On my mind

What an anomaly (“one that is peculiar, irregular, abnormal or difficult to classify,” according to the 3rd edition of the ‘American Heritage Dictionary’”) the past weekend’s Liberation Day celebration was! There was all the same rhetoric of thankfulness to American military might, for bringing U.S. citizenship and democracy to the Marianas, that had been voiced during the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the battles for Saipan and Tinian just a couple of weeks earlier. On the other hand, the diverse display of ethnicity in that parade was a far better demonstration of democracy than was evident in the 60th Commemoration parade. Moreover, from all accounts, the Liberation Day parade attracted far more people than had the one for the 60th Commemoration (perhaps due to the change of location?).

Yet the actual basis for this past weekend’s celebration and parade—the release of local Chamorros and Carolinians from the camps in which they had been confined after the war—was a relatively minor event along the long and trying path toward their eventual freedom and independence. In actual fact, neither the battles for Saipan and Tinian nor the release from the camps was motivated by an interest in, or desire for, bringing democracy or U.S. citizenship to the people of the CNMI. As author Fred Kluge stated during his 60th anniversary History Alive talk, U.S. troops invaded these islands in order to gain a foothold for bombing Japan. There was no mention, at the time, of freeing the islanders, of bringing them self-government as the reason for their presence.

Though the release from the camps, and the continuing presence of the U.S. military, may have planted the seeds of freedom and self-realization, far more directly responsible for bringing democracy and U.S. citizenship to the CNMI was all the time, energy and effort, all the hours of persuasive argument, all the legal fencing on the part of islander and Fed, that went into the creation of the Covenant—into the establishment of that unique affiliation for the people of the CNMI with the most powerful country in the world. Yet neither the signing of the Covenant—nor those who gave so much of themselves to craft it—have been honored in recent years except in passing, in a day off.

Surely that achievement deserves at least as much notice and pomp and ceremony as the peoples’ release from the camps?

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Despite this paper’s egregious error (for which it duly apologized), the House did NOT manage to muster enough votes to override the Governor’s veto of Senate Bill 13-14. And it’s a good thing, too. The bill would have denied the Marianas Visitors Authority the option of hiring nonresident workers solely on the grounds that MVA’s exemption from the hiring moratorium deprived local residents of jobs.

But with only two non-locals now employed at MVA, with MVA’s extensive work with Japanese—and now Korean and Chinese—officials in its ongoing campaign to bring in more tourists, and with the small number of local residents who are fluent in any of the three languages, the restriction seems punitive rather than positive.

The four House members who opposed the override are to be congratulated for their wisdom!

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While the Marianas Visitors Authority would appear to be satisfying its mandate to bring more tourists to the CNMI, and certainly, increasing the number of tourists constitutes a major ingredient in the formula for a strong tourism industry, another important ingredient appears to be neglected—by the CNMI in general, and the MVA in particular.

This ingredient is the maintenance of the integrity, if you will, of the tourist site itself. It doesn’t matter if the Grotto parking lot is groomed, and adorned with picnic tables, or with clean and operating restroom facilities. If the quality of the Grotto itself, and its marine life, are allowed to deteriorate, as is happening, the site will eventually lose much of its appeal. Similarly, if Managaha is allowed to become over-commercialized, if the formerly pristine beaches and surrounding waters continue to deteriorate, that site, too, will lose its appeal. The hotels may clean up seaweed on their beaches, but if the waters along the beach are not safe for swimming, those beaches will lose their appeal as well. Whose responsibility is it to see that the sites retain their underlying appeal? (Please note: the word pristine is no longer applicable.)

Though it is generally acknowledged that the CNMI’s sole natural resource consists almost entirely of its tropical beauty—its lagoon and the critters therein, its beaches, its flowering trees, shrubs and tropical birds, its scenic outlooks and vast horizons (when not interrupted by behemoths), the protection of this natural resource—so that it may serve as revenue-generating asset for the CNMI—has not been very successful. The lagoon is full of algae and seaweed, the number of fish and shellfish has declined dramatically, octopuses at the Grotto are now rare, and turtles in the water or fruit bat in the trees even more so.

It is, I would suggest, high time that the Marianas Visitors Authority were given an additional, new mandate: to protect and preserve the integrity of the CNMI’s natural resources for the enjoyment of the tourists. (Of course, they should also be protected for those of us who live here, but that’s a different story.) MVA has long been charged with selling the product of CNMI tourism, but it has yet to be charged with improving the product that it sells.

It could, for example, achieve both increased natural protection and niche eco-tourism by marketing opportunities to stand guard over turtle nesting sites, and watching turtles hatch; by offering nature tours that counted tropical birds (here, or on Rota); by arranging tours of volcano environs in the Northern Islands, by establishing an underwater nature trail in the Managaha preserve, a wetland tour. It could be charged with a far more active role in preventing non-point source pollution, in promoting sustainable fishing, in establishing additional nature preserves on land and in our waters. It could, in short, be charged with taking on more responsibility for what tourists experiences once they get here—not so much in the one-day golf tournaments, marathons and the like, but in the beauty and richness of the islands’ tropical surroundings.

Granted the Division of Environmental Quality, and the Coastal Resources Management Office both are charged with, and do a fair job, of protecting resources. But their perspective is different. Their concerns for the health of the environment, for coastal resources, are all too often pitted against commercial concerns that, if they consider tourism at all, think only in terms of ever larger numbers of tourists. A concern for the quality of the environment tourists will experience is not a high priority.

It should be a high priority for the MVA.

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And in terms of capitalizing on the CNMI’s natural resources, is there any reason why every diver can’t be charged $1.00, or its equivalent, to dive the Grotto? Every beach diver charged the same for diving Wing Beach, or Laulau or Obyan? Every tourist taken to the Northern Islands charged a landing fee? And even if it cuts into tour agents’ take, every tourist to Managaha charged a fee? Every entry into a natural preserve charged for?

These are the CNMI’s only resources. It requires funding to maintain and protect them. Such fees would provide the income to do so. They would also reinforce the idea that the sites do have significant monetary value.

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I am impressed anew, with each storm that hits, at the promptness and thoroughness with which people go out and clean up after the storm is over—not only government work crews, along the roads, but individuals, on their properties. The wind and rain hardly stop before people with machetes, with rakes, with plastic bags, are out cutting off damaged hanging branches, raking up the leaves and other debris, putting it all into plastic bags, or the back of their pick-ups, or in piles to be burned.

And while that doesn’t help the barren trees regain their leaves—the stark look of stripped skeletal branches remains—it does help the rest of the terrain regain its look of normalcy with surprising speed.

The challenge is to harness this urge to clean storm debris, and transmogrify it, if you will, into an urge to clean up the debris of litter as well. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone were as strongly motivated to keep his or her place clean of aluminum cans, plastic bags, cigarette stubs, paper plates, diapers, and all the other junk people leave behind, so carelessly toss wherever?

The Chamber of Commerce used to hold contests, as I recall, for neatest, best-kept business enterprises. Or one could amend the litter law, making it illegal as well, to allow litter to accumulate on one’s property. But certainly, if people are willing to clean their yards of typhoon litter, it shouldn’t be that hard to persuade them to keep their properties free of litter as well.

(The writer is a librarian by profession, and a long-term resident of the CNMI. To contact her, send e-mail to ruth.tighe@saipan.com.)