s tourist attractions.
As of yesterday, 114 people had already signed an online petition against the power poles (http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/keep-marpi-beautiful—–for-tourists-and-residents-alike/).
The power poles, according to Press Secretary Angel A. Demapan, are part of the capital improvement project that involves a public cemetery just next to the Veterans Cemetery.
OIA’s CIP coordinator Keith Aughenbaugh told Variety yesterday that running power lines to the public cemetery is the last part of the project which “recently got the approval of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife.”
But this approval, he added, is for measures to protect endangered species in the area like the nightingale reed warblers.
Aughenbaugh said OIA was aware of the plan before the project commenced.
All the necessary permits both from local and federal regulatory agencies were obtained, he added.
Stan Good, the project manager, confirmed this, but declined to further comment.
Asked if an underground power line was a better alternative, Good said it was the job of the local CIP office to make that determination.
Demapan, in his email to Variety, said the poles in the area “are not permanent structures and can always be changed when the opportunity to do so exists.”
Currently, he said, the administration continues to “pursue a transition of dependence from conventional energy to alternative or renewable energy.”
He added, “Once we have such options available here, then we may be able to revisit the power supply source to the cemeteries in Marpi.”
The administration, he said, recognizes the concerns about the power poles, but “we must also take into account the need to supply power to the soon-to-be completed public cemetery which will house a memorial service hall and public restrooms.”
He said there are no available restrooms in the area and this has also been one of the major concerns raised by people who attend burial services at the Veterans Cemetery, which is right next to the new public cemetery.
Former Rep. Tina Sablan said “what is happening in Marpi is tragic.”
“We can talk so much about how important tourism is, and how important it is to protect our islands’ natural beauty and wild places, and bring in speakers from all over the world to talk about that for our economic restoration summits and geo-tourism conferences, and then in the very same month of all these meetings go and build power poles in the most beautiful, most culturally significant, and most historically rich spot on the island,” she said.
Sablan said better alternatives have been ignored.
“I have been told by the contracting officer for the CIP office that the reason for all these power poles is to provide electricity for lights at the cemeteries, including lights for new bathrooms up there, and to power the pumps that will water the grass,” she said.
“When I asked why on earth we would build more public restrooms that will almost certainly be neglected and vandalized and probably be locked up indefinitely after a while and why we needed to water the grass at the cemetery when we receive 80 inches of rain a year and moreover still have problems providing 24-hour running water for the community, I was told that that restrooms, lights, and a sprinkler system were simply part of the plans for the cemeteries,” she added.
Sablan suggested that if the CIP office was determined to build a restroom and lights in Marpi, she could help submit a request for the Marianas Resource Conservation & Development Council to approve the transfer of the solar panels to Marpi.
Sablan recently became an officer of the council which has purchased solar panels and restroom fixtures for a solar restroom demonstration project at the intersection of Beach Road and Quartermaster.
Sablan said there are other organizations and individuals concerned about protecting Marpi.
They are willing to help examine alternatives, she added.
Rep. Stanley T. Torres, Ind.-Saipan and chairman of House Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation and Communications, said he does not think power poles are needed in Marpi.
