We recognize that our request comes late; however, we would have spoken up earlier had there been a public hearing on this project.
Unfortunately, we never had a chance to be heard.
The NMITF has over 200 members who are involved in biking, swimming, running, hiking and other adventure sports. We are the CNMI’s official representative for triathletes to the Northern Marianas Amateur Sports Association. Our athletes are the foundation of the CNMI’s most well-known sports events, such as the XTERRA, Tagaman, and Rota Blue Triathlons.
Marpi is where Saipan’s sports community goes to train and play. For runners, it is a safe place to run away from dogs in the villages. Swimmers enjoy the Marpi pool as well as the ocean waters of Paupau Beach. For road cyclists, Marpi has beautiful scenery and little traffic. For mountain bikers, it has miles of trails through beautiful forests (Kimikaze trail), past latte stones (Autobahn trail), past strange ruins from Saipan’s past (Nan Madol trail), and through the old Sugar Train railroad gorge (Japan Town trail). Hikers are frequently found on the Marpi trail network. In fact, we are currently drafting the content for a website that declares Saipan the “Mountain Biking Capital of Micronesia” which will describe each trail so that we can attract more tourists with the unmatched beauty found in Marpi.
Marpi is, in a sense, the CNMI’s national park. It is a place of serenity, beauty, history, rugged adventure, and nature where each of us can go to escape work and restore our spirits. We no longer have such a place in Kagman or Koblerville. Some place needs to remain undeveloped for this generation and future generations. The last place remaining is Marpi.
The placement of the power poles along the W-2 Highway from the Buddhist Temple to the new cemetery is a visual blight. While we previously would run, cycle, or drive north to Marpi and raise our eyes to look at the limestone cliffs to our right, we now look to our right to see wooden power poles, their guy wires, and electric lines strewn between them. This beautiful strip of green grass and brilliant orange flame trees that has caused many a motorist to pull over and take photos, now has an electric grid in its midst. Soon, with the approach of the typhoon season, each of these trees will lose their beautiful limbs to the heavy hands of the CUC crews who will cut them far back from the (all-important) power lines. It seems that in choosing to put up these power lines that we have a priorities backwards — favoring the dead in the cemetery over the live people who enjoy Marpi all day long.
Bikers and joggers get up at 5 a.m. to travel to Marpi to enjoy it during the cool of the morning. In the mid day, busloads of tourists visit the Last Command Post, Banzai Cliff, and the Bird Island Overlook. Vans and pickup trucks with divers head north to the Grotto. After work, the local residents return to spend a couple of hours hiking, swimming, biking, and running as the island cools down again. Sunsets from Marpi can be enjoyed without seeing a village or a hotel in the foreground. Then, at night, as the stars appear, residents can go to Marpi to enjoy the constellations without the loom of the lights of Garapan obstructing their view. We can lose this all so easily. We lost the serenity of Mt. Tapochau when a blinding, flashing light was installed at the peak. We lost the quiet beauty of Tanapag Harbor when CPA installed giant floodlamps on Charlie Dock. We do not have to repeat these mistakes in Marpi.
If we had been able to testify at a public hearing, this is just part of what our members would have said. We think we should have been heard at a public hearing. But, a public hearing regarding the installation of power poles was never noticed.
Governor, we respect the difficult decisions you have to make on a daily basis. With respect, we ask you to reconsider this decision, remove the power poles, look at alternative energy sources, and adopt a policy of protecting Marpi. As you know, the CNMI has few natural resources, but at least we were blessed with beauty — that is our best resource. Let’s not give it up for a cemetery.
RUSS QUINN
President
Northern Mariana Islands
Triathlon Federation
