Previous Story
‘Do away with Chiget fence’
|
Posted on Apr 05 2008
I read with great interest the article in the April 4 Saipan Tribune on the military using Tinian for artillery practice. What interested me in this article is the following statement: Burton said the Marines are also concerned about citizen and tourist access to historical/cultural areas on Tinian and that they intend to work with the government of the CNMI on that issue.
I doubt this statement is TRUE! If the military is really interested in allowing citizen and tourist access to historical/cultural areas on Tinian, why did they fence off Chiget Beach? The cove, which is at Chiget Beach, is the only place on Tinian that has turtle grass. I used to take my natural history and environmental science classes regularly to Chiget to learn about this unique environment and the fault zone located here, but this will no longer be possible.
Additionally, there are Chamorro base rock grinding stones at the edge of this beach. Historically, the fuel line for the Japanese airfield on Tinian was located here. Parts of the pipes for this fuel line are still visible on the beach and in the cove. This area used to have a fence before, but the beach was not fenced off as it is now. The old fence used to run along the north side of the finger cove at Chiget.
Why couldn’t the military build it there again, instead of fencing off the beach? My daughter learned to swim at this beach because there are little if any waves. Now she will no longer be able to swim at this beach. To see how the military has changed Chiget, just go to http://hiketinian.blogspot.com and look at the pictures on the March posting called Chiget Update. Please remove the fence from Chiget so that people can use the beach again.
[B]
Howard Cole[/B]
[I]Marpo Valley, Tinian[/I]
