E-Land unveils new Pau Pau restrooms

Brian Shin, fifth from right, chief executive officer of Micronesian Resort Inc., leads governments officials and business leaders for E-Land Group’s unveiling of the newly repaired Pau Pau Beach Public Restroom last Saturday, Dec. 5. (JUSTINE NAUTA)

The renovated restrooms at Pau Pau Beach in San Roque are now officially unveiled but they’re not open to the public just yet.

The E-Land Group, as one of the companies that have signed on to the Public-Private Partnership Initiative of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisers, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new restrooms last Dec. 4. It still has no running water but the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. is working on making that happen soon.

According to Brian Shin, chief executive officer for Micronesia Resort Inc., the local holding company of E-Land Group that owns Kensington Hotel Saipan, Pacific Islands Club Saipan, and Coral Ocean Point & Country Club, the restroom, which holds one female and one male restroom stall and a shower outside the restroom, costs approximately $20,000.

E-Land Group has adopted the Pau Pau Beach where the renovated restroom is and is adjacent to the Kensington Hotel Saipan.

“It’s been almost over a year. …We had to take this seriously because it’s just right next to one of our facilities. Also, this is one of the very popular spots for locals, so we felt that this is important,” said Shin. He said they had wanted to expedite the renovation but there were challenges along the way that they had to overcome.

The only thing that the bathroom is missing for it to be open to the public is that there is no running water. Shin stated that they have talked to CUC about this last Dec. 4. “I think there’s a bit of a challenge to locate the line, because it’s been out of commission for a while. I was told that they’re expediting this process as well, so that the public actually can enjoy the benefit as soon as possible,” said Shin.

There is no timeline on when the water will be running but Shin said that CUC has made it a priority to ensure that there will be running water at the site as soon as possible.

As for maintenance, according to Lindsay Ahn, Corporate Social Responsibility manager and executive assistant to Shin, the CNMI Division of Parks & Recreation will be the main agency that will be tasked with maintaining the facility.

Shin said that renovating the restrooms is part of preparing the CNMI once it reopens its borders to tourists. “At the end of the day, we felt that this is part of preparing ourselves for the return of our customers, which we hope that it’s going to be soon but obviously we don’t have a timeline yet. We felt that it’s really important [that] we just get ready ourselves and make the place presentable for our tourists when they come,” said Shin.

He promised that this project won’t be the only one that the CNMI will see from Micronesia Resort Inc. or Kensington. “We have a plan in place to continue to improve the facilities of our facility. This is not the last one and I’m sure you’re going to hear from us next year about more new projects,” said Shin.

Senate President Victor Hocog (R-Rota), who attended the ribbon-cutting, said, “I’m happy to be here to support E-Land, with its community investment in helping the community move forward with the necessary facility to assist our picnickers here and people that will be using Pau Pau Beach in the future,” said.

Hocog hopes that Precinct 4 representatives, who represent the area where Pau Pau Beach is, will help E-Land in its efforts to develop the north side of Saipan. He avowed that the Legislature will “stand ready” to assist in any development that E-Land introduces.

He also expressed his gratitude to the Governor’s Council of Economic Adviser, which created the Public-Private Partnership Initiative and council co-chair Jerry Tan for assisting in the movement for economic development. “Although the pandemic is still around, we all hope that it will soon depart us, and we prepare to engage for a better future,” he said.