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Yumul: $60K will be seed money for Garapan Public Market
Rep. Ralph N. Yumul (Ind-Saipan) said he is glad the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation approved $60,000 for the Garapan Public Market when it passed House Local Bill 18-64, D1 last Thursday.
“I’m actually happy it passed and we did address other issues. I know the [Garapan] Public Market needs funds in order to operate. When they were granted funds for the building, they weren’t actually given assistance to run the program so this basically is seed money and hopefully make the place a lot better and help farmers bring produce into the market,” he said.
Yumul said when he last had a conversation with CNMI Farmer’s Cooperative Association president Maria Frica Pangelinan, he confirmed that the Garapan Public Market has been losing money. The CNMI Farmer’s Cooperative Association runs the site.
“When I did the costing together with their president, Maria Frica Pangelinan, they were spending way above what they were selling. That was in the first couple of weeks of operations,” he said.
Not surprisingly, the biggest expenditure by the market is utilities, said Yumul.
Last month, Marianas Meat Harvesting Co. started selling fresh meat at the Garapan Public Market from its slaughterhouse in Lower Base. The fresh meat complements the fresh fruits and vegetables already being sold at the site.
The Garapan Public Market was opened on Aug. 18. It was funded through a $200,000 grant from the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development as part of congressional appropriation that the CNMI Department of Land and Natural Resources was awarded for.
