To the Honorable Mayor

Enough is enough. After paying for the rental of two backhoe services last year and three backhoe services for this year, I am now more than furious.

Haiguas Lane. Almost all the local residents of Haiguas Lane have called your office for assistance but you completely ignored us. Ever since Typhoon Tingting up until Typhoon Chaba, and a dozen of rainstorms in between, you still refused to send us a road grader or front loader to ease the lumps and bumps on our road. In addition, I am sure that you have given the same treatment to those who are on you “low list.” For your information, there are more than 30 families on that street, if you count even our poor nonresident workers.

The road condition is so bad that my wife had a flat tire even after replacing her old tires. A neighbor with two small children had a flat tire on her way to drop her kids to school, a Toyota Tacoma truck had to be pulled out because its rear axle was caught in a ditch and a powerful 4×4 Toyota truck was stuck in the middle of the road and had to be assisted by neighbors.

My neighbors are very simple people who simply want their government to provide them a safe and drivable road—nothing more. They just want access to their children’s schools, shopping center, hospital, church, etc.

I had the privilege of visiting one of the good mayors and he introduced to me the “Maintained Roads of Saipan Map.” Mr. Mayor, take your request for Road Service Book and throw it in the Marianas Trench. Your job is to survey the maintained roads of Saipan yourself and fix them. You do not need a request. As to the question of funds, you now have two federal disaster declarations, what are you waiting for?

As for the cemetery and rosary parking, the last time I called your office, your good secretary informed me that there were “three deaths” on the island and all the equipment were busy working on the rosary parking. Moreover, for the last two November 1, the peoples’ heavy equipment and personnel were detailed at our Chalan Kanoa cemetery. Mr. Mayor, dead people need prayers, masses, rosaries and personal prayers, not municipality equipment and personnel—living people do.

You do not need to be a NASA astronaut to know that you are targeting high-impact potential voters by placing yourself and your services at places where people are very vulnerable due to their grief. Shame on you!

You project yourself as a devout Catholic, but isn’t this ironic when you consider that the road of the highest figure of our church and his neighbors is not only dangerous but also suicidal. Why? Only a few voters? Shame on you again.

It is an opportune time for you to realize that we are presently not living in the 60’s and 70’s when we mostly had Chamorro, Carolinians and 99 percent Catholics. We are presently a society of Protestants, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslims, Hindus, atheist, etc. Are we then obligated to do all their respective cemeteries and prayer parking? By the way, when was the last time you detailed your equipment men to the Capital Hill cemetery? None? Is it because their families do not vote and only a few of them do? Shame again, my friend.

Henry Kappon Sablan
Chalan Kanoa, Saipan