‘Govt not serious about GES relocation’

Board of Education chair Roman C. Benavente said the outgoing administration is not really serious about its proposal to transfer the Garapan Elementary School to Lower Navy Hill to give way for the redevelopment of Garapan as Saipan’s central business district.

Benavente said that, had the government been serious about the proposal, it would have come back with an appropriate proposal, together with prospective developers and blueprints of the plans.

Gov. Juan N. Babauta’s retired senior policy advisor Robert Schwalbach had presented the government’s proposal to transform the school and the surrounding MIHA Housing area into a new business district during a special BOE meeting in late November. Since then, Benavente said, the government has not returned to the board for further discussion of the plan.

Benavente earlier told Saipan Tribune that the plan is an excellent option to improve the CNMI economy.

He said the board had told the governor’s adviser that they would need a comprehensive business development plan before they make the decision about it and they were not committing to the plan just yet.

Benavente said he had hoped that the government would come up with a good business development plan in a month. He told the media yesterday that if the government’s proposal includes a new state-of-the-art campus that could accommodate at least 1,000 students and has all the appropriate amenities and facilities, the board would definitely jump on the idea.

Schwalbach said yesterday that the government is sincere about the plan and that it would continue to pursue the possibility of converting Garapan into a new economic zone since affected agencies in the area have expressed cooperation already. As a private citizen now, he said he would still continue to be involved in this plan.

He said that, when he presented the idea to the board in November, he was happy with the reception the plan got.

Benavente also contended yesterday that the proposed transfer of the school is not a “dead issue,” contrary to what was earlier reported.

“How can it be dead if it has not been formally proposed?” asked Benavente, adding that the source of the statement quoted in the media is not a BOE official.

Schwalbach echoed this, saying that only BOE officials have the right to say if the proposal is a “dead issue.”

”The final say on this proposal should come from the parents of GES students and from the community members hailing from Garapan because they are the ones who will be affected by the project,” said Benavente.

“That must be looked at, whether it would be beneficial to the Garapan community or if there would be a negative impact on the community,” he said.