MVarietyNews.com

ONCE again, I have been reminded of just how miserably our government has continually failed us.

I took some customers to Wing Beach for a dive Wednesday afternoon, and upon returning to my van after the second dive, I discovered that someone had tried breaking into my van and had destroyed the driver’s side lock, not allowing me to open that door any longer.
After talking with a few other people in the parking lot, I discovered that the thief had also stolen a laptop from a tourist who was at the beach. Wing Beach has been a favorite spot for thieves for many years now.
This has been brought to the attention of Marianas Visitor’s Authority repeatedly, and they even promised to post a guard there this year, but of course it was just one more broken promise from a broken down administration.
I guess it was more important to them to spend their budget on junkets and travels than on protection for our residents and tourists.
I even wasted my time sitting through some dive association meetings at MVA, sharing my concerns about the dive sites and recommending several things they could easily do to enhance the sites.
Not a single recommendation mentioned by anyone was ever acted upon.
It seemed to be more of what we have come to expect from government, just another useless meeting where they never intended to do anything in the first place.
So now we have yet another tourist going back home to tell all their family and friends about their visit to the island of thieves. Great marketing strategy we have going on there!
And yes, we have once again become known as the island of thieves.
The proof is in the plague of pawnshops that have sprung up all over the island.
They are really nothing more than a convenient way for the thieves to turn their stolen goods into cash.
The last time I counted, I found over 50 pawnshops! That is absolutely insane for somewhere the size of Saipan.
But if we are going to allow them, then why don’t we at least try to make them as accountable as possible?
Shouldn’t they all be required to have all their goods on display, not tucked away in a back room?
Shouldn’t they all be required to have constant video surveillance, so it would be easier to prove that the thief brought the stolen merchandise in?
The truth of the matter is, our lawmakers and elected officials have not really wanted to protect us from the thieves, otherwise they would have.
Tourism is all we have left, aside from going to Uncle Sam with our hands out, and yet we’re too busy filing frivolous lawsuits against the federal government to take care of what we have and make sure that it is in good condition for our tourists.
Diving is one of the main attractions for our tourists, and Laulau is probably our most frequented dive site.
But now the road leading to Laulau beach is impassable to any vehicle that is not 4x4 with very high clearance.
The part of the road coming down from Kagman has now collapsed into a drainage ditch at the bottom and is not safe to cross any longer, and the road coming in from San Vicente is so washed out in one spot that you’re risking doing serious damage to your vehicle if you attempt to cross it.
But instead of doing anything to fix the roads even temporarily, our lame duck government just sits there ignoring the problem, realizing that their days in office are about up anyway.
So now one of our main dive sites is off limits for many of the dive operators on the island. What a great way to encourage them to stick it out here and try to help rebuilding the economy.
This letter is not for the current administration; you have already failed miserably and have shown us that you just don’t care. This is for the next administration. Please take tourism seriously and do everything within your power to protect our tourists and their valuables. If you don’t, the thieves will eventually be coming after you because there will be no tourists left.

HARRY B. BLALOCK
Fina Sisu, Saipan