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![\"](\"http:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/BSI-drainage-pix.jpg\")
<\/a>Foul air, backflow, crumbling walls, and an unsightly pool of water describe the Garapan\u00eds open-air canal, which runs into the nearby lagoon. Public and private stakeholders look to its repair. (Dennis B. Chan)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n
Department of Public Works Secretary James Ada said yesterday they have been sitting down with the Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality over the past month on plans for the greater Garapan revitalization project.<\/p>\n
Two focuses are waste and storm drainages, he said.<\/p>\n
He noted that Best Sunshine could help \u201cwork on the canal system\u201d and \u201cmake a new design.\u201d<\/p>\n
To \u201creconstruct and make it new. Cement and cover it up a little,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are working together as a team in closing those drainages. Our people go on that pathway to go to [hotels].\u201d<\/p>\n
Best Sunshine legal counsel Charles McDonald confirmed yesterday that they have had talks with DPW to solve issues with the canal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven\u2019t finalized that but it could very well be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
When asked, he said they are considering having an entrance to their property in the area, but they are also \u201cnegotiating for another entrance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are leaning toward helping DPW,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In an interview this week, BECQ administrator Frank Rabauliman said BSI would benefit from this project.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have a lot of stake, basically,\u201d he said, with plans for buildings nearby and a possible main entrance near a road close to Fiesta Resort and Spa.<\/p>\n
He noted that BSI has informally talked about wanting to put the canal underground. \u201cBut further to that I think there needs to be some kind of purification system, be it a ponding basin to filter whatever discharge goes out into water,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Asked to comment, BECQ watershed coordinator Kaitlin Mattos, who leads interagency conservation efforts in the area, noted that maintenance of drainages that are repaired is also key.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe problem with just closing off a drainage like that is that you have to make sure you can get back in there to clean it. Just because it\u2019s closed off from large trash or things, it doesn\u2019t mean that we are not still going to have sediment or things coming in from upland,\u201d she said yesterday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be really important to make sure we can all collaborate on a plan and on funding, not just for the initial project but longer maintenance,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
She pointed at how the canal\u2019s walls are beginning to collapse, among other problems.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can see some of the inlets that lead into that open drain\u2014those feed from underground drainages elsewhere. So anytime you have an underground drain feeding out into a larger canal\u2026anything that\u2019s being dumped into that area is going to be dumped into that drain,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Depending on who\u2019s maintaining the roads, the storm drains, or who is leasing the properties nearby, she said it\u2019s \u201creally key to get all those players discussing together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rabauliman noted that it is \u201cencouraging\u201d that BSI seems receptive to helping them in the early stages of construction on their property.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The polluted and unsightly open-air canal in Garapan\u2014an eyesore for tourist and residents alike\u2014may soon…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":194963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[900,4],"tags":[880,1707,1311,1114],"class_list":["post-194962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-local-news","tag-becq","tag-best-sunshine-international","tag-bsi","tag-dpw"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}