Comments on The Saipan SCUBA Diving Blog: Beautify CNMI - Round Two

I hear ya. I think things have improved considera...

2008-05-02T21:43:00.000+10:00

I hear ya. I think things have improved considerably in just the past couple of years since BCNMI got into the act.

Hopefully continued education will see the shift in the right direction continue.

Things have gotten much better though Mike. Back ...

2008-05-02T21:23:00.000+10:00

Things have gotten much better though Mike. Back in the 70s people would just throw bags of trash out of their cars along the roadside, they'd junk cars along the roadside, trash and broken bottles all over the beach, cans would remain for months in large piles around the beaches, etc. Changing behavior can take a long time. The general behavior has changed quite drastically actually. There will always be those in the community that will never give a sh#t.. they're the ones who need to be ticketed in order to see change.

I'm not really sure. At one point I heard they ha...

2008-05-02T21:06:00.000+10:00

I'm not really sure. At one point I heard they had tried to issue a few citations but the reaction from the perpetrators was more than they could bear and few if any tickets were issued.

As with most things here the enforcement is pretty lax. It's crazy because all it would take is a few $500 fines given out consistently regardless of how much bitching there was or who the guilty party was related to.

As it stands now could you imagine how much better our tourism industry would be if we could put all those participating in the BCNMI cleanups to work writing welcome letters to potential visitors knowing that we offer a clean and safe place to visit!

Of course we can complain about the lack of enforcement but, ultimately you have to wonder about the mentality of those who litter especially when they do it in such a big way. We're not talking about the odd gum wrapper here and there, we're talking about outright disrespect for the environment and everyone who lives here.

Personally I think anyone caught littering should be sent to work at the transfer station sorting through garbage in the hot sun. If they do it again, kick em off the island.

Where are the "litter police" that were supposedly...

2008-05-02T13:16:00.000+10:00

Where are the "litter police" that were supposedly created about a year ago? Why aren't they patrolling the beaches and offering up citations, or at least making their presence known, so that folks will be more thoughtful about their trash. This is the only thing that is going to work for some people. A warning or a ticket. Repeat offenders should do time. If it's not the law.. it should be the law. Hell, put a few people in jail for a few days for the first offense, and the litter problem will be a thing of the past.