Kannat Tabla road gets temporary fix

Funds have already been identified to fix a road in San Vicente and three others in Kagman III but another part of Precinct V remains unpaved, causing many residents in Kannat Tabla to take to social media to voice their concerns.

San Vicente resident Ray Agulto noted that the condition of the road is bad for vehicles. “Like I said before, how many kongressun [congressman] have been elected into office and can’t do anything about this situation?”

Staff of the Department of Public Works and Saipan Mayor’s Office clear the entrance into upper Kannat Tabla. This effort was coordinated between the two agencies and Rep. Lorenzo Deleon Guerrero (Ind-MP) after a resident voiced concerns over the lack of care for Kannat Tabla roads. (Jayson Camacho)

He did credit Rep. Larry Deleon Guerrero (Ind-Saipan) for taking measures to at least provide temporary relief for residents by having the entrance into upper Kannat Tabla cleared.

In an interview with Deleon Guerrero yesterday, he said they are already addressing Agulto’s concern but what they can do right now is just tree trimming, clearing of the road, and covering the potholes.

Deleon Guerrero said they have covered several areas with three truckloads of recycled asphalt but there isn’t any funding yet for Kannat Tabla roads to be properly paved.

“I am going to get together with my colleagues in the Legislature and try to push funding for this paving as well. There are other areas that need to be paved and so, in the meantime, these roads will be maintained periodically,” he said.

When asked on who maintains the roads in Kannat Tabla, Deleon Guerrero pointed to the Saipan Mayor’s Office and USA Fanter Corp.

He said that USA Fanter is supposed to maintain the road because they hold the lease to the quarry.

According to the Saipan Mayor’s Office, they have also addressed the concerns of Agulto and the upper Kannat Tabla neighborhood, which is made up of about 40 houses.

“We all partnered up to get this project done today and we will continue tomorrow (March 12). We will continue the trimming of trees and a lot of trash that were seeping into the drainage. We are also clearing overgrown vegetation. We will continue that tomorrow and we’re still collaborating with DPW and USA Fanter Corp.,” said Joan Aquino, field operations director of the Saipan Mayor’s Office.

Aquino said the asphalt is completely out and they had to coordinate with the Commonwealth Ports Authority just to get some of the last load.

“Both the Mayor’s Office and DPW’s bucket truck are down so the tree trimming was done by hand. We’re working closely with DPW and Mayor David M. Apatang is serious about the beautification and fixing of the road structures here,” she said.

Runoff problem

Aside from the unpaved road, the main problem is that upper Kannat Tabla sits on top of a hill where runoff is most likely to end up near the entrance into unpaved areas of the road, causing erosion and creating potholes.

Specifically, Aquino and Deleon Guerrero pointed to an area near the entrance of Upper Kannat Tabla, where a wide hole is located and where the runoff ends up collecting trash and stacking up on one side of the road.

Aquino said they will address this issue with the Mayor’s Office.