Mayor RB Camacho, standing right, meets with the business community from Precinct 4 at his office on Wednesday, Aug. 21.
Lito Dizon, left, listens while Cecelia Gapach, center, speaks about some issues facing the places where they work.
THE roundtable discussions with the island’s business community and Saipan Mayor RB Camacho resumed Wednesday, Aug. 21. This time, he met with business owners or their representatives from Precinct 4.
In attendance were the owners and/or the representatives of San Roque Market, J&N Mini Mart, Saipan Ice & Water Company, Capitol Hill Market, New I-Mart, Zhen Yu and Welcome Mart.
Camacho has been hosting meetings with various sectors of the community since November 2023 in order to promote his platform of “a safe community, a safe village, and a clean island.”
He has met with local religious leaders to discuss a public cemetery. He also met with cultural and ethnic groups to discuss a collaboration on various municipal community programs. The mayor likewise met with businesses of Precincts 1, 2 and 3 to discuss issues facing them.
At Wednesday’s meeting with Precinct 4 businesses, Mayor Camacho said he wanted to be a “liaison” between the business community and regulatory agencies.
“Show [your issues] to me and I’ll direct it to the agency,” he said.
One participant, Lito Dizon, asked the mayor to do something about merchandise that do not have proper labeling.
“English labels must always be on the product. It’s the law, but if you visit [some] supermarkets, you can see labels without English,” he said. “If you want to buy something, but you don’t understand what is written, are you going to buy? You think this is the right product but it’s wrong because you don’t understand what is written. You don’t know when [is] the expiration.”
Dizon said they are also competing with importers who sell cheaper products.
He said local businesses “are spending dollars” and “paying their employees with dollars” whereas importers do not.
Cecelia Gapach spoke about loitering issues. “What should we do about the people that sit [or are] always hanging in front of the stores?” she asked. “Customers —especially tourists — are scared. [The loiterers] go inside the store, they buy beer, then they go outside and sit down, drinking beer and throwing trash. Every time we tell them we’re going to call the police they go. And then within one day they come back again.”
Elizabeth Ganang, a store cashier, said they face a similar issue with loiterers.
“Sometimes they ask for money from our customers,” she said.
Also during the meeting, Mayor Camacho brought up subjects he had discussed with business leaders in other precincts, such as the Adopt-a-Place program, the hotline for contacting his office regarding village concerns, and establishing a non-profit organization for small businesses.
A meeting with Precinct 5 business is now being set up by the mayor’s office staff.
