Guthertz to Pfannenstiel: There Appears to be a Lack of Integrity in Navy's Dealing With Guam on Buildup
Last Updated on Thursday, 07 July 2011 10:55
Written by Kevin Kerrigan
Thursday, 07 July 2011 09:24
Guam News
Guam - Senator Judi Guthertz has written to Assistant Navy Secretary Jackalyne Pfannenstiel about her concerns over what Guthertz believes to be an apparent "lack of integrity in the U.S. Government in its dealing with the people of Guam regarding the military buildup."
In her letter, the Senator, who Chairs the Legislature's Buildup Committee, cites the contradiction between a U.S. State Department cable and the Department of Defense's Environmental Impact Statement.
READ Senator Guthertz's letter
The July 2009 cable is from the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo to the U.S. State Department. It was leaked by Wikileaks.
The cable reports on a meeting DoD's former Japan Director Suzanne Basalla had with Japanese Officials during which Basalla is reported to have told Japanese officials that "while the political value of the 2014 target completion date is clear, the United States has been very frank with Japan that the date is increasingly unrealistic ... The U.S. side looks forward to discussing with Japan ways in which to best manage ‘beyond 2014’ messaging.”
4 months after this cable was sent to the Department of State, the Department of Defense released its draft EIS based upon the 2014 completion date which predicted 79,000 new residents on Guam by 2014. "The residents of Guam were alarmed by this and other numbers" writes Guthertz to Pfannenstiel, adding that "the negative reaction that resulted led to much community division."
In light of what the leaked cable reveals, Guthertz calls the November 2009 release of the draft EIS "false and purposefully un-updated" and blames the EIS for leaving "our community confused and divided."
And she asks "Why was it that the Japanese were told in July of 2009, but it was kept secret from the people of Guam - fellow American citizens - until the release of the Record of Decision in July of 2010?"
The Senator also writes that if the leadership of the Guam military buildup were to appear before the Guam Legislature's Ethics Committee she believes that they "would be found guilty of gross ethical violations."
"This is not the way to treat American citizens. The Americans living in Guam deserve to know the truth about the military buildup plan at the same time, if not sooner, than a foreign government."
Showing posts with label Transparency. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Transparency. Show all posts
Saturday, July 09, 2011
Friday, April 20, 2007
Near Continuous CNMI Presence
The Saipan Tribune
Friday, April 20, 2007
'Near continuous' presence of Marines expected
By Agnes E. Donato
Reporter
The U.S. military held a public meeting on Saipan last night to hear what local residents have to say about the planned relocation of 8,000 Marines to Guam.
The Joint Guam Program Office will hold a similar public meeting on Tinian from 5pm to 9pm today.
The open house public scoping meetings are being conducted to allow for public comment on the Environmental Impact Statement, which the military is writing in support of the proposed military buildup in Guam.
The exact number of people who attended the meeting could not immediately be ascertained as people would come and go. Nearly a hundred people were present during the early part of the public meeting.
JGPO executive director David F. Bice said the Commonwealth, especially Tinian, is expected to house training facilities when the Marines complete their transfer from Okinawa.
Although a permanent relocation of military personnel is unlikely, Tinian and other areas on the islands can expect a “near-continuous” presence of Marines training, Bice said.
“The likelihood and concept that the Marines will look at is to build ranges and facilities there. Not necessarily permanent brick and mortar facilities, but more of an expeditionary base camp-we call them warm bases-where they fall in on and operate out of. So you'd have barracks and maintenance facilities to support the Marines as they're training,” he said in an interview Thursday afternoon.
Bice said the relocation program would open a lot of opportunities for the government and local businesses to partner with the U.S. Department of Defense.
The military will need the government's assistance in providing power and water supply, and possibly road access, to its facilities. The private sector will be called upon to offer services and support.
“We would love to see an expansion in what we call the secondary market. People may not necessarily go and do construction, but there will be great need for information technology and services and support,” Bice said.
He offered this advice to local businesses looking to benefit from the military transfer: “Look into your strategic goals, see how you're set up-your financing, bonding capacity and training capacity. If you do need to retool and retrain your people, start now so they can be aligned to meet future requirements. Construction is going to start in less than three years; that's not very far away, particularly if you're trying to get ready.”
Bice said the military will conduct a series of industry forums o=in Guam in July or August to allow for networking between big industry and local business.
Friday, April 20, 2007
'Near continuous' presence of Marines expected
By Agnes E. Donato
Reporter
The U.S. military held a public meeting on Saipan last night to hear what local residents have to say about the planned relocation of 8,000 Marines to Guam.
The Joint Guam Program Office will hold a similar public meeting on Tinian from 5pm to 9pm today.
The open house public scoping meetings are being conducted to allow for public comment on the Environmental Impact Statement, which the military is writing in support of the proposed military buildup in Guam.
The exact number of people who attended the meeting could not immediately be ascertained as people would come and go. Nearly a hundred people were present during the early part of the public meeting.
JGPO executive director David F. Bice said the Commonwealth, especially Tinian, is expected to house training facilities when the Marines complete their transfer from Okinawa.
Although a permanent relocation of military personnel is unlikely, Tinian and other areas on the islands can expect a “near-continuous” presence of Marines training, Bice said.
“The likelihood and concept that the Marines will look at is to build ranges and facilities there. Not necessarily permanent brick and mortar facilities, but more of an expeditionary base camp-we call them warm bases-where they fall in on and operate out of. So you'd have barracks and maintenance facilities to support the Marines as they're training,” he said in an interview Thursday afternoon.
Bice said the relocation program would open a lot of opportunities for the government and local businesses to partner with the U.S. Department of Defense.
The military will need the government's assistance in providing power and water supply, and possibly road access, to its facilities. The private sector will be called upon to offer services and support.
“We would love to see an expansion in what we call the secondary market. People may not necessarily go and do construction, but there will be great need for information technology and services and support,” Bice said.
He offered this advice to local businesses looking to benefit from the military transfer: “Look into your strategic goals, see how you're set up-your financing, bonding capacity and training capacity. If you do need to retool and retrain your people, start now so they can be aligned to meet future requirements. Construction is going to start in less than three years; that's not very far away, particularly if you're trying to get ready.”
Bice said the military will conduct a series of industry forums o=in Guam in July or August to allow for networking between big industry and local business.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
"Several women?"
Several women dissatisfied with Leaf's discussion
by Clynt Ridgell, KUAM News
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
http://www.kuam.com/news/19011.aspx
Senator Judi Won Pat's (D) women's group met today with PACCOMM deputy commander Lieutenant General Daniel Leaf to discuss cultural and social impacts that will occur with the influx of military personnel on Guam. Some of the women present during today's meeting were not satisfied with the amount of time they were allowed to meet with General Leaf.
Former senator Hope Cristobal summarized the session by saying, "I was hoping that he would be able to expound a little bit more about the military's views about some of the issues that we presented today, so generally speaking, I wasn't happy about his responses."
Although Lisa Natividad of the Organization for the Protection of Indigenous Rights was happy that the general took time out of his busy schedule to meet with the women's group, she was not entirely satisfied with the results of the meeting. "I think today's meeting was a good first step in terms of opening the dialogue with the U.S. military regarding the relocation of these Marines to our island," she said, "however I don't feel there was enough detail that was discussed and in terms of the commitments of what our needs are it seems that the general wasn't in the position to make those commitments. And so to a large degree I think that maybe the right players need to be on the table because there's lots of concerns that we need to have addressed that aren't going to be able to be touched it seems."
by Clynt Ridgell, KUAM News
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
http://www.kuam.com/news/19011.aspx
Senator Judi Won Pat's (D) women's group met today with PACCOMM deputy commander Lieutenant General Daniel Leaf to discuss cultural and social impacts that will occur with the influx of military personnel on Guam. Some of the women present during today's meeting were not satisfied with the amount of time they were allowed to meet with General Leaf.
Former senator Hope Cristobal summarized the session by saying, "I was hoping that he would be able to expound a little bit more about the military's views about some of the issues that we presented today, so generally speaking, I wasn't happy about his responses."
Although Lisa Natividad of the Organization for the Protection of Indigenous Rights was happy that the general took time out of his busy schedule to meet with the women's group, she was not entirely satisfied with the results of the meeting. "I think today's meeting was a good first step in terms of opening the dialogue with the U.S. military regarding the relocation of these Marines to our island," she said, "however I don't feel there was enough detail that was discussed and in terms of the commitments of what our needs are it seems that the general wasn't in the position to make those commitments. And so to a large degree I think that maybe the right players need to be on the table because there's lots of concerns that we need to have addressed that aren't going to be able to be touched it seems."
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