Concern raised over Marpi cemetery project

The Marpi public cemetery project has met another stumbling block, as a private landowner raised concerns over the construction of the burial site right next to her property.

Coastal Resources Management director Joaquin Salas said the landowner aired her concern during a recent public hearing addressing the Department of Public Works’ permit application for the project.

“Her property is adjacent to the cemetery, and she has the right by regulation to voice her concern. Although the land is unimproved right now, she would not want to live next to a cemetery if she decides to build a house on her property,” Salas noted.

He added that the landowner has sought the help of the Marianas Public Lands Authority through DPW for a possible settlement.

In a separate interview, Public Works Secretary John Reyes said he has written MPLA regarding the landowner’s problem and asked if the authority could grant her another land elsewhere in the island.

In January 2000, then Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio signed Public Law 11-117 designating Marpi as the site for a new public cemetery in an effort to ease overcrowding in existing burial sites, as well as to provide an “ecologically suitable and aesthetically fitting final resting place” for local residents.

The new cemetery will be located in the immediate vicinity of the Banzai Cliff memorial area in Marpi. It will complement the burial sites in Chalan Kanoa, Tanapag and Capitol Hill.

The project includes a total of 9,218 gravesites within 7.2 hectares—or 17.78 acres—of public land, two ponding basins, a diesel powered generator, and a maintenance shed.

CRM said the ponding basis will serve as an erosion control measure and as catchment/storage basin for surface water runoff that would be utilized as water source for irrigating the cemetery lawn, while the generator will be used for the pump system that would provide water to the underground PVC-pipe lawn irrigation.

The $1-million project, which will be constructed using Covenant funds, has been awarded to GPPC Inc. and was ready for construction as early as last year.

But DPW’s Reyes said the start of construction was delayed after CRM decided that the construction needed a major siting permit, which entailed more requirements from various regulatory agencies including the Commonwealth Utilities Corp., Division of Environmental Quality, and the Historic Preservation Office.

“So we had to hold back again and make another environmental assessment,” Reyes said.

For his part, CRM director Salas said DPW’s permit application is now certified complete. The landowner’s concern is now the only thing that needs to be resolved, he added.