Pickup of 250 junk cars delayed

The request for pickup of at least 250 junk cars remains pending at the Saipan Mayor’s Office, reportedly because of a delay in accounting procedures at the Department of Finance.

Mayor Juan B. Tudela said his office has been waiting for the account that Finance should have created for the project. He stressed that there is at least $30,000 allocated for the junk car project but Finance has yet to release the funds to his office.

A bill that hopes to address the environmental hazards posed by junk cars and abandoned vehicles in the CNMI was passed in September. House Bill 14-347 appropriates $30,000 from the Department of Public Works’ Solid Waste Management Division revolving fund for the removal of junk cars.

The bill’s author, Rep. Justo S. Quitugua, earlier said the bill would now provide funding to the Saipan Mayor’s Office for the removal of junk and abandoned vehicles from residential and government premises. Under the Commonwealth Code, junk and abandoned vehicles are defined as “scrap metal.”

The mayor said as soon as DoF turns over the funds, his office would immediately work on the pending requests for pickup of junk cars.

Tudela said his office has always been ready for the project, with a boom truck on standby to begin the work. Although the truck has been going in and out of the repair shop, he assured that it would be ready for the task.

More than 200 junk cars have been picked up and transported to scrap yards in the four years of Tudela’s term.

Earlier, Basula Produkto offered Tudela its services in handling the junk cars’ disposal but Tudela said that under the Commonwealth Code, the transaction should be between the Saipan’s Mayor’s Office and the Department of Public Works.

“The law says that the government has to do it and that it should not be contracted out,” said Tudela.

The mayor said individuals who ask for the pickup of their decrepit vehicles are not charged for this service. The Commonwealth Code states that the mayor of Saipan is responsible for assisting private individuals in removing scrap metal from their property at no charge to the individuals.

Tudela said he would like the public to know that, under the law, an owner or lessee of any property who fails to remove scrap metal from another’s property would be notified to have the car removed and, if they fail to comply, a penalty of $50 per day will be imposed on them.

Earlier reports said there are about 15,000 abandoned vehicles in several sites in the CNMI, which pose a health and environmental hazard, but Tudela said he doubts this figure because there are less than 15,000 operational vehicles on Saipan and junk cars could not possibly have the same number.