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‘Water shortage is due to dry season’
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Posted on May 26 2005
The severe water shortage being experienced in some villages on Saipan is triggered primarily by the onset of the dry season, according to Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente.
Benavente, who chairs the CNMI Water Task Force, said yesterday that the same problem occurs every year.
“Every year, we have the same problem during this drought season. It’s every year. It’s not new,” he said. “Whatever the water task force is doing has not taken into effect yet because we have not gotten there. The problem that the people have experienced for many, many years is what we’re trying to resolve.”
He said that part of the solution is to install additional reservoirs and pressurize the system.
He said the water situation on Saipan will significantly improve by the end of the year.
“Our goal is to pressurize the system by at least half an hour by end of summer, and full pressurization by end of the year,” he said.
During the dry season, Garapan and Chalan Kanoa areas are the most problematic, he said.
Complaints about the water shortage reportedly come from different parts of the island, from San Roque and Tanapag, to San Vicente and Garapan.
In San Roque, what used to be a three-hour water supply has reportedly gone down to 30 minutes.
The current shortage has reportedly prompted some residents to buy water, costing $25 a week for a household or $25 a day for a shop owner.
In some areas, such as Capitol Hill, some residents are complaining of intermittent water supply in the last three weeks.
