Guam's Speaker Judith Won Pat has called on the local community to assist in efforts to help the people of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas (CNMI) address its water shortage crisis following the devastation caused by Typhoon Soudelor.
IHOP Guam announced that the company had 160 cases of water delivered and distributed to the CNMI.
“We’re appealing to other businesses to do the same,” Won Pat said. “In Saipan, they have a problem of salt-infiltration into their drinking water and that’s the reason why it’s not working and it’s so important to send something as basic as water.”
The Guam Legislature was hoping to collect 500 cases of water by Monday to be shipped by Matson to Saipan.
“If we meet that goal we’re really talking about the possibility of 12,000 bottles of water that we can send to the community in Saipan,” Won Pat said.
Typhoon Soudelor struck Saipan on Aug. 2, causing widespread damage, ripping roofs off homes and knocking down trees and power poles in Saipan. As of Sunday, 100 percent of the island was without island power.
Backup generators were the only source of power for some businesses, government agencies and homes. Without power, the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. is unable to pump water to customers, according to a CUC statement.
Richard Hart, president of Apple Pacific, IHOP’s parent company, said the company partnered with PTC Trading to distribute water bottles in Saipan. “If you have a case of water and you’re thinking, ‘I only have one case,’ it doesn’t matter, just drop it off,” he said.
At a press briefing last week, CNMI acting Gov. Ralph Torres said the commonwealth has been experiencing a shortage of water. “Even the main water companies, whatever they’re producing is going fast,” he added.
To help address the shortage, the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. has placed water stations at Agag, Capital Hill and Kanat Tabla, but is limiting water to 100 gallons a day per family.
Private water company, Star Water Saipan, is limiting customers to three 5-gallon water containers per family, per day.
Mobile service including voice, SMS and data are fully restored on Tinian and Rota, while Saipan customers have partial restoration of voice, SMS and data services and crews are working toward full capacity restoration, according to a release from Docomo Pacific.
However, TV and online services remain off-line.
Docomo said its crews are in the field assessing the damage and are working on a restoration plan. Currently there is no estimated time as to when these services will be available.
Docomo is anticipating a new shipment of solar chargers and car chargers early next week so customers can continue to use mobile devices.
Bank of Guam (BOG) said its Saipan branches were closed on Saturday as typhoon recovery efforts continue.
BOG said contributions to help the Saipan community recover from Typhoon Soudelor may be made at all branches, with the notation that the funds should go to the “Soudelor Aid” account.
BOG is also offering a 90-day loan payment deferment program to its Saipan loan customers in good standing. It has also extended financial assistance to its employees in Saipan in support of their needs during the recovery period.