The Marpi cable car

A cable car that’s not meant to be enjoyed. But it’s supposed to let us have a beautiful panoramic view of the northern part of the island from up high, coming down from Suicide Cliff to Banzai Cliff or vice versa. A revolving panorama of this mystic region generally known as Magpi in Chamorro, Marpi by any other language. This area is mostly unexplored since the cessation of World War II and the subsequent fencing of the area by Far Eastern Foundation-NTTU-CIA, from the northern boundary of Inai Papau, up Matansa, up San Juan Hill, and over the ridge to Inai Laggua. What would you see from the cable car, assuming it’s there. Let’s be imaginative for a moment.

The cable car is a vehicle the like of a lift which would enable people, both locals as well as tourists, to see and enjoy views not readily viewable yet, especially that of the revolving panorama, in every direction. I don’t think it would spoil the oriental-base scenery 800 feet below, at the lower level, if the lift is designed with aesthetics in mind to mesh with the surrounding greens. The cable would not be glaringly visible, neither would the car be, since both would be up there in the sky. The existence of the line and car would actually be an addition to the beauty of the area. But then, I am conjecturing because the cable and the boxcar are not there yet. Or may never be there. A pity at best.

I’m sure that if the design is made to mesh the facility base stations at both end of the line with the surrounding greens, it would greatly curb criticism. But I am basing my opinion on my actual experience riding the cable car in Nikko, Japan. One would really have to try to look to see the cable and the boxcar. And then the moving cable and the gliding boxcar could probably be a great sky-view. And I don’t think the scenery from the ground below around the memorial monuments and command post would really be disturbed. The Nikko cable car does not disturb the Toshogu, the burial memorial shrine of the great Tokugawa Ieyasu.

I was elated when I heard that there was going to be a cable car in Marpi. But then, I was disappointed when I heard that the proposal was rejected in a presentation hearing. It would have been a great help for our struggling tour agencies, as well as providing a great diversion for us, other than just riding up to Marpi, Banzai Cliff, Suicide Cliff, Bird Island, and return. The cable car would have been an addition to our scenic stop, and a great recreational activity. I guess the group that decided that a sky-high cable and boxcar would ruin the Marpi scenery has never ridden a cable car. And I beg to differ.

I have been on a cable car ride several times in Nikko, Japan, and the rides were really exciting, oscillating between a bit scared and uplifting, from up Lake Chuzenji, floating down to downtown Nikko Station. That cable car facility does not ruin the environmental surroundings since it is restricted to a small land area. So what if the cable car is moved to Tapochau, to Gualo Rai, or from Saipan to Tinian? How is that going to ruin the tangan tangan or the sosgi or the Saipan-Tinian channel sharks? In my opinion, the group that objects to the placing of the cable car in Marpi, Tapotchau-Gualo Rai or Saipan-Tinian, should really reconsider its decision from the standpoint of aesthetic, environmentally healthy tourism progressive project, as well as a good revenue source, for whatever it’s worth. A cable car in Marpi, Tapochau, and Saipan-Tinian would really be a great diversion. It would keep the tour agencies moving. It would present a scenic beauty from up there on the boxcar. Like the lingo in radio-TV broadcasting, the tour agencies would be enabled to “keep on truckin’.” How is the sosgi or the tangan tangan be ruined by a very small operation like a cable car which would spend most of its time in the sky? It’s not a dead issue, is it?

Rudolfo M. Sablan
Garapan, Saipan