The anti-littering police force comprises not one or two but eight government agencies. Are they on an extended break?
Meanwhile, volunteers, young and old, continue to conduct cleanups, especially in beach areas and at other tourism sites.
Let’s for once acknowledge a stubborn fact: it is unrealistic to expect that the anti-littering law can prevent, let alone, end littering once and for all. (Does the Criminal Code prevent criminal acts? What about the divinely mandated 10 Commandments?)
What the anti-littering law can do, if enforced consistently, is to penalize those caught littering, and to act, more or less, as a deterrent. But then again, law enforcers can’t be everywhere all the time. However, they should be at least somewhere enforcing the law, and they should regularly inform the public about it.
Meanwhile, we commend government agencies, community organizations, local residents and tourists who continue to participate and/or initiate cleanup and environmental awareness campaigns. Some individuals continue to dispose their trash improperly, but there are clearly more members of the public who care for the environment and are determined to keep their island clean.
Now and then, the government commends such groups and individuals, but besides handing out commemorative resolutions, government officials should also see to it that the enforcement of the anti-littering law continues without letup.
Stray dogs
IN passing the Saipan dog control law in 1995, the local legislative delegation did not include a funding provision for its enforcement, and so S.L.L. 9-12 was, for many years, a meaningless and basically useless law — just one of many.
Eleven years ago, then-Mayor Tudela, who promised to enforce the law when he ran for office in 2001, said it could not be enforced because lawmakers, despite his repeated requests, had not appropriated the needed funding.
In Nov. 2009, Donald Flores was elected Saipan mayor and he, too, pledged to implement the dog control law. He was true to his word. His successor, Mayor Apatang, has also seen to it that enforcement will be an ongoing effort, and it is.
To be sure, stray dogs still roam some of the streets on island. (The mayor’s dog-control personnel may want to visit Luughal or Laguunal Dr, corner Beach Road, where Asia Garden is located. On any given day, seven or more stray dogs congregate in the area which is also near a bus shelter for students.)
But members of the public are also aware that there is a dog-control program in place, and its personnel are actually enforcing the law. Considering the many challenges the program faces and will continue to face, that is probably all we can reasonably expect. What can also help is full compliance with the rules on the part of pet owners, and community members reporting the presence of stray dogs to the mayor’s office.
Workforce
THERE is a glaring disconnect between the recommended measures to “solve” the islands’ workforce shortage and the facts on the ground. This can be resolved easily by identifying the job categories for which there is a persistent, long-standing lack of workers. Construction jobs come to mind. College scholarships and/or “bringing back” college educated residents are laudable goals, but it is difficult to see how they could possibly create a larger construction workforce for the islands.
The economically benighted and hence immensely popular proposal to mandate further wage increases cannot adequately explain why prosperous nations that pay high wages and have much larger populations such as the U.S. and Japan are also facing construction workforce shortages. The U.S. and many other prosperous nations with large populations also lack workers for nursing and other caregiving jobs which are also well-paid careers.
We need, first of all, clarity. We need to know what exactly is the “problem” we’re trying to “solve,” and that requires looking back at similar efforts in the past, and the ongoing efforts of other territories, states and nations that have the same problem.
We cannot continue spouting the same nonsense that is as old as the problem itself.
