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MGOC makes urgent call for futons
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Posted on May 18 2006
The 6th Micronesian Games are set to kick off in a month, and with the clock ticking until an expected 1,400 athletes vie for the gold, organizers are scrambling to find suitable sleeping materials.
The original plan was for the Micronesian Games Organizing Committee to follow the template from the 1990 Games when the United States military provided more than 1,000 cots, but that plan was scrapped abruptly yesterday when the committee received news that their cupboard was bare.
When Gov. Benigno Fitial traveled to Guam this past February he received assurance from Admiral Charles J. Liedig Jr. that 1,200 military cots would be made available to serve as beds for the visiting athletes during their stay on Saipan for the duration of the Games.
After counting on the military’s donations for months, the MGOC received a letter from Liedig dated Thursday, May 11, which apologized for the Navy’s inability to provide the cots as previously agreed because the “numbers [of cots] are small and must be maintained [in Guam] for military contingencies.”
Liedig explained that aside from checking the military stock on Guam that he went to the United States Pacific Command as well as Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii, but that neither of the facilities were at liberty to loan their cots for similar reasons.
In the wake of the revelation, the cloud over the apparent downsizing of the once-thriving local garment manufacturing industry seems to have developed a silver lining as organizers are in communications aimed at securing several of the vacant beds.
The beds are sturdy fames but are without mattresses, so the MGOC is looking to outfit them with quality futons. With the news coming a month before the Games, the element of time prevents shipping the futons to Saipan from afar, so organizers are asking the community to donate serviceable futons as soon as possible.
To donate a futon to the 6th Micronesian Games, contact Brad E. Ruszala at the Saipan Tribune by calling (670) 235-8747 or via email at brad_ruszala@saipantribune.com.
