Senate OKs $30K ‘junk cars’ bill

The Senate has finally approved legislation that hopes to address the environmental hazards posed by junk cars and abandoned vehicles in the CNMI.

House Bill 14-347, which seeks to appropriate $30,000 from the Department of Public Works’ Solid Waste Management Division revolving fund to pay for the removal of junk cars, was passed by Senate Wednesday last week.

The transmittal letter from the Senate said the upper chamber passed the bill on final reading by a unanimous vote. It was passed without amendments. Procedure dictates that the bill will now go to the Governor’s Office for passage into law.

The bill’s author, Rep. Justo S. Quitugua, called on the Senate to immediately pass the bill upon reading a front page article on Saipan Tribune about the issue last Sept. 19. He said the Senate needed to pass the bill “in order to rid the island of the health and environmental problems posed by junk and abandoned vehicles.”

Quitugua said that the accumulation of junk cars in residential and government premises on Saipan has become a real concern, with motor oil and other fluids leaking from junk cars posing a hazardous threat to the environment. Junk cars also serve as nests for pests and are village eyesores, he added.

He 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.”

Samkor, a contractor for the disposal of junk cars and abandoned vehicles, said there is no contract that exists between it and the government. It was reported that Samkor accepts only what the Saipan Mayor’s Office brings them or asks them to tow for disposal. Samkor charges the local municipality $100 per vehicle. He said at least three cars were recently received from the local mayor’s office for disposal.

The Saipan Mayor’s Office no longer enjoys free access to the government scrap yard because the dump site is now under a private company that levies fees for depositing scrap metal.

Early reports said there are about 15,000 abandoned vehicles in several sites in the CNMI, which pose a health and environmental hazard, according to Department of Public Works Division of Solid Waste Management program manager Robert Jordan.

He said junk cars are not only eyesores but might also contain oil and other harmful chemicals and potential pollutants that could leak and endanger the environment such as coolants, oil and lead batteries. The program manager added that the number of abandoned cars has been increasing throughout the years. Jordan said his office would look into this and both DPW and the Saipan Mayor’s Office will be involved in the disposal of the junk cars.

The problem is further compounded by the lack of a place to dispose of these junk and abandoned vehicles because there are not enough sites on the island.