RB Camacho
SAIPAN Mayor Ramon “RB” Camacho is appealing to the Department of Public Lands to reconsider its authorization allowing his office to get 100 cubic yards of aggregate quarry materials per year from each quarry operator at no cost.
“Don’t limit the mayor’s office,” Camacho said. “When you use that amount of raw materials to fix a road in a certain area, then mother nature hits, such as torrential rains, and those aggregate materials will be washed away. What then will we use to repair the secondary roads when the 100 cubic yards of aggregate are exhausted?” he asked, adding, “It’s not about me, it’s about the community.”
Mayor Camacho said, “Every time I need the aggregate for community projects, I need to send a request to DPL for their review, and then how long will it take for me to wait?”
He wants DPL to coordinate with the quarry operators.
Camacho said he receives requests for road repairs on a daily basis from community members, and some of those requests require his immediate attention.
“Stop the delays — there is only one mayor for the entire island of Saipan,” he added.
In a letter to DPL Secretary Teresita Santos on July 10, 2023, Camacho requested access to quarries to facilitate the repair and improvement of several roads. He also wanted to avail himself of Article 11 of the temporary occupancy agreement, exempting the mayor’s office from paying any charges for quarry materials extracted from a quarry site operated by a permitee under a valid permit.
Camacho told the DPL secretary that his office receives many requests for road repairs, but “I can no longer provide that service as the…the Municipality of Saipan does not have financial means to pay for public property to be used for public services. Hence, I urge you to take immediate action as those materials are essential for improving road durability and enhancing overall safety for motorists and pedestrian alike.”
Santos approved Camacho’s request to avail himself of Article 11 of the temporary occupancy agreement, but added that “the government agency will be responsible for…all costs associated with such a project to include heavy equipment rental for the extraction, loading and delivery from the quarry site to project site.”
The six quarry permittees are Construction Materials & Supply Inc. in Kannat Tabla, Resource Management International Corp. in As Matuis, Success International Corp. in As Matuis, USA Fanter in Kannat Tabla, Hong Ye Rental in Dandan, and JG Sablan Quarry in As Matuis.
Hong Ye Rental and JG Sablan Quarry are currently not in operation.
