DCCA eyes study to decide on Garapan Street Market site

The Department of Community and Cultural Affairs is planning to do a comparative analysis between two possible locations for the Garapan Street Market, an open market held every Thursday that is popular among tourists and community residents.

DCCA Secretary Melvin Faisao said yesterday that the study will determine whether the Street Market will remain at Coral Tree Avenue or at its temporary site at the Garapan Fishing Base.

The agency relocated the weekly event to the Garapan Fishing Base since April 12, a week after a dilapidated sewer line on Coral Street collapsed. The collapsed pipe is located between two manholes fronting the Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan and Hyatt Regency Saipan.

The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. contracted the services of GPPC, Inc. to install new pipes, initially projected to take three to four weeks.

GPPC’s Marshall Liban disclosed in a separate phone interview that they received the notice to proceed with the project on April 6 and they started mobilizing their employees the very next day.

“Since it was an emergency sewer repair project, we worked 24 hours instead of the normal eight to 12 hours. We wanted to finish on time but we actually finished ahead of schedule,” said Liban.

According to him, Coral Tree Avenue was officially opened to motorists on April 19. “We came back on April 21 just to test the pipe if there is any leak. There was none,” he said.

Liban noted that they were informed by CUC that the contract for the project, which has a price tag of $118,500, is now en route.

Although Liban and CUC executive director Abe Utu Malae separately confirmed the completion of the project, Faisao said they have yet to be informed by the utilities agency about it.

“Right now, we are still waiting for CUC to inform us when the project is completed but in the meantime, we’re assessing our relocated area if we are to permanently stay there,” Faisao told Saipan Tribune.

According to Faisao, they have unconfirmed information from business owners along Coral Tree Avenue, who are “very happy” that the Street Market is no longer held in their area since it causes traffic and that customers do not buy from them and instead buy from the Street Market vendors.

Faisao pointed out, too, that the Coral Tree Avenue area is “so congested” and has “very limited” space that it cannot accommodate as many people as Garapan Fishing Base, which has more parking space.

As for the Street Market vendors, about 80 percent of them “expressed their intent and desire to remain permanently at the Garapan Fishing Base,” said Faisao.

He said he wants to ensure that the views of all vendors will be taken into consideration and that fairness applies to all. To achieve this, Faisao said he needs to check with handicraft or souvenir vendors and their sales since the Street Market’s original location is near hotels where tourists who stay there make up a majority of their customers.

If and when they move the Street Market permanently to the Garapan Fishing Base, Faisao said they will have to invite more tourists to the new site. The help of the Marianas Visitors Authority and an awareness campaign will result in more tourists checking out the Street Market, he added.

Faisao said that DCCA also wants to find out if it will incur additional costs should it decide to move the Street Market to a new location. Presently, the agency only spends about $700 for Street Market expenses such as tents and trash services.