Tinian mayor wants deed to Tachogna beach

Tinian Mayor Ramon M. Dela Cruz wants the Department of Public Lands to transfer to the Tinian Municipality the deeds for the Tachogna Beach and other public lands bordering Sanhalom Bay.

In a letter dated March 6 to Public Lands Secretary Oscar M. Babauta, Dela Cruz said they have already started renovation work at the Tachogna Beach “in light of the great success we experienced with this year’s Pika Festival.”

Tachogna Beach is the venue of the Annual Tinian Hot Pepper Festival in February. This year marked the 8th celebration of Tinian’s most popular festival, organized by the Marianas Visitors Authority and the Tinian Mayor’s Office. DPL recently brought up with MVA managing director Perry Tenorio their “unauthorized use” of the Tachogna Beach for the festival.

Dela Cruz said Friday that they want the fee simple designation for Tachogna, Kammer, and Taga beaches “because we spend a lot of money on these areas and we would like to make sure that our money goes to the right place.”

According to Dela Cruz, many of the picnic benches in Tachogna Beach have sunk into the sands and some of the roofs of the picnic pavilions have also come off.

He said the main pavilion is crumbling and its power source proved to be inadequate for the festival, while the building where the restrooms, showers, and changing rooms are located is in bad shape.

Dela Cruz said the renovation of Tachogna Beach and other areas on Tinian is part of the island’s five-year economic development plan, which covers enhancement efforts in other tourist areas.

The mayor said he is awaiting quotations for these projects but noted that the Tinian delegation gave him $1 million to fund the renovation of tourist sites and government facilities. The amount comes from the interest of the local capital improvement project funds. Funding will also be augmented by casino revenues, he said.

Dela Cruz disclosed that the former Tinian mayor invested “quite a bit of money” in renovating some of the pavilions in beaches that do not yet belong to the municipality. When he came in he asked DPL to deed some of these properties to the Tinian Municipality.

“It’s only fair that since we invested so much money on that, that they will designate it back to the municipality,” said Dela Cruz, adding that he is hopeful that the decision of Public Lands “will be good for the municipality.”

Public Lands Secretary Babauta declined to comment, saying he will do so once he receives a copy of the letter.