{"id":407862,"date":"2024-04-22T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-22T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=407862"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"Shin-Coral-Ocean-Resort-faces-vicious-cycle-of-illegal-dumping-theft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/Shin-Coral-Ocean-Resort-faces-vicious-cycle-of-illegal-dumping-theft\/","title":{"rendered":"Shin: Coral Ocean Resort faces vicious cycle of illegal dumping, theft"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Coral Ocean Resort is facing challenges with thieves and people using the public beach located behind the resort as a dumping ground for trash and household items.<\/p>\n

Brian Shin, who is chief executive officer of E-Land Group and president of Suwaso Corp., and Gloria Cavanagh, who is E-Land Group vice president for the Marianas, shared some of Coral Ocean Resort\u2019s challenges during the Senate Committee on Resources, Economic Development and Programs & Gaming Committee meeting Friday on the Department of Public Lands\u2019 proposal to grant a new lease to Suwaso so it could continue to operate its resort for another 40 years.<\/p>\n

E-Land Group owns the majority share of Suwaso Corp. The company also owns Pacific Islands Club Saipan and Kensington Hotel.<\/p>\n

Shin said they have been doing periodic schedules in cleaning the beach area as it\u2019s unfortunate that some people are using it as a dumping ground.<\/p>\n

Shin said after these people use the barbecue area, they never clean it up.<\/p>\n

He said they\u2019re trying to put bigger trash bins to address the problem.<\/p>\n

Shin said they made a few requests to DPL and Department of Public Works and see if they can somehow restrict the area at least for a certain time period so that people don\u2019t come and just dump the garbage there.<\/p>\n

He said there are also concerns about \u201csome kind of activities\u201d at the beach site at wee hours.<\/p>\n

Shin said they were told that this is a public beach and the government cannot restrict access to the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what we are trying to do is we try to clean up as much as we can,\u201d said Shin, adding that Mondays are usually the worst to see garbage so they do the cleanup on Mondays and Tuesdays.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a vicious cycle,\u201d he pointed.<\/p>\n

He said they also have some theft incidents in which golfers are being victimized.<\/p>\n

Shin said thieves would hide at the beach area and then find the right moment to steal the wallets when the golfers are putting.<\/p>\n

He said they had about six such incidents last year and one or two this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a constant battle for us. I\u2019m not complaining. I\u2019m not blaming any particular individual,\u201d Shin said, adding that they are just hoping they can get help from the government to address the problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut again, it\u2019s a public beach. You know, it\u2019s unfortunate we just can\u2019t do that route [of restricting access],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Shin also disclosed that they actually found handmade guns too at the beach area one night. He did not say how many handguns they had recovered.<\/p>\n

Shin said at two incidents, their green grass was cut and taken away.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what they\u2019re [going to] use it for,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said they\u2019re also losing golf course yardage flags, prompting them to use plastic ones.<\/p>\n

He said they learned that some people are stealing the yardage flags to use for fishing.<\/p>\n

Shin said they had about five of six path putting mirrors from the corners of the pathway that\u2019s been taken away within a week.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo again, we\u2019re not complaining but again, we\u2019re having some challenges,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In response to Sen. Donald M. Manglona\u2019s (Ind-Rota) question, Shin said they hired security guards to patrol the area.<\/p>\n

Shin said, however, after they found those handmade guns, their instruction to the guards is to avoid making any confrontation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just don\u2019t want to have any unfortunate incident but we try to increase the presence of our individuals. But again, this is such a big area,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Shin said the whole 18-hole golf course is accessible from every corner of the beach.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnybody can walk into middle of the golf courses, or they can drive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Cavanagh said there was an incident when a car was dumped in the area and set it on fire.<\/p>\n

Cavanagh said it\u2019s not only the beach behind Coral Ocean Resort they are having problems with illegal dumping, but also the beach near Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan, where some people are dumping household appliances.<\/p>\n

She said it was a Thursday when they found bottles containing 35 gallons of used cooking oil.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do have security guards, but it is a large property,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Sen. Celina R. Babauta (D-Saipan) apologized to Coral Ocean Resort with those challenges they are encountering and asked if they have contacted the Department of Public Safety to do frequent patrols.<\/p>\n

Shin said DPS stated they will try, but obviously, he said, the department is having their own challenges of shortage of officers to do the patrol.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just not going to be 100% preventative unless we restrict the area at night, which is not allowed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Shin said they (Coral Ocean Resort) need to a better job in cleaning the area but at the same time, they also need help from the public to recognize that that\u2019s not a dumping ground.<\/p>\n

Babauta underscored the need for the parents to educate their children to respect other people\u2019s property.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I share that frustration with you. And I think I can come up with something with the other members [of the committee] who can assist…\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Sen. Corina L. Magofna (Ind-Saipan), who chairs the committee, said as Babauta stated it is unfortunate that Coral Ocean Resort face with those challenges.<\/p>\n

Magofna said they will be more than happy to sit down and brainstorm some of the ways that they can possibly implement if that\u2019s what it takes to try minimize a lot of the unnecessary challenges that Coral Ocean Resort is facing. \u201cBecause at the end of the day, you know, your success is our success,\u201d Magofna said.<\/p>\n

Shin said their company has been in the CNMI since 2010 and that it\u2019s been a great journey.<\/p>\n

Shin said although along the line, they faced a lot of challenges that include natural disasters and pandemic, they still believe in the future of the CNMI tourism industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur company has a lot to do with the future development of the islands,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

DPL Secretary Teresita A. Santos said their appearance at the meeting is to respond, address, provide clarity, or enlighten the committee members on any of the questions that they may have or concerns with respect to the proposed lease.<\/p>\n

Santos said in doing so, the committee may then be able to formulate the appropriate decision when acting on this proposed lease.<\/p>\n

DPL Compliance Division director Greg Deleon Guerrero said Suwaso is in compliance with its lease with DPL.<\/p>\n

Deleon Guerrero said they are working toward doing a new lease to incorporate the pending matters.<\/p>\n

He said with the exception of the planned construction of additional 100 rooms, Suwaso is in full compliance with everything.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In this screengrab photo from a YouTube video, Brian Shin, chief executive officer of E-Land Group and president of Suwaso Corp., shares their challenges with illegal dumping of trash and theft incidents at the Coral Ocean Resort beach area and premises during the Senate Resources, Economic Development and Programs & Gaming Committee meeting Friday on the Department of Public Lands\u2019 proposed new lease to Suwaso.<\/p>\n

-FERDIE DE LA TORRE
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