Guard rails needed now

Every time I drive by the 1000-foot curve in Puerto Rico tears come to my eyes. I’m sad because my son died there in a car accident on October 1. I’m tearful because eight other people have died there over the last few years. And I cry because there are still no guard rails and more people are going to die in the same spot.

I don’t know if a guard rail would have saved my son’s life. Maybe it would have saved the lives of some of the others who died there. I do know that having guard rails in places where people have died and will die is a very important matter of public safety which should not be ignored.

The excuse for not having guard rails at the 1,000 foot curve is taya selape, no money. It is an unacceptable excuse. The $75,000 it will take to save lives should easily be found in a $200 million budget. It should be a top priority and if the feds won’t give us the money, we should simply do it ourselves. The top priority is to save lives. This is what good government is supposed to do.

Our government does not know how to prioritize. For example, if 100 corporate members of the European Economic Union said they wanted to do business in the CNMI and wanted CNMI reps to meet with them in Brussels, Belgium two weeks from today, at least 25 government people would go and the money to send them would be found instantly just like it was for the Rose Bowl Float and 100 other things less important than guard rails on our highways.

In the near future we will begin spending tens of thousands of dollars per month on a Washington lobbyist for the garment industry. The money will be found.

But money can’t be found to install guard rails and save lives at the 1,000 foot curve. What is a higher priority — saving lives or junketing for economic development? What is it going to take — the death of a twenty-something or thirty-something year old Fitial, Villagomez, Tenorio, Sablan, Camacho, etc, etc? Is it going to take more funerals, more grieving parents and relatives? Do we need a multi-death accident to wake us up? Do we need to see little children die in the ravine next to the 1,000 foot curve?

At my son’s remembrance I promised those who attended that I would try to do something about getting guard rails installed at the 1,000 foot curve. It’s been four months. I shall continue writing every 60 days until the guard rails are in place. I shall not accept taya selape as an excuse. I urge other people who think this is a serious concern to contact their elected representatives and write letters to the newspapers. Maybe, if we all push hard enough, the money will pop up.

Kenneth L. Govendo
Saipan