A public hearing is also scheduled at 6:30 p.m. tonight in the cafeteria of Gregorio Camacho Elementary School Cafeteria in San Roque, where the public may review or comment on the draft environmental assessment report.
The proposed Kalabera Cave Development Project in Marpi area aims to improve the island’s image as a tourist destination.
Proponents said Kalabera Cave project is designed to meet or exceed the requirements of local and federal laws, and construction includes car and bus parking, pathway, resting house, house of prayer, pictograph, interpretive house, and cave interior lighting.
Among the areas of concerns are aesthetics, transportation, air quality, noise, cultural and historical resources, biological resources, geology and soils, hydrology and water quality, hazardous materials, and public utilities and service systems, according to project consultant Herman B. Cabrera & Associates.
An environmental assessment report for the proposed Kalabera Cave Development Project has to be certified by the commonwealth pursuant to National Environmental Policy Act and National Historic Preservation Act guidelines, DPW said.
An environmental assessment report is a written document that discusses the potential environmental effects of the proposed Kalabera Cave Development project and feasible mitigation measures to reduce those effects to less-than-the-significant levels, it added.
Among the collaborating agencies are DPW, the Coastal Resource Management Office, the Department of Public Lands, the Division of Environmental Quality, the Historical Preservation Office, the Division of Fish and Wildlife and the Marianas Visitors Authority.
The project is funded by the US Department of the Interior’s Office of the Insular Affairs.
