Budget woes cancel fireworks exhibition

A short stretch of Beach Road from the National Office Supply to the Garapan Fishing Base is ground zero today, with thousands expected to throng both sides of the highway to celebrate this year’s Liberation Day with a parade, speeches, dances, and a carnival.

One thing that will be missing, though, is the traditional fireworks display, which has been scrapped due to the lack of funds.

Despite this, scores of families have begun camping out along Beach Road to reserve the best spots in preparation for today’s parade, and thousands more will be lining the road when the parade begins at 2pm.

In their official message to the public, Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and Lt. Gov. Timothy Villagomez said: “On the 4th of July, we celebrate America’s Independence Day and our islands’ Liberation Day. We take great pride in the freedoms and rights established by America’s founding fathers and extended to our islands nearly two centuries later. We are grateful to the men and women in uniform who have defended our freedoms in war and in peace. Happy Independence Day and Happy Liberation Day.”

Police deployment

The Department of Public Safety will deploy 25 uniformed police officers to guide traffic flow and maintain peace and order during the parade and festivities.

DPS commissioner Claudio Norita tapped Traffic Section officer in charge Sgt. Jerry Ayuyu as the overall police commander for the Liberation Day.

DPS spokesperson Lei Ogumoro told Saipan Tribune yesterday that medics will also be placed on standby in case of emergency.

Beach Road from Chalan Laulau to Quartermaster Road all the way to Beach Road Garapan will be closed beginning at 12:30pm. DPS urges the public to find alternative routes during the road closure.

Police will re-open Beach Road after the completion of the parade.

The official start of the parade is at 2pm. The parade route will begin at the National Office Supply and will end at the Liberation Day grandstand located in front of Horiguchi Building in Garapan.

Tight budget

The economic crisis that has laid siege to the islands has resulted in a scaled-down celebration that effectively ruled out plans to stage the fireworks display. Saipan Mayor Saipan B. Tudela said this year’s parade alone will cost $50,000 already.

Today’s celebration also comes against the backdrop of last year’s fireworks display, which went awry and hurt some people. The stand on which the fireworks were placed had tipped over, resulting the fireworks shooting into the crowd of onlookers instead of flying into the air. The incident has resulted in a lawsuit being filed against the Municipality of Saipan.

Saipan is not alone in this, however. Public displays and sales of boxed firecrackers are being canceled or scaled back across the nation, victims of a sluggish economy, wildfire fears and product shortages caused by a warehouse fire in China.

With Northern California already battling a string of wildfires, fire officials in Scotts Valley, south of San Jose, concluded that going ahead with the annual show would send the wrong message when residents have been asked to refrain from setting off even tiny sparklers in their backyards.

Aside from the fire danger, local governments are also short of money because of the slumping economy. Fireworks supplies are petering out, too, because China is running short of ports from which to ship the dangerous cargoes abroad. [B][I](With AP)[/I][/B]