CNMI Museum of History and Culture executive director Robert Hunter said in an interview that there should be a way to get rid of these abandoned and dilapidated buildings.
“The government needs to come up with a mandatory requirement to remove all buildings that have been left idle for some months, or some regulations that will have these buildings turned over to the government so that these structures will not remain an eye sore on this beautiful island,” Hunter said.
He said a couple of tourists sent him an email commenting on how beautiful the island is but adding that its beauty is marred by the sight of dilapidated and abandoned buildings.
“These abandoned buildings just show how hard the economy has become, but there are ways to erase these traces so we could project a positive image to our tourists,” Hunter said.
With the demise of the garment industry, tourism the CNMI’s only industry and everybody, and not just the tour operators and agencies, should help protect the commonwealth’s natural beauty, he added.
“Tourist arrivals have gone drastically down for the past years, and we need to do more to lure them back to visit here,” he said.
Hunter said spending money to advertise the CNMI in media outlets with a global audience such as television shows also helps.
