By Bryan Manabat
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Variety News Staff
FOLLOWING a vandalism incident that forced Garapan Central Park to close Wednesday night, Division of Parks and Recreation Director Mike Cruz said the park is now back in operation after staff repaired and secured the electrical panel.
“Back in operation,” Cruz said Friday. “Now we are going to secure the electrical panel, so hopefully this doesn’t happen again.”
Parks and Recreation shut down the park Wednesday evening after receiving a call from a Zumba group reporting that the facility had no electricity.
Two weeks earlier, Parks and Recreation employees had repaired power lines that were deliberately cut. When they completed those repairs and reopened the park, they also installed a locked iron grill and chain to secure the electrical panel.
Frustrated by the repeated vandalism, Cruz said the incidents have caused many community events to be canceled.
Bryan Manabat was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College where he also studied criminal justice. He is the recipient of the NMI Humanities Award as an Outstanding Teacher (Non-Classroom) in 2013, and has worked for the CNMI Motheread/Fatheread Literacy Program as lead facilitator.
