THE Mayor’s Office of Saipan cleaned up Tanapag cemetery on Saturday, Sept. 7.
Municipal staff cleared brush and used heavy equipment to repair the secondary roads around the cemetery. Numerous graves had become overgrown with grass, tangantangan and other vegetation. There were also some graves with litter on them.
Mayor RB Camacho said their cleanup efforts had begun well ahead of All Souls Day in November.
He said parts of the cemetery had become an “eyesore” and that he wanted to help community members clean the burial sites of their deceased relatives.
This and other cleanups also promote his platform of a “safe community, a clean island, a clean village,” the mayor said.
Camacho at the same time called on the administration to begin efforts to open the public cemetery in Marpi adjacent to the Veterans Cemetery. The Marpi cemetery is owned by the CNMI government and was established in 1999 by Public Law 11-117. It is currently overgrown with foliage, the mayor said. By virtue of P.L. 11-117 the Marpi Public Cemetery falls under the purview of the Department of Lands and Natural Resources.
Variety files from December 2023 quoted architect Herman Cabrera as saying the Marpi cemetery could cost over $464,000 to open.
On Saturday, Mayor Camacho said the Tanapag cemetery is “very limited” and that it is crucial to begin preparing Marpi to receive burials.
“That’s why I keep bothering the governor,” Camacho said. “Let’s get funding and fix up Marpi. Because [Tanapag cemetery] has a little more extension, but it’s swampy. Every month somebody dies, every week. Where are we going to put all these bodies? I continue to push the administration. Let’s act on this public cemetery.”
A grave at the Tanapag Cemetery overgrown with brush on Saturday, Sept. 7.
Graves under the shade of a tree and among overgrown såkati in Tanapag. In the foreground, Styrofoam plates can be seen.
At least two grave markers can be seen among the overgrown vegetation at the Tanapag cemetery. Numerous other graves are not visible because of the trees and grass.
A tree grows out of a grave. Foliage and litter have been piled on top of the grave as well.
Heavy equipment is used to repair the secondary roads around the Tanapag Cemetery.
Many graves are well maintained at the Tanapag cemetery. A municipal staff member is seen trimming grass on Saturday, Sept. 7.
The area has infrastructure for the Marpi public cemetery, which was established in 1999 by Public Law 11-117, but has yet to open. It is already overgrown with foliage.
The area designated for the Marpi public cemetery is covered with overgrown vegetation.
