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MVA to implement safety measures for tourists
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Posted on Feb 26 2001
If plans do not miscarry, the Marianas Visitors Authority hopes to make the waters around Saipan safer for tourists this year.
In an interview, MVA Board Chair Dave M. Sablan disclosed MVA will write Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio detailing its plans to improve the safety of tourists, reduce prostitution and erase the bad image CNMI has been receiving.
Mr. Sablan also said MVA is ready to ask, even plead, to the Legislature to increase its annual budget, which has remained at a stagnant $6,035,469 in the past three years.
Additional appropriation will go a long way in upgrading tourist facilities on Saipan, Rota and Tinian. Not much improvement have been seen in the CNMI’s visitor attractions since the economy fell in bad shape some three years ago.
One such plan of the MVA is the construction of a flexible and mobile ramp or bridge that would connect the main island of Saipan to Little Rock on the way to the Grotto, Mr. Sablan revealed.
The envisioned ramp or bridge will feature a pedestrian rail, which would hopefully prevent accidents, and even death to swimmers and divers who occasionally swim to reach the Grotto.
Last Feb. 3, an afternoon of diving adventure ended in tragedy when a Japanese tourist drowned and his companion injured when a powerful wave swept them as they were about to prepare for another dive.
In late January, local hero Galileo “Kaily” Torwal succumbed to treacherous waves after saving a Japanese couple who fell in the water following a parasailing accident.
The deaths have put serious doubts on the safety of the Commonwealth’s tourist spots and sporting activities.
Mr. Sablan also said he was very much concerned about recent reports of harassment against tourists. The MVA chair was referring to the alleged Feb. 9 early morning attack on a 28-year-old Japanese tourist on one of Managaha’s beaches.
He said MVA should not tolerate such actions and urged that the government take a hard-line stance on crime against tourists.
