Buildup burden remains contentious issue
KUAM
Updated: May 10, 2010 6:37 PM
by Sabrina Salas Matanane
Guam - With a decision looming on the contentious issue on where the U.S. Marines' Futenma Air Base will be relocated, here at home the push continues to ensure Guam isn't left shouldering the burden to pay for the infrastructure needed to handle the military buildup. Governor Felix Camacho and CNMI Governor Benigno Fitial will head to Tokyo Wednesday to continue dialogue from this weekend in Saipan regarding the Marines relocation.
"I had gone there Saturday morning and met with six members of the Japan Diet that are very interested in our point of view," said the governor. "They are members of the Democratic Party of Japan, the current ruling party that is in place."
Governor Camacho says the talks in Saipan gave the two leaders the opportunity to meet face to face with the delegation from the ruling party, and express to them how Guam was never part of the discussions or negotiations involving the Marines relocation when the status of forces agreement was signed between the U.S. and Japan in 2006.
Camacho continued, "They made decisions that will impact and effect our territory our people our way of life without any consultation, and secondly that the impact and cost that it will bring to us is there expecting us to absorb that is absolutely not right."
The governor specifically referencing Japan's commitment of $6 billion to move the Marines out of Okinawa to Guam and how not a penny will go toward civilian infrastructure needs to accommodate the growth. For example, it's estimated just for power and water alone it will cost about $1.3 billion in upgrades.
He said, "We have no access to that $6 billion and yet we're on one island with shared resources of water, electricity of land and the like and unless we are given an opportunity it's not fair and right to the people of Guam. We should not be expected to or can we cover the cost that will be imposed on the people of Guam, and I'm asking for access to the $6 billion that is confined only to expenditures within the fenceline."
According to the governor the two are hoping to meet with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Thursday. Camacho says after the meeting he will fly home that same evening. The governor's trip to Tokyo comes amidst talks that are scheduled to be held this week in Washington on the contentious Futenma issue and where the relocation facility will be located.
According to the 2006 agreement it is supposed to be built in Henoko. As we reported last week, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama changed his stance from his pre-election campaign position last year that Futenma must be moved out of Okinawa completely to last week's announcement that realistically that would be impossible. A final decision on Futenma is expected to be made by the end of the month.. As we reported a report from the Government Accountability Office noted that if the Futenma Replacement Facility is not constructed the relocation of the Marines from Okinawa to Guam will not occur.
Showing posts with label Prime Minister. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prime Minister. Show all posts
Monday, May 10, 2010
Saturday, May 01, 2010
Build up Speed Up
Buildup speed up .
Friday, 30 April 2010 01:03
by Gerardo Partido
Marianas Variety News Staff
Any doubts that the military buildup on Guam won't happen were dashed earlier this week when Japan prime minister Yukio Hatoyama reportedly told the U.S. that he would abide with the original 2006 military realignment agreement.
Before that, some members of Hatoyama's coalition had been boasting that they would defy the U.S. and relocate the Futenma airbase outside Okinawa, perhaps even transfer it to Guam.
But the Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, reported that President Obama told Hatoyama in no uncertain terms that Japan must abide by the original agreement or else.
Of course, Hatoyama, the next day, denied that he had caved in. He even joined a rally in Okinawa that called for the removal of the Futenma base. But that is just face-saving, an attempt to appease his constituents.
The Washington Post report is credible because Obama has long looked for a chance to prove that he is no wimp when it comes to global security issues. He has already been widely criticized for letting the Futenma issue stew. So his reported "blunt" talk with Hatoyama during the recent nuclear talks held in Washington D.C. has a ring of truth to it.
Hatoyama's self-imposed deadline of May for announcing his decision on Futenma is now upon us. Many analysts believe that his final decision will not be a radical departure from the original agreement. Perhaps small changes here and there to give a show of not totally capitulating to the U.S. But nothing radical to anger the U.S. and risk Japan's more than 50-year security relationship with the U.S.
There has been talk of minor revisions such as changes in the runway plan or pushing the proposed relocation site further away from population centers. The U.S. can live with these changes and is expected to give Hatoyama the political breathing room he needs.
Here on Guam, we are back to where we started and there is an even bigger sense of urgency now that it seems that the buildup will push through after all.
Nothing has been heard about the draft environmental impact statement since the comment period expired. The military, especially the JGPO, has been very reticent about whether concerns raised against the DEIS have been addressed. A "deafening" silence, as military buildup chair Sen. Judith Guthertz characterized it.
And yet, there are signs that the military buildup is speeding up. Younex has just broken ground on its $200 million workforce village that is capable of housing 18,000 guest workers expected to come to Guam for the buildup.
There are also rumors that teams of civilian-military contractors are already scouting areas where at least 9 new DoDEA schools will be constructed for the children of military personnel.
Ditto for the Barrigada area where the planned Army ballistic missile unit will be located. The teams are supposedly already planning for the area's "preliminary water piping." Now, water service has always been a sore point among Barrigada residents. Imagine the additional strain that the newcomers will bring to the water infrastructure in the area.
In fact, many are saying now that the water demand alone from the buildup is so massive that it warrants an entirely new and separate environmental impact study, especially with the military planning to dig up its own water wells to supplement the existing supply.
This is true as well for the Apra Harbor portion of the buildup plan, with its many facets covering possible ill effects on the marine environment in the area, including the possible danger of radioactivity.
All in all, the Guam military buildup plan is so huge and all-encompassing that in other states in the mainland, such an undertaking would require various, separate environmental impact studies.
In the meantime, errors in the one DEIS that we currently have continue to be uncovered. Some are laughable were it not for the fact that it is our island they are talking about. Imagine, making an elementary mistake on the sequence of the Guam and Pearl Harbor bombing?
Also, there's the possibility that sections of the DEIS may have been plagiarized. As the UOG professor who blew the whistle on the plagiarism said, if one part of the report is a lie then the whole thing becomes suspect.
And the U.S. government paid $87 million for this report! If they had employed more local professionals, perhaps the report would have been more accurate and more of those federal dollars would have stayed on island.
With such glaring mistakes and the wholesale condemnation of the report by the feds' own U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the federal government must consider redoing the whole DEIS and starting from scratch.
The military can't just release a final record of decision based on a draft that has been proven to be defective. There's simply no way we can accept a final EIS if that is based on the old DEIS.
We all want the economic benefits of the military expansion to start as soon as possible, but the buildup must be done properly so that our island suffers the least damage from it.
Friday, 30 April 2010 01:03
by Gerardo Partido
Marianas Variety News Staff
Any doubts that the military buildup on Guam won't happen were dashed earlier this week when Japan prime minister Yukio Hatoyama reportedly told the U.S. that he would abide with the original 2006 military realignment agreement.
Before that, some members of Hatoyama's coalition had been boasting that they would defy the U.S. and relocate the Futenma airbase outside Okinawa, perhaps even transfer it to Guam.
But the Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, reported that President Obama told Hatoyama in no uncertain terms that Japan must abide by the original agreement or else.
Of course, Hatoyama, the next day, denied that he had caved in. He even joined a rally in Okinawa that called for the removal of the Futenma base. But that is just face-saving, an attempt to appease his constituents.
The Washington Post report is credible because Obama has long looked for a chance to prove that he is no wimp when it comes to global security issues. He has already been widely criticized for letting the Futenma issue stew. So his reported "blunt" talk with Hatoyama during the recent nuclear talks held in Washington D.C. has a ring of truth to it.
Hatoyama's self-imposed deadline of May for announcing his decision on Futenma is now upon us. Many analysts believe that his final decision will not be a radical departure from the original agreement. Perhaps small changes here and there to give a show of not totally capitulating to the U.S. But nothing radical to anger the U.S. and risk Japan's more than 50-year security relationship with the U.S.
There has been talk of minor revisions such as changes in the runway plan or pushing the proposed relocation site further away from population centers. The U.S. can live with these changes and is expected to give Hatoyama the political breathing room he needs.
Here on Guam, we are back to where we started and there is an even bigger sense of urgency now that it seems that the buildup will push through after all.
Nothing has been heard about the draft environmental impact statement since the comment period expired. The military, especially the JGPO, has been very reticent about whether concerns raised against the DEIS have been addressed. A "deafening" silence, as military buildup chair Sen. Judith Guthertz characterized it.
And yet, there are signs that the military buildup is speeding up. Younex has just broken ground on its $200 million workforce village that is capable of housing 18,000 guest workers expected to come to Guam for the buildup.
There are also rumors that teams of civilian-military contractors are already scouting areas where at least 9 new DoDEA schools will be constructed for the children of military personnel.
Ditto for the Barrigada area where the planned Army ballistic missile unit will be located. The teams are supposedly already planning for the area's "preliminary water piping." Now, water service has always been a sore point among Barrigada residents. Imagine the additional strain that the newcomers will bring to the water infrastructure in the area.
In fact, many are saying now that the water demand alone from the buildup is so massive that it warrants an entirely new and separate environmental impact study, especially with the military planning to dig up its own water wells to supplement the existing supply.
This is true as well for the Apra Harbor portion of the buildup plan, with its many facets covering possible ill effects on the marine environment in the area, including the possible danger of radioactivity.
All in all, the Guam military buildup plan is so huge and all-encompassing that in other states in the mainland, such an undertaking would require various, separate environmental impact studies.
In the meantime, errors in the one DEIS that we currently have continue to be uncovered. Some are laughable were it not for the fact that it is our island they are talking about. Imagine, making an elementary mistake on the sequence of the Guam and Pearl Harbor bombing?
Also, there's the possibility that sections of the DEIS may have been plagiarized. As the UOG professor who blew the whistle on the plagiarism said, if one part of the report is a lie then the whole thing becomes suspect.
And the U.S. government paid $87 million for this report! If they had employed more local professionals, perhaps the report would have been more accurate and more of those federal dollars would have stayed on island.
With such glaring mistakes and the wholesale condemnation of the report by the feds' own U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the federal government must consider redoing the whole DEIS and starting from scratch.
The military can't just release a final record of decision based on a draft that has been proven to be defective. There's simply no way we can accept a final EIS if that is based on the old DEIS.
We all want the economic benefits of the military expansion to start as soon as possible, but the buildup must be done properly so that our island suffers the least damage from it.
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