By Bryan Manabat
bryan@mvariety.com
Variety News Staff
SAIPAN Mayor Ramon “RB” Camacho is urging residents to “go farm or fish” instead of vandalizing public spaces.
Camacho said residents should choose “farming or fishing instead of destruction.”
The Division of Parks and Recreation recently closed Garapan Central Park for public events after staff discovered that power lines leading to the facility were deliberately cut.
The mayor’s office, along with the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, also responded last week to a complaint about coconut trees that had been spray-painted in the Laulau area.
Camacho, with help from local businesses, replaced a basketball backboard in Garapan that had been shattered before the holidays.
“If you got nothing to do, please find something productive rather than destruction,” Camacho said. “We’re all suffering. If you got nothing to do, we have a big ocean — go out and fish. There’s a lot of land — go out and farm.”
He said vandalism and crime are not the solution and encouraged residents to report vandalism and other suspicious activity at public parks and community spaces, noting that community involvement is essential to improving public safety.
“That’s why the mayor invites community members to join this program to promote a safe village,” he said. “I heard residents say they’re worried because of crime. To ease that worry, the mayor is launching a neighborhood watch and asks the community to participate.”
Camacho emphasized that government alone cannot address vandalism and crime without active participation from residents.
“It’s the community. Bring the community together,” he said. “Government alone is only a handful compared with a population of about 50,000. That is why the mayor is focusing on engaging the entire community.”
Camacho said his administration will continue working with public safety agencies, but long-term progress depends on residents taking ownership of their neighborhoods.
Bryan Manabat was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College where he also studied criminal justice. He is the recipient of the NMI Humanities Award as an Outstanding Teacher (Non-Classroom) in 2013, and has worked for the CNMI Motheread/Fatheread Literacy Program as lead facilitator.
