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Aldan: About 90 percent of Tinian now have power and water supply
TINIAN—About 90 percent of Tinian households and businesses now have access to electric power and water supply, according to Mayor Edwin Aldan last Friday.
“Almost all the people are now getting power and water,” said Aldan.
He conceded, though, that the electric power aspect of the recovery from Super Typhoon Yutu’s devastation is still ongoing and that there are still supplies for power poles that are being brought in.
He said the crew of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s contractor from Colorado, Primary Source Electric, are still on island, doing some work on streetlights on corners that were not really a priority during the restoration after Yutu.
“But, as far as the people are concerned, like what everybody says, we are very resilient,” the mayor said.
Concrete power poles have already been installed along this main road on Tinian in this photo taken last weekend. About 90 percent of the people on the island now have access to power and water. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)
Aldan believes that people have moved on from being dependent on assistance.
“They are already on their own. There are still those in tents but some of them have spent their own money to rebuild their houses,” he said.
Aldan estimates that there are now only about seven to eight households who are still living in tents on Tinian.
Yutu devastated Saipan and Tinian last Oct. 24 and 25. According to CUC, 797 power poles or 42 percent of power poles on Tinian were damaged.
A resident, who asked to be named only as John, said their power and water supply were restored over two months ago.
John said that life on the island became difficult a couple of months after Yutu because of the massive devastation but people are resilient and helped each other.
He said the Federal Emergency Management Agency gave them a generator, while other agencies such as the American Red Cross-NMI Chapter, provided them food, bottled water, and other household supplies.
“We were even given money to buy fuel for a while,” he said.
