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New Botanical Garden bus shelter unveiled
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Posted on Sep 17 2019
Japan Rotary district governor Toyohisa Asada San and district secretary Yoshichika Iwaki San join Rotary Club of Saipan officials at the ribbon-cutting ceremony last Friday for the newly-constructed bus shelter at the Botanical Garden, which has been adopted by the club. Also in the photo is House vice speaker Lorenzo “Larry” Deleon Guerrero (R-Saipan), whose office built the shelter and Pupil Transportation director Shawn San Nicolas of the Public School System. (Iva Maurin)
The Public School System’s Office of Pupil Transportation transports about 3,000 students to and from bus shelters to their assigned schools everyday. However, many sites around the island that have been designated as bus shelters do not actually have any shelters at all.
Which is why the creation and unveiling of a new bus shelter at the Botanical Garden in Kagman is welcome news for Pupil Transportation director Shawn San Nicolas. The original shelter was damaged during Super Typhoon Yutu in October 2018.
“I would see kids here and there was no structure at all. I felt really bad for them, and so we are glad that the congressman built the structure and that the Rotary Club has decided to adopt it,” San Nicolas said. “The kids are really going to appreciate this.”
The office of House vice speaker Lorenzo “Larry” Deleon Guerrero (R-Saipan) spearheaded the creation of the bus shelter.
At the ribbon-cutting for the new bus shelter Friday, Rotary Club of Saipan president Marcia Ayuyu promised that the group would maintain the bus shelter and keep it nice and clean.
Deleon Guerrero recalled that, right after the typhoon, they had to build a temporary shelter in the area using just tin roofs. The temporary shelter has since been demolished, but the benches would be restored. The new shelter is made of concrete.
“Our school kids are very important so I made it a priority to rebuild this shelter for the kids,” Deleon Guerrero said.
With the monsoon season now in full swing, more concrete bus shelters are needed all over the island to ensure that children are protected from the harsh weather.
“There are several locations around the island, many locations actually, where there are designated bus shelters. But there’s no actual structure,” San Nicolas said. “If there are people who are willing to build, contact my office and I can show them locations where we need structures where there’s no structures and we need one.”
For groups or individuals who are willing to help build bus shelters, contact the Office of Pupil Transportation at 322-9457.
