House numbering system in the works

First, Saipan’s streets got named. Next up will be house numbers.

The Saipan Mayor’s Office is now working on a house numbering system for the island, according to special assistant Henry Hofschneider.

That means assigning a number to every house and building on Saipan for the convenience of the U.S. Postal Service and the island community.

Hofschneider said the building numbering system in the United States inspired the idea.

The street naming directory was first established in 2012. It was responsible for creating and assigning names for every street on the island of Saipan. The project involved the heads of the Department of Public Lands, Department of Public Works, the mayor’s office, and more.

Before the directory was established, the entire island of Saipan had no street names, said Saipan Mayor David M. Apatang.

The lack of street names was a struggle for the island because specific names or descriptions could not be given to others. For example, paramedics struggled to find the exact location of a person in trouble because an exact location could not be given.

Over five years ago, the directory proposed naming every street on island and to set a specific theme for different villages on Saipan. For example, the streets and lanes in the San Antonio village are named after different kinds of fish. Apatang said this was because the village is near the ocean.

The consultant at the time, Henry K. Pangelinan, proposed all the street names and village themes.

The Saipan Mayor’s Office aims to help the community further by specifying where residents are located by setting numbers for every building on Saipan.

According to Hofschneider, the development of this numbering system not only enables people to conveniently find homes; it could possibly save lives, serve as a guide for when a census is conducted, and for the opportunity to establish door-to-door mail delivery on Saipan.

Hofschneider feels that once the street numbering system is in place, paramedics, firefighter, and the local police will be able to locate a certain building right away, which could potentially save lives.

He said this will also be helpful so that the postal service on island can start delivering packages and mail via doorstep delivery.