The government also failed to inform anyone, including the court, of the presence of this generator until the photos were taken, according to the Friends of Marpi website.
Glenn Hunter, one of the founding members of the Friends of Marpi, told Variety on Friday night that stand-alone generator was behind the tangan-tangan.
This, he said, belied Stump’s claim that there was no generator providing power to the cemetery.
The generator, according to the Friends of Marpi, works and runs the cemetery’s sprinkler system and public restroom.
Meanwhile, a group of landowners and farmers in Marpi launched on Friday a signature drive in support of the erection of power poles in Marpi.
One of them, Ed Cabrera, said there’s not really a lot of people living in Marpi but their families occasionally visit their properties there.
He said farmers and ranchers like him raise cows there so they have to frequent the area, hence the need for power.
Cabrera said his group will collect more than 300 signatures before the end of this week.
About a dozen people had signed the petition as of Friday.
Variety was also provided a map revealing who owns land in Marpi.
They are Manases T. Dela Cruz, Jesus P. Dela Cruz, Hedwig V. Hofschneider, Maria Santos, Jose C. Tenorio, Maria M. Borja, Rosa M. Jones, Senate President Paul A. Manglona, John S. Pangelinan, Agustin S. Tudela, Dino Jones, Gregorio P. Castro, Francisco S. Chong, Freddy Hofschneider, Antonio B. Camacho, Jack Little, Francisco M. Diaz, Ana T. Sablan, Roman S. Palacios, Jesus P. Castro, Luis P. Castro, Tobias Aldan, Jose R. Fitial, former Gov. Juan N. Babauta, Joaquin Manglona, Maria Pangelinan, the heirs of Jose R. Nekaifes, Maria M. Borja, Isabel M. Camacho, Victoria Vaughn, Consolacion C. Lizama and Bernardita T. Palacios.
Absurd
Hunter on Thursday evening lashed out at Stump for “justifying the unjustifiable.”
Describing the project and its basis as “absurd,” Hunter told the House Committee on Natural Resources that it was only Stump who was “adamant” in pursuing the project that advocates believe will mar the natural beauty of the Marpi area.
During the public hearing in the House chamber, Hunter bombarded Stump with several questions and accused the lawyer of lying.
He also expressed disgust about the government’s “disregarding, ignoring and disrespecting the will of the people.”
“Why is the CIP office fighting so strong to get it through?” he asked. “There’s something really odd here.”
Stump, who is with the governor’s Capital Improvement Projects Office, did not answer Hunter’s questions until Rep. Ray A. Tebuteb, R-Saipan, asked him why the installation of power poles in Marpi was necessary.
Stump said the power supply is “for future needs.”
Asked by Tebuteb whether the CIP office was informed about the land use plan for the area, Stump said it was considered during the one-stop permitting process with the Division of Environmental Quality, the Division of Fish and Wildlife and the Historical Preservation Office.
Hunter then turned to Rep. Stanley T. Torres, Ind.-Saipan, and said the House committee should be asking Stump questions instead of the people in the gallery who were supporters of the Friends of Marpi.
Former Rep. Tina Sablan told lawmakers that there should be a comprehensive land use plan before implementing any new development project on island.
Wes Bogdan, one of the attorneys of the Friends of Marpi, said the historic area is one of the most important natural resources the CNMI has and is the place that most tourists want to see.
He told lawmakers that it’s not too late to do the right thing.
Businessman Bud White reminded the House members of the previous copper theft incidents in Marpi, noting that there seems to be no one guarding the properties in the area. If copper wires that will be installed with the power poles were stolen, he asked, “do we have a budget to replace them?”
Russ Quinn, president of the Northern Mariana Islands Triathlon Federation, said the CNMI has hundreds of people involved in sports and most sport events like triathlon, biking and marathon are held in Marpi.
Aside from being away from the traffic and dogs, Marpi’s scenery and beauty add to the quality of every sports event held there, he said.
Marpi, he added, can be the biking capital of Micronesia.
Torres expressed concern about the landowners in the area. “What if these people decide to develop their property and put similar things on their own land? Are you going to prevent them?” he asked the advocates.
Rep. Raymond D. Palacios, Covenant-Saipan, asked Stump if the power to be provided to the veterans cemetery in Marpi “would be a burden to the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.?”
Stump said the Division of Parks and Recreation will be CUC’s customer.
Palacios then asked if landowners can hook up to the power lines of the cemetery, and Stump replied, “Yes.”
Sablan, however, clarified that with regard to providing power to the cemetery, she was told it would be the Department of Public Health’s responsibility to pay for the power bills.
Rep. Joseph M. Palacios, R-Saipan and chairman of the committee, said as a result of the public hearing, they may come up with legislation that will take into consideration both sides of the issue.
In an email on Friday, Hunter apologized “for flying off the handle…at the public hearing,” saying that the “absurdity of this whole situation has just gotten to me.”
He said the hearing and his research over the past few months revealed the following:
• There are no hundreds of landowners in Marpi begging for power.
• There is no powerless veterans cemetery hoping and begging to be connected to CUC’s grid.
• There is no local indigenous push for lights at a cemetery due to cultural tradition.
• There is no technological barrier to setting up a bathroom without power or relying on rain for landscaping.
Hunter said “there is no logical reason that anyone in their right mind would be fighting to put up these poles, and that we should be exerting so much time and energy to counter them. Who are we fighting? If it is not the landowners, not the veterans cemetery and not the public cemetery users, then who is it?”
According to Hunter, “We are fighting Jim Stump…. No one else is pushing so strongly for this power pole project…. Only one person, Jim Stump, has openly displayed a determination to initiate and complete a power pole project in Marpi despite overwhelming opposition and readily available alternatives.”
Hunter noted that the public cemetery “has power through a stand-alone generator.”
He said Stump is “willing to needlessly waste CIP money on power poles for a bathroom and a sprinkler system at a cemetery (the tune of who knows how many hundreds of thousands of dollars).”
Hunter added, “Everything Jim said last night was completely absurd. None of his ‘justifications’ can be substantiated. Much of his testimony was either outright lies or twisting of truth.”
Variety tried but failed to get a comment from Stump.
Press Secretary Angel Demapan, in an email yesterday, said: “If the members of Friends of Marpi did their research beforehand, they would know that the generator that is currently at the Veterans Cemetery is the property of the contractor and not the government. The contractor has a generator running because there is no power supply for him to fulfill the terms of the contract, which include irrigation to grow the grass in the area.
Once the contractor runs the irrigation system for six months, then the generator will be removed from the area. Otherwise, that generator is not there for purposes of the cemetery’s operations. Moreover, a generator would be an inadequate power supply to run the lights and irrigation systems for both the veterans and the soon-to-be completed public cemetery.”
