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Students join Tanapag drainage cleanup
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Posted on Sep 26 2004
Students from the Marianas High School joined over 100 volunteers from non-profit organizations yesterday in cleaning up a drainage and beach site in Tanapag.
Some 15 students participated in the civic work, according to Jun Lapeceros, chairman of MOVER, one of the groups involved in the cleanup of stormwater drainages in northern Saipan.
Volunteers spent their eighth Sunday picking up trash from drainages and beach sites yesterday, already exceeding the projected seven working Sundays to finish the project.
Lapeceros said volunteers would still need four to five working Sundays to complete the cleanup project, which would cover northern Saipan beaches and drainages from Garapan to San Roque.
He said volunteers had to spend three Sundays cleaning up three Tanapag drainages, which stretch several meters from the highway to the beach sites.
“Besides empty bottles, we removed empty cans and wood from the drainages,” Lapeceros said.
Oil giant Exxon/Mobil provided a $5,000-grant to carry out the project, which is spearheaded by the Environmental Interagency Cleanup Operation Team. Besides MOVER, other participating groups include POWER, KAMPIL, and Bicol Association.
EICOT and volunteer groups receive food and logistical support from Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente, CNMI congressmen, and private groups such as CTSI Logistics Inc. and the Hotel Association of the Northern Marianas.
Yesterday, Lapeceros said those who provided food for volunteers included Coastal Resources Management Office director Joaquin D. Salas, House Speaker Benigno Fitial, the Legislature’s Ray Sablan, Pacific Trading, and DFS Galleria.
