SNILD allows streetnaming commission to change plan
Saipan lawmakers yesterday passed a local bill to allow the streetnaming commission to alter initial plan on the efforts to mark streets and roads on the island.
The measure, offered by Rep. David M. Apatang, stemmed from a petition by San Antonio residents to block the plan to assign local fish names on the village’s streets.
They instead want to retain the present system in which streets are identified by letters and numbers, saying that this is simple, short and easy to remember.
But the Saipan and Northern Islands Delegation moved a step higher by providing flexibility to the commission tasked with the much-delayed streetnaming project to consider other changes to the master map.
Delegation chair Sen. Pete P. Reyes said this would allow them to reassess the initial plan, particularly when the Carolinian community has been urging the commission to include more names reflective of their culture.
“I feel very strongly about this because… there is no representation of Carolinians in the commission,” he told reporters after the session. “I don’t know where we screw up on this. They should be represented at all times.”
Former Rep. Melvin Faisao waged a two-year battle to include more Carolinian names on Saipan streets and roads, noting that the master map had ignored suggestions earlier offered by the community.
Disagreement on the names as well as lack of funding have hampered completion of the project which began more than 10 years ago.
The U.S. Postal Office and the Department of Public Safety have underscored the need to come up with streetnames to easily identify locations that are very crucial in mail delivery as well as in responding to emergency.
Mr. Reyes expressed hope that it will be completed during his term as SNILD chair, pledging to appropriate the $2 million needed by the Saipan Mayor’s Office to carry out the plan.
Meanwhile, the local delegation tackled other concerns during the two-hour session, including the temporary permit issued by the Division of Public Lands to requests for right of way on public lands.
Mr. Reyes is expected to raise the SNILD’s objection to at least two of such permits in Koblerville and San Jose that they believed will only aggravate flow of traffic in those areas.
