SG Auto Shop mechanics Remuel Maritano and Vicente Carolino are seen near the boom truck that blocked Earhart Drive in Gualo Rai on July 14, 2023.
RESIDENTS of Earhart Drive in Gualo Rai are urging the CNMI government to fix the road “before another accident happens.”
Lim Jae Yeol and two other residents on Wednesday expressed their concerns about the road’s poor condition. They are the neighbors of SG Auto Shop owner Jong Hoo Lee whose boom truck overturned while transporting a water tank to his home on July 14, 2023.
In an interview, Lim said in the past 10 years, there have been multiple accidents involving vehicles driving uphill on Earhart Drive.
He said he, his wife, and his son also were involved in similar separate incidents when the vehicles they were in turned over at the same spot.
Lim said the road’s very poor condition is also affecting his business.
He said business associates have declined his invitations to visit his house because they are afraid of driving on Earhart Drive.
Drinking water companies, moreover, don’t want to deliver water to his house because a few years ago, a drinking water truck turned over on the unpaved road, he added.
When it rains, he said the road’s condition becomes worse due to runoff.
The Saipan Mayor’s Office grant writer, Mary Ann Borja, said she has received calls from several Gualo Rai residents complaining about the condition of Earhart Drive.
Borja said the responsible agencies need to take action before another accident happens and cause a fatality.
She said she was made aware that local fund was appropriated for road repair. “Residents want to know where’s the money for the repair of the road,” she added.
