Inmates, DOC clean up central Garapan

The Department of Corrections has tasked 14 inmates with clearing overgrown vegetation along the streets of central Garapan.

DOC Commissioner Anthony Torres led efforts last Wednesday to clear overgrown vegetation along the main streets of central Garapan, just across Hyatt Regency Saipan.

About 14 inmates and a few volunteers joined the initiative. Rep. Ed Propst (D-Saipan) and House Speaker Edmund Villagomez (Ind-Saipan) also joined Torres in support of the overdue task.

According to Torres, the goal is not just to clear a small area, but to clear up all the overgrown brush and shrubs in central Garapan.

“This is just the start. We will be working in sections. We aim to clear up all the overgrown vegetation around central Garapan,” he said.

In addition, Torres said, DOC is also taking the initiative to have portable restrooms placed in popular tourist sites in Marpi.

“We are also in the process of restoring restrooms in Marpi. DOC took their winnings from the Liberation Day float competition and they paid for portable restrooms to be placed in about four main tourist spots in Marpi. This just goes to show the actions and initiative we in DOC are taking to help our community. We are seeing more tourists coming to visit our islands, so we’re just taking the initiative to ensure that our island is clean. Hopefully the community will see a huge change in the next few days,” Torres said.

Propst said it was great to witness the work DOC and its inmates were doing for the CNMI. He added that it inspires him and should serve as inspiration to the community to pitch in and help beautify the islands.

“This is our tourist district. Regardless of what precinct, department, or island you’re from, we all need to pitch in and make something happen. It’s great to see the commissioner, DOC inmates, and DOC staff coming out and using their resources to help make this happen. If we want to continue bringing our tourists in, we need to raise our standards, we need to raise the bar and take the initiative to keep our island and tourist spots, clean,” he said.

Villagomez is also grateful to DOC for making the effort to help maintain central Garapan, the cleanup of which he says has been a long-standing issue.

“We’ve done some cleaning in this area but what’s difficult is the maintenance. So it’s really nice to see the DOC come out to help in the efforts to beautify our CNMI,” he said.