Variety obtained a letter from MVA Managing Director Perry John P. Tenorio requesting the project manager of the public cemetery in Marpi to consider an on-site energy source so the facility can have power supply and water without “scarring the natural beauty of the area.”
The number of people signing the online “Keep Marpi Beautiful” petition is increasing. As of yesterday afternoon, 154, including MVA marketing manager Bruce Bateman, had signed it already.
He said a stand-alone generator, solar power or a wind mill can be set up in the area.
The CNMI has 85 inches of rain annually so “why do we even need the water pump?” Bateman asked.
“If power is really needed in the public cemetery, then use below ground wiring and not the unsightly power poles,” he said in his comments on the online petition.
Tenorio, in a letter dated Dec. 6, 2010, told Stan Good, the project manager of public cemetery project, that Marpi is a prime location on Saipan.
Nearly all visitors go there and take pictures of its natural beauty and historical sites, he added.
Torres asked the project manager to consider the idea of on-site energy for the public cemetery.
If installing the traditional power line is the only option, he requested Good to consider running the wires underground “to maintain the sanctity of the cemeteries and the natural beauty of the Marpi area.”
Local attorney David Banes, who is among those protesting the erection of the power poles in Marpi, said he wants to make it clear that U.S. Fish and Wildlife “cleared” the cemetery project as it complies with the measure that protects wildlife there, especially endangered species like the nightingale reed warbler.
“U.S. Fish and Wildlife did NOT approve of the poles; instead they cleared the project, meaning they said no danger to wildlife,” Banes said in an email.
