Jesse Torres, the president of the association, said in an interview yesterday that many Kagman residents have approached him to express how “very upset they are.”
He said the residents have been waiting “for too long” to have their own wastewater treatment facility because they are worried about the possible contamination of the underground water which they also use.
A couple of days ago, Torres said the water that came out of his washing machine was “brownish” prompting him to call the Division of Environmental Quality.
Torres said Kagman has over 4,000 residents and this number is expected to go up next year.
Saipan has two wastewater treatment plants — one in Agingan that serves the southern part of the island, and the other in Sadog Tasi that receives sewage from the northern villages.
Kagman, which is composed of three villages, has no wastewater treatment facility.
A few years ago, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer wanted to build a wastewater treatment in Kagman but the proposal was met with objections due to many concerns about where the facility should be located.
Rep. Edward T. Salas, R-Saipan, said a public hearing was held a few months ago to, among other things, identify funding for the project and a suitable location for the wastewater treatment facility.
Identifying the proper area became problematic after residents couldn’t agree on one location.
The $1.7 million in capital improvement project funds earmarked for the Kagman wastewater project for fiscal year 2008 remained untouched.
Earlier this year, Gov. Benigno R. Fitial requested the Office of Insular Affairs to allow him to reprogram the CIP fund for the rehabilitation of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s Power Plant 1.
The governor also sought permission for the reprogramming of over $2 million in CIP funds earmarked for Rota wastewater projects.
OIA approved his request.
Torres noted that Kagman is the most isolated area on Saipan, yet it has also the fastest growing villages with three schools.
Citing the ongoing construction of businesses and a big hotel in their area, Torres said he is surprised that Kagman is being left out.
“Our people are very furious that the money is taken away from this basic infrastructure,” Torres said, adding that he has already written Representatives Salas and Rosemond B. Santos, R-Saipan, regarding this issue.
