Wanted: More toilets in Marpi

Tourists allegedly continue to leave their fecal remnants near popular tourist sites up north, according to the Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality.

As tourists continue to return following the devastation of Super Typhoon Yutu, many previous concerns begin to resurface like driving into some of Saipan’s beautiful beaches and defecating at or near the many tourist sites located in the northernmost parts of Saipan.

According to Eli Cabrera, BECQ administrator and previous Parks & Recreation director, tourists now defecate not just in beaches but other areas too including bushes and roadsides.

“If you talk with Parks & Recreation, they’ll tell you ‘yes.’ I was a director there for a while and oh man…Pau Pau beach up north, we were eating in one of the pavilions and a lady just took a crap on the side…even at the entrance by the Marpi, by the flame tree, there’s plenty there, it’s not just the beaches… Even up at the Mt. Tapochao, they’ll tell me,” Cabrera said.

A source at the Grotto also mentioned that he witnessed floating feces within the Grotto pool during high tide and couldn’t believe his eyes.

Cabrera said that one of the reasons that tourists continue to defecate up north is because of the lack of comfort rooms in the area.

“The problem is there’s no toilet so these tourists take a crap on the bushes or by the long grass …The road to Marpi, between San Roque and Marpi, there’s no toilet except Last Command Post…then there’s one at Banzai Cliff…and the only other one is the Grotto. Those are the only restrooms in Marpi…sometimes it’s locked because there’s no water…” he said.

Cabrera said that the Marianas Visitors Authority should consider placing portable restrooms in these areas for tourists to utilize and see if it would solve the problem.

When asked if Parks & Recreation is responsible for the clean up of feces near tourists spots, Cabrera said it’s not because although their job is to clean these areas, they aren’t trained and equipped to deal with feces which could carry hazardous contaminants.

Cabrera said that staff of the Division of Sanitation are trained to clean fecal remains from these sights, Parks & Recreation is only responsible for picking up trash and cleaning up the area.