THE Department of Lands and Natural Resources wants the Garapan Fisheries Complex to remain accessible to local fishermen.
Lands and Natural Resources Secretary Thomas B. Pangelinan said the area remains the only public land that provides boat access to the waters between Sugar Dock and Smiling Cove Marina.
“We estimate that up to 450 boats may go out fishing everyday, a great number of them leaving from the fishing base,” Pangelinan said.
He said the boat ramp at the area provides important access to fishermen for launching, off-loading and pulling out their boats.
“It is crucial that use of the site for fishing not be lost,” said Pangelinan in a letter to Rep. Arnold I. Palacios, R-Saipan and chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Pangelinan at the same time said he supports the intention of House Local Bill 13-21 which would designate the fishing base as a public park.
Rep. Ramon Tebuteb, R-Saipan, introduced the local bill.
DLNR would also like to see the public park used for multiple purposes, and not only limited to tourism, cultural activities and increased fishing opportunities, Pangelinan said.
“We envision, and have been planning for, a public market on the site, for the sale of locally caught fish and locally grown produce, to benefit our local fishermen and farmers,” he said.
The public market could also be a venue for selling handicrafts and processed foods, and would be patronized by local residents and tourists, he added.
Pangelinan said DLNR has developed a conceptual design for a unique, centralized public market on this land.
“H.L.B. 13-21 puts the department one step forward, blocking opportunist investors from taking the site, and preserving it for public purposes,” Pangelinan said.
A basketball court, a skateboard park or a volleyball park could also be put up at the proposed public park.
Pangelinan said a wetland could also be built at the site, similar to the project proposed by the Division of Environmental Quality for the public land near Dai-Ichi Hotel. DEQ wants to treat highly contaminated runoff water in that area before it reaches the Saipan lagoon.
