PNC :: Japanese Group Studying Guam Buildup
Monday, 15 February 2010
Guam - With the comment period of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement drawing to a close this Wednesday an independent citizens group from Japan sent representatives to Guam to find out how the average citizen feels about the military buildup.
Hibiki yamaguchi is with the People's Plan Study Group of Japan. He's here on Guam on a fact finding mission to find out how the U.S. military has been affecting the lives of people on Guam. Yamaguchi says that Japanese officials are making their decisions after visiting the island for only a few days. He said "what we try to do here is go deeper into people's lives."
Yamaguchi will be on Guam for ten days with the goal of letting Japanese citizens know what people on Guam are thinking and feeling about the military buildup. He says his group is doing this because Japanese officials are trying to reach a conclusion on the military buildup without knowing what the people of Guam really think.
Written by : Clynt Ridgell
Showing posts with label US Military. Show all posts
Showing posts with label US Military. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
DRT targeting taxes from military contracts
DRT targeting taxes from military contracts
Monday, 15 February 2010 05:15
by Therese Hart | Variety News Staff
THE Department of Revenue and Taxation has laws and regulations in place for companies doing business on Guam and those contracted on U.S. military installations and it is the department’s responsibility to make sure that all these companies are paying their taxes on island, tax director Art Ilagan said.
Contractors who do business on Guam are required to register with the Guam Contractor’s License Board and they must obtain clearances from DRT which would include the Collections Branch to make sure they do not have any unpaid taxes, said Ilagan in a letter to Speaker Judi Won Pat.
Ilagan said companies will not get clearance until all taxes are paid in full or they have entered into a payment installment agreement.
In a Jan. 20 memorandum, President Barack Obama directed the Internal Revenue Service to conduct a review of certifications of non-delinquency in taxes that companies bidding for federal contracts are required to submit pursuant to a 2008 amendment to the Federal Acquisition Regulation.
No info
The memo noted that too often federal contracting officials do not have the most basic information they need to make informed judgments about whether a company trying to win a federal contract is delinquent in paying its taxes.
Obama indicated that the federal government pays more than half a trillion dollars a year to contractors, yet reports by the Government Accountability Office state that federal contracts are awarded to tens of thousands of companies with serious tax delinquencies.
The total amount in unpaid taxes owed by these contracting companies is estimated to be more than $5 billion.
Ilagan said the federal government will go after off-island prime contractors. However, DRT foresees a problem of tracking subcontractors who do business on base.
Subcontracts
“Once they get the federal contract, they then subcontract out here on Guam to local contractors. We just have to control it here when the subcontractors get the contracts from the prime contractors. We have to track the subcontractors and even that is kinda hard to track. How do we know these subcontractors aren’t doing business on base?” said Ilagan.
Contractors who transact business solely on U.S. military installations on Guam are required to obtain a service license. They also are also require to obtain the necessary clearances with DRT which would include clearance from Collections Branch.
Ilagan said the Collections Branch is hard at work investigating these off-island companies with a service license to do business on military installations to make sure they are in compliance with the business privilege tax laws on Guam.
Daunting task
“It is a daunting task considering that for fiscal years 2008 and 2009, there were 649 and 644 contractors, respectively, listed on the federal government spending website for Guam alone,” Ilagan stated in a letter to Won Pat.
This list is a combination of local and off-island companies who either have a business license, contractor’s license or service license, Ilagan said.
Vice speaker B.J. Cruz is also concerned about Guam not being able to capture all local taxes owed by companies who will do business on Guam because of the military buildup.
Cruz has asked Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo to include language in the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act which would require that each construction contract to designate Guam as the originating site and that all associated income be designated possession source income without any special exemption.
Cruz also asked that the Department of Defense be specifically required to cooperate with tax officials on Guam.
Bordallo responded that she would consider Cruz’s request.
Monday, 15 February 2010 05:15
by Therese Hart | Variety News Staff
THE Department of Revenue and Taxation has laws and regulations in place for companies doing business on Guam and those contracted on U.S. military installations and it is the department’s responsibility to make sure that all these companies are paying their taxes on island, tax director Art Ilagan said.
Contractors who do business on Guam are required to register with the Guam Contractor’s License Board and they must obtain clearances from DRT which would include the Collections Branch to make sure they do not have any unpaid taxes, said Ilagan in a letter to Speaker Judi Won Pat.
Ilagan said companies will not get clearance until all taxes are paid in full or they have entered into a payment installment agreement.
In a Jan. 20 memorandum, President Barack Obama directed the Internal Revenue Service to conduct a review of certifications of non-delinquency in taxes that companies bidding for federal contracts are required to submit pursuant to a 2008 amendment to the Federal Acquisition Regulation.
No info
The memo noted that too often federal contracting officials do not have the most basic information they need to make informed judgments about whether a company trying to win a federal contract is delinquent in paying its taxes.
Obama indicated that the federal government pays more than half a trillion dollars a year to contractors, yet reports by the Government Accountability Office state that federal contracts are awarded to tens of thousands of companies with serious tax delinquencies.
The total amount in unpaid taxes owed by these contracting companies is estimated to be more than $5 billion.
Ilagan said the federal government will go after off-island prime contractors. However, DRT foresees a problem of tracking subcontractors who do business on base.
Subcontracts
“Once they get the federal contract, they then subcontract out here on Guam to local contractors. We just have to control it here when the subcontractors get the contracts from the prime contractors. We have to track the subcontractors and even that is kinda hard to track. How do we know these subcontractors aren’t doing business on base?” said Ilagan.
Contractors who transact business solely on U.S. military installations on Guam are required to obtain a service license. They also are also require to obtain the necessary clearances with DRT which would include clearance from Collections Branch.
Ilagan said the Collections Branch is hard at work investigating these off-island companies with a service license to do business on military installations to make sure they are in compliance with the business privilege tax laws on Guam.
Daunting task
“It is a daunting task considering that for fiscal years 2008 and 2009, there were 649 and 644 contractors, respectively, listed on the federal government spending website for Guam alone,” Ilagan stated in a letter to Won Pat.
This list is a combination of local and off-island companies who either have a business license, contractor’s license or service license, Ilagan said.
Vice speaker B.J. Cruz is also concerned about Guam not being able to capture all local taxes owed by companies who will do business on Guam because of the military buildup.
Cruz has asked Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo to include language in the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act which would require that each construction contract to designate Guam as the originating site and that all associated income be designated possession source income without any special exemption.
Cruz also asked that the Department of Defense be specifically required to cooperate with tax officials on Guam.
Bordallo responded that she would consider Cruz’s request.
Guam legislature adopts resolution on military buildup plan
Guam legislature adopts resolution on military buildup plan
Feb 11 02:38 AM US/Eastern
HAGATNA, Guam, Feb. 11 (AP) - (Kyodo) — The Guam legislature unanimously adopted a resolution Thursday urging the U.S. military and other relevant authorities to drastically amend the current military buildup plan for the island, citing many "flaws" including the impact on the environment and the threat to islanders' property.
The resolution also called for more information on the relocation of U.S. military personnel from Japan's Okinawa Prefecture and for a "town hall" meeting with President Barack Obama on the issue when he visits the Pacific island next month.
According to Assembly Speaker Judith Won Pat, the legislature's main areas of concern in the detailed buildup plan, called the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, include the possibility of land seizure, large-scale dredging of coral reefs and the lack of thought given to the social impact of the buildup.
Most islanders came face to face with these issues for the first time when the Joint Guam Program Office, a U.S. military task force handling the Guam buildup, released the statement in November, Won Pat said. She has complained to the JGPO about the fact that only three months have been allowed for public comment.
The resolution was nonbinding but will be sent to Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, Obama and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, among others.
Meanwhile, the legislators handed a draft resolution to members of a Japanese government fact-finding delegation during their visit to the legislature in Hagatna the same day.
Feb 11 02:38 AM US/Eastern
HAGATNA, Guam, Feb. 11 (AP) - (Kyodo) — The Guam legislature unanimously adopted a resolution Thursday urging the U.S. military and other relevant authorities to drastically amend the current military buildup plan for the island, citing many "flaws" including the impact on the environment and the threat to islanders' property.
The resolution also called for more information on the relocation of U.S. military personnel from Japan's Okinawa Prefecture and for a "town hall" meeting with President Barack Obama on the issue when he visits the Pacific island next month.
According to Assembly Speaker Judith Won Pat, the legislature's main areas of concern in the detailed buildup plan, called the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, include the possibility of land seizure, large-scale dredging of coral reefs and the lack of thought given to the social impact of the buildup.
Most islanders came face to face with these issues for the first time when the Joint Guam Program Office, a U.S. military task force handling the Guam buildup, released the statement in November, Won Pat said. She has complained to the JGPO about the fact that only three months have been allowed for public comment.
The resolution was nonbinding but will be sent to Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, Obama and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, among others.
Meanwhile, the legislators handed a draft resolution to members of a Japanese government fact-finding delegation during their visit to the legislature in Hagatna the same day.
PNC :: U.S. Senator Jim Webb To Visit Guam
PNC :: U.S. Senator Jim Webb To Visit Guam
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
Guam - U.S. Senator Jim Webb is planing a visit to Guam next week.
The Virginia Democrat will be stopping in Tokyo and Okinawa as well.
Webb chairs the Senate Committee on Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee and the Committee on Foreign Relations East Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee.
A statement from Webb's office says the Senator will be seeking "solutions in an increasingly rancorous debate over a US military base on the southern island of Okinawa."
And he will "listen carefully to the views of the current Japanese government, the leaders and citizens of Okinawa and Guam and US military leaders and personnel stationed in the Pacific region." .
Webb leaves DC for Japan this Saturday.
This will be Webb's first trip to Japan since Prime Minister Hatoyama took office last summer.
Written by : Kevin Kerrigan
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
Guam - U.S. Senator Jim Webb is planing a visit to Guam next week.
The Virginia Democrat will be stopping in Tokyo and Okinawa as well.
Webb chairs the Senate Committee on Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee and the Committee on Foreign Relations East Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee.
A statement from Webb's office says the Senator will be seeking "solutions in an increasingly rancorous debate over a US military base on the southern island of Okinawa."
And he will "listen carefully to the views of the current Japanese government, the leaders and citizens of Okinawa and Guam and US military leaders and personnel stationed in the Pacific region." .
Webb leaves DC for Japan this Saturday.
This will be Webb's first trip to Japan since Prime Minister Hatoyama took office last summer.
Written by : Kevin Kerrigan
US senator to seek solutions on Japan base row
US senator to seek solutions on Japan base row
AFP
Feb 9 02:50 PM US/Eastern
US Senator Jim Webb will head to Japan in a bid to seek solutions in an increasingly rancorous debate over a US military base on the southern island of Okinawa, his office said Tuesday.
Webb, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on East Asia and the Armed Forces subcommittee on personnel, will visit Tokyo, Okinawa and the US Pacific territory of Guam on the one-week trip starting Saturday.
Webb will "listen carefully to the views of the current Japanese government, the leaders and citizens of Okinawa and Guam and US military leaders and personnel stationed in the Pacific region," his office said in a statement.
The United States and Japan in 2006 reached an agreement to shift thousands of US troops to Guam from Okinawa, where the heavy presence of US forces has long led to frictions with the local community.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama launched a review of a key part of the deal -- the status of Futenma air base -- after his left-leaning coalition defeated Japan's long-ruling conservatives in the historic August 30 election.
The original plan called for Futenma's facilities to be moved from a busy urban area to reclaimed land off a quiet Okinawan village, but some allies of Hatoyama want the air base removed entirely.
The United States opposes revisions to the deal, saying Futenma's facilities are a military necessity. The United States stations some 47,000 troops under a security alliance with Japan, which has been pacifist since World War II.
Webb's office said the senator, a member of President Barack Obama's Democratic Party who represents Virginia, was a "strong proponent of the vital interests served by a healthy US-Japan relationship."
A former combat Marine, journalist and novelist, Webb has visited Japan throughout his career and once authored a study of the Japanese prison system.
As secretary of the navy, Webb in 1987 went to Okinawa to return the bell from Gokoku-ji Temple that had been taken to the United States by Commodore Matthew Perry, who pried open Japan after the nation's more than two centuries of self-imposed isolation.
AFP
Feb 9 02:50 PM US/Eastern
US Senator Jim Webb will head to Japan in a bid to seek solutions in an increasingly rancorous debate over a US military base on the southern island of Okinawa, his office said Tuesday.
Webb, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on East Asia and the Armed Forces subcommittee on personnel, will visit Tokyo, Okinawa and the US Pacific territory of Guam on the one-week trip starting Saturday.
Webb will "listen carefully to the views of the current Japanese government, the leaders and citizens of Okinawa and Guam and US military leaders and personnel stationed in the Pacific region," his office said in a statement.
The United States and Japan in 2006 reached an agreement to shift thousands of US troops to Guam from Okinawa, where the heavy presence of US forces has long led to frictions with the local community.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama launched a review of a key part of the deal -- the status of Futenma air base -- after his left-leaning coalition defeated Japan's long-ruling conservatives in the historic August 30 election.
The original plan called for Futenma's facilities to be moved from a busy urban area to reclaimed land off a quiet Okinawan village, but some allies of Hatoyama want the air base removed entirely.
The United States opposes revisions to the deal, saying Futenma's facilities are a military necessity. The United States stations some 47,000 troops under a security alliance with Japan, which has been pacifist since World War II.
Webb's office said the senator, a member of President Barack Obama's Democratic Party who represents Virginia, was a "strong proponent of the vital interests served by a healthy US-Japan relationship."
A former combat Marine, journalist and novelist, Webb has visited Japan throughout his career and once authored a study of the Japanese prison system.
As secretary of the navy, Webb in 1987 went to Okinawa to return the bell from Gokoku-ji Temple that had been taken to the United States by Commodore Matthew Perry, who pried open Japan after the nation's more than two centuries of self-imposed isolation.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Japanese American Study Association To Hold Conference On Guam
Japanese American Study Association To Hold Conference On Guam
Monday, 08 February 2010
Guam - The American Studies Association of Japan, one of the largest academic associations for "Americanists" in Japan, will hold its annual research conference outside of Japan.
The University of Guam will be the venue for the 2010 conference which will be held March 20 and 21. Approximately 20-35 researchers will convene at the University to present results of research on a wide variety of aspects of American studies, including U.S. culture, politics, foreign policy, language, and education.
The keynote address will be delivered by Mr. Koki Kobayashi, Member, House of Representatives of Japan. He is a senior member of the Japanese parliament and one of the senior leaders of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) which took control of the Japanese government last fall.
"One reason for the selection of Guam as the first meeting of the association outside of Japan is the growing interest in the realignment of U.S. military forces in the western Pacific among Japanese Americanists and JDP political leaders," said Michael Stoil, assistant professor of political science at UOG. "Additionally, members of the visiting group have expressed interest in learning more about nursing education and the teaching of English as a foreign language at the University of Guam."
Scheduled presentations in English at the conference will include a paper on U.S.-Japanese foreign relations by Yukiko Amakawa, Associate Professor, Teikyo University, and a paper on the relationship between U.S. strategic interest in Guam and the principle of self determination by Stoil.
Written by : News Release
Monday, 08 February 2010
Guam - The American Studies Association of Japan, one of the largest academic associations for "Americanists" in Japan, will hold its annual research conference outside of Japan.
The University of Guam will be the venue for the 2010 conference which will be held March 20 and 21. Approximately 20-35 researchers will convene at the University to present results of research on a wide variety of aspects of American studies, including U.S. culture, politics, foreign policy, language, and education.
The keynote address will be delivered by Mr. Koki Kobayashi, Member, House of Representatives of Japan. He is a senior member of the Japanese parliament and one of the senior leaders of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) which took control of the Japanese government last fall.
"One reason for the selection of Guam as the first meeting of the association outside of Japan is the growing interest in the realignment of U.S. military forces in the western Pacific among Japanese Americanists and JDP political leaders," said Michael Stoil, assistant professor of political science at UOG. "Additionally, members of the visiting group have expressed interest in learning more about nursing education and the teaching of English as a foreign language at the University of Guam."
Scheduled presentations in English at the conference will include a paper on U.S.-Japanese foreign relations by Yukiko Amakawa, Associate Professor, Teikyo University, and a paper on the relationship between U.S. strategic interest in Guam and the principle of self determination by Stoil.
Written by : News Release
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Filipinos to bid in $15-B Guam US naval project
Filipinos to bid in $15-B Guam US naval project
By Robert Gonzaga
Central Luzon Desk
First Posted 02:51:00 02/04/2010
OLONGAPO CITY — Filipino contractors will vie for lucrative contracts in a $15-billion US military expansion program in Guam that, this city’s mayor said, brought back memories of American military presence here.
Organizers said Filipino manpower and product suppliers had listed up to submit bids for contracts in Guam at the Annual Pacific Island Local Government (APILG) conference that this city would host on Feb. 18-21.
Mayor James Gordon Jr. said Filipino contractors would get to know the processes involved in bagging contracts in Guam at the APILG conference.
Dean Alegado, executive director of the APILG conference, said over 1,500 contractors had signed up for contractual bidding processes, which were earlier conducted in Washington, Honolulu and Guam.
“In those [bids and awards conferences], over 50 of the companies were Filipino-owned,” Alegado said.
“They were mostly contractors for manpower services. Hosting this conference is a major coup for Olongapo because it can provide opportunities for Filipino contractors from all over the country to meet important decision-makers (in the US military program),” he said.
It was “deja vu for all of us because this is exactly what happened when the US base began construction work here,” Gordon said.
The US military in Guam, he said, would need “lots of services that we can provide—and also products.”
Everything imported
“Everything is imported in Guam. For products that they don’t manufacture, maybe we can supply them,” Gordon said.
The Guam buildup project was spurred by the relocation there of the US naval base in Okinawa. It will require at least 20,000 workers, the Inquirer learned.
Major engineering work is scheduled to proceed from 2010 to 2014, while 14,200 military personnel and their 38,070 dependents will be transferred to Guam from Okinawa from 2012 to 2016.
Gordon waxed sentimental about US military presence in his city that the Philippine Senate and the eruptions of Mount Pinatubo ended in 1991.
“In three years, my father, who was the first mayor of Olongapo, was able to turn this place into a city [because of the construction of the US naval base],” he said.
End of treaty
The Philippine Senate in 1991 voted overwhelmingly to reject a treaty that would have extended the stay of two key US military bases in the Philippines—the biggest US naval base outside continental America that this city had hosted and an air force base that used to be in Clark that straddled Tarlac and Pampanga.
The eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the same year hastened the departure of US forces from their bases in Subic and Clark when ash deposits destroyed or damaged US facilities and lahar threatened sites being used by US military forces.
Aurelio Pineda, president of the Metro Olongapo Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MOCCI), said the conference should address “critical issues related to opportunities in Guam.”
Bidders
“We have been getting inquiries as to how Filipino companies can reach their prospective partners, or the major contractors there,” Pineda said.
“Also, businessmen are interested about issues of labor contracting and employment, which will be tackled (in the conference),” he said.
US firms are still the Filipino contractors’ primary competitors because the Guam project “will be paid for by US taxpayers,” Alegado said.
“But there is still a huge opportunity for Filipino contractors in other areas like medical, food and training services,” he said.
Alegado added: “They will need skilled workers, medical practitioners and, eventually, also entertainment workers … and Olongapo wants to take part in this. [Right now] about 20 percent of the people [in Guam] are either from here or Zambales.”
Accredited by US Navy
Pineda said Filipino companies that plan to operate in Guam for the buildup project have to be accredited by the US Navy.
Workers who will be employed there will be hired by the contractors themselves, he said.
He said the policy was adopted to protect Filipino workers from falling prey to illegal recruiters.
Gordon said the recruitment “will be strict … because this is a military installation.”
“Workers will be recruited from all over and the US Navy will screen them thoroughly for they might be working in sensitive areas,” he said.
Natural advantage
Since Filipinos have the experience in working in an American naval base, “we naturally have the advantage,” Gordon said.
“What is happening in Guam is nothing new to us, and we might be able to transfer our learning experiences to them,” he said.
For Olongapo, the Guam military buildup represents the “third wave of progress,” Gordon said.
“First, when the Americans built their bases here, Olongapo became a city. Second, when they left, we were able to convert their facilities into a free port zone. Now, we are going to supply most of their skilled labor,” he said.
The APILG conference is also expected to draw interested contractors from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Republic of Belau, the American Samoa, Hawaii and Guam.
By Robert Gonzaga
Central Luzon Desk
First Posted 02:51:00 02/04/2010
OLONGAPO CITY — Filipino contractors will vie for lucrative contracts in a $15-billion US military expansion program in Guam that, this city’s mayor said, brought back memories of American military presence here.
Organizers said Filipino manpower and product suppliers had listed up to submit bids for contracts in Guam at the Annual Pacific Island Local Government (APILG) conference that this city would host on Feb. 18-21.
Mayor James Gordon Jr. said Filipino contractors would get to know the processes involved in bagging contracts in Guam at the APILG conference.
Dean Alegado, executive director of the APILG conference, said over 1,500 contractors had signed up for contractual bidding processes, which were earlier conducted in Washington, Honolulu and Guam.
“In those [bids and awards conferences], over 50 of the companies were Filipino-owned,” Alegado said.
“They were mostly contractors for manpower services. Hosting this conference is a major coup for Olongapo because it can provide opportunities for Filipino contractors from all over the country to meet important decision-makers (in the US military program),” he said.
It was “deja vu for all of us because this is exactly what happened when the US base began construction work here,” Gordon said.
The US military in Guam, he said, would need “lots of services that we can provide—and also products.”
Everything imported
“Everything is imported in Guam. For products that they don’t manufacture, maybe we can supply them,” Gordon said.
The Guam buildup project was spurred by the relocation there of the US naval base in Okinawa. It will require at least 20,000 workers, the Inquirer learned.
Major engineering work is scheduled to proceed from 2010 to 2014, while 14,200 military personnel and their 38,070 dependents will be transferred to Guam from Okinawa from 2012 to 2016.
Gordon waxed sentimental about US military presence in his city that the Philippine Senate and the eruptions of Mount Pinatubo ended in 1991.
“In three years, my father, who was the first mayor of Olongapo, was able to turn this place into a city [because of the construction of the US naval base],” he said.
End of treaty
The Philippine Senate in 1991 voted overwhelmingly to reject a treaty that would have extended the stay of two key US military bases in the Philippines—the biggest US naval base outside continental America that this city had hosted and an air force base that used to be in Clark that straddled Tarlac and Pampanga.
The eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the same year hastened the departure of US forces from their bases in Subic and Clark when ash deposits destroyed or damaged US facilities and lahar threatened sites being used by US military forces.
Aurelio Pineda, president of the Metro Olongapo Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MOCCI), said the conference should address “critical issues related to opportunities in Guam.”
Bidders
“We have been getting inquiries as to how Filipino companies can reach their prospective partners, or the major contractors there,” Pineda said.
“Also, businessmen are interested about issues of labor contracting and employment, which will be tackled (in the conference),” he said.
US firms are still the Filipino contractors’ primary competitors because the Guam project “will be paid for by US taxpayers,” Alegado said.
“But there is still a huge opportunity for Filipino contractors in other areas like medical, food and training services,” he said.
Alegado added: “They will need skilled workers, medical practitioners and, eventually, also entertainment workers … and Olongapo wants to take part in this. [Right now] about 20 percent of the people [in Guam] are either from here or Zambales.”
Accredited by US Navy
Pineda said Filipino companies that plan to operate in Guam for the buildup project have to be accredited by the US Navy.
Workers who will be employed there will be hired by the contractors themselves, he said.
He said the policy was adopted to protect Filipino workers from falling prey to illegal recruiters.
Gordon said the recruitment “will be strict … because this is a military installation.”
“Workers will be recruited from all over and the US Navy will screen them thoroughly for they might be working in sensitive areas,” he said.
Natural advantage
Since Filipinos have the experience in working in an American naval base, “we naturally have the advantage,” Gordon said.
“What is happening in Guam is nothing new to us, and we might be able to transfer our learning experiences to them,” he said.
For Olongapo, the Guam military buildup represents the “third wave of progress,” Gordon said.
“First, when the Americans built their bases here, Olongapo became a city. Second, when they left, we were able to convert their facilities into a free port zone. Now, we are going to supply most of their skilled labor,” he said.
The APILG conference is also expected to draw interested contractors from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Republic of Belau, the American Samoa, Hawaii and Guam.
US defense official: No change in Futenma plan
US defense official: No change in Futenma plan
2010/02/03 10:03(JST)
The US Undersecretary of Defense says the country does not intend to change the existing plan to relocate a US military air base in Okinawa, southern Japan.
Undersecretary Michele Flournoy made the remark in a speech in Washington on Tuesday. She took a central role in compiling the latest US Quadrennial Defense Review, released on Monday.
Flournoy said that in outlining the defense strategy, the US did review the planned realignment of its military in Japan.
She said they concluded that the plan agreed on by the former Japanese and US governments in 2006 is the one that should be implemented, and that the US is not going to change that.
Under the plan, the US Marine Corps Futenma Air Station is to be relocated to a coastal area, also in Okinawa. The government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is reviewing that plan with an aim to reduce the burden on the people of Okinawa.
Flournoy added that she understands that the Japanese government is going through its own review process.
The US Quadrennial Defense Review said the country will continue to work with Japan so that the realignment of US forces in Japan will be implemented.
2010/02/03 10:03(JST)
(JST: UTC+9hrs.)
2010/02/03 10:03(JST)
The US Undersecretary of Defense says the country does not intend to change the existing plan to relocate a US military air base in Okinawa, southern Japan.
Undersecretary Michele Flournoy made the remark in a speech in Washington on Tuesday. She took a central role in compiling the latest US Quadrennial Defense Review, released on Monday.
Flournoy said that in outlining the defense strategy, the US did review the planned realignment of its military in Japan.
She said they concluded that the plan agreed on by the former Japanese and US governments in 2006 is the one that should be implemented, and that the US is not going to change that.
Under the plan, the US Marine Corps Futenma Air Station is to be relocated to a coastal area, also in Okinawa. The government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is reviewing that plan with an aim to reduce the burden on the people of Okinawa.
Flournoy added that she understands that the Japanese government is going through its own review process.
The US Quadrennial Defense Review said the country will continue to work with Japan so that the realignment of US forces in Japan will be implemented.
2010/02/03 10:03(JST)
(JST: UTC+9hrs.)
Report: DoD transforming Guam into security hub
Report: DoD transforming Guam into security hub
Posted: Feb 02, 2010 6:49 PM
Updated: Feb 02, 2010 6:53 PM
by Heather Hauswirth
*DoD: Quadrennial Defense Review
http://www.defense.gov/QDR/
Guam - The U.S. Department of Defense released the Quadrennial Defense Review today - a 105-page report that details the military's current and future threats. The report focuses on the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the challenges the U.S. faces in its efforts to dismantle Al Qaeda and the Taliban by supporting Iraqi forces and supporting the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan to dismantle terrorist networks worldwide.
In addition, the report highlights the United States' commitment to working with allies around the world and monitoring the global proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, which the report says "undermine global security."
The report emphasizes the complexities of the current security landscape, the importance of energy security in the 21st Century, the need for strengthening U.S. capabilities in cyberspace and the Defense Department's plans to turn Guam into a "hub for security activities" in the Asia-Pacific Region, noting the rise of China and India as global players to be cognizant of.
The report states, "With Japan, we will continue to implement the Bilateral Realignment Roadmap Agreement that will ensure a long-term presence of U.S. forces in Japan and transform Guam, the westernmost sovereign territory of the United States, into a hub for security activities in the region".
Posted: Feb 02, 2010 6:49 PM
Updated: Feb 02, 2010 6:53 PM
by Heather Hauswirth
*DoD: Quadrennial Defense Review
http://www.defense.gov/QDR/
Guam - The U.S. Department of Defense released the Quadrennial Defense Review today - a 105-page report that details the military's current and future threats. The report focuses on the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the challenges the U.S. faces in its efforts to dismantle Al Qaeda and the Taliban by supporting Iraqi forces and supporting the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan to dismantle terrorist networks worldwide.
In addition, the report highlights the United States' commitment to working with allies around the world and monitoring the global proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, which the report says "undermine global security."
The report emphasizes the complexities of the current security landscape, the importance of energy security in the 21st Century, the need for strengthening U.S. capabilities in cyberspace and the Defense Department's plans to turn Guam into a "hub for security activities" in the Asia-Pacific Region, noting the rise of China and India as global players to be cognizant of.
The report states, "With Japan, we will continue to implement the Bilateral Realignment Roadmap Agreement that will ensure a long-term presence of U.S. forces in Japan and transform Guam, the westernmost sovereign territory of the United States, into a hub for security activities in the region".
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Panel to tackle buildup’s impact on healthcare
Panel to tackle buildup’s impact on healthcare
Tuesday, 02 February 2010 00:19
by Therese Hart | Variety News Staff
SENATOR Frank Aguon, Jr. will meet with directors and key staff of agencies on Thursday to discuss the impact of the military buildup on healthcare and services, which have receded to the sideline in public discussions.
“With the US military plans to redeploy thousands of Marines and their families we need to be prepared and make sure that our current health care resources will not diminish and our health care services will not suffer due to the increase of the Guam population,” said Aguon, chairman of the legislative health committee.
“We are all aware that we are currently facing so many challenges in improving health care services. The current situations on our present health care system and the question whether we are ready to embrace additional consumers are in urgent need to be addressed and answered,” he added.
Aguon said the meeting will seek to identify measurable solutions and plans to this bigger challenge.”
Aguon will meet directors and key staff of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Department of Department of Integrated Services for Individuals with Disabilities, Department of Public Health and Social Services and Guam Memorial Hospital Authority.
“I want to know if they realize the enormous impact their department will face when the buildup happens and what plans they have to meet the demand and how and when they will implement it,” he said.
Tuesday, 02 February 2010 00:19
by Therese Hart | Variety News Staff
SENATOR Frank Aguon, Jr. will meet with directors and key staff of agencies on Thursday to discuss the impact of the military buildup on healthcare and services, which have receded to the sideline in public discussions.
“With the US military plans to redeploy thousands of Marines and their families we need to be prepared and make sure that our current health care resources will not diminish and our health care services will not suffer due to the increase of the Guam population,” said Aguon, chairman of the legislative health committee.
“We are all aware that we are currently facing so many challenges in improving health care services. The current situations on our present health care system and the question whether we are ready to embrace additional consumers are in urgent need to be addressed and answered,” he added.
Aguon said the meeting will seek to identify measurable solutions and plans to this bigger challenge.”
Aguon will meet directors and key staff of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Department of Department of Integrated Services for Individuals with Disabilities, Department of Public Health and Social Services and Guam Memorial Hospital Authority.
“I want to know if they realize the enormous impact their department will face when the buildup happens and what plans they have to meet the demand and how and when they will implement it,” he said.
US envoy to discuss Japan bases
US envoy to discuss Japan bases
UPDATED ON:
Monday, February 01, 2010
08:47 Mecca time, 05:47 GMT
The US assistant secretary of state for East Asia is due to arrive in Tokyo on Monday for talks on the future of American military bases in Japan.
Kurt Campbell's visit comes after thousands of people from across Japan joined protests at the weekend against plans to relocate a US base on the southern island of Okinawa.
Some 47,000 US troops are stationed in Japan, with more than half on the island.
Local residents have long complained about noise, pollution and crime around the bases.
In 2006, the two countries signed a pact that called for the realignment of American troops in the country and for a marine base on the island to be moved to a less populated area.
But the newly elected Japanese government is re-examining the deal, caught between increasing public opposition to US troops and its crucial military alliance with Washington.
'Cornerstone' alliance
Last month Campbell called on Japan to stick to the 2006 deal and relocate the US Futenma air base in Okinawa.
In written testimony before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee subcommittee on January 21, Campbell said the alliance with Japan was a "cornerstone" of the US engagement in Asia.
Campbell also reiterated Washington's desire to see that the US Marine Corps Air Station at Futenma be transferred to another area on the island by 2014.
He said the US is assisting the Japanese government, led by prime minister Yukio Hatoyama, with its review of the Futenma relocation plan.
Decision postponed
However, Hatoyama has repeatedly postponed his decision on the pact, with members of his own government divided on how to proceed.
Last week, he pledged to resolve the issue by May, just before national elections.
But the issue is a difficult one for the prime minister to juggle, with members of his coalition government calling for all US troops to leave Japan.
At a rally against the base, Mizuho Fukushima, a minister in Hatoyama's cabinet, told a crowd protesters that she wants to see the Okinawa base closed and US troops moved out of Japan entirely.
Meanwhile, opposition to the US-Japan pact is growing louder, as thousands marched through central Tokyo on Saturday.
Labor unionists, pacifists, environmentalists and students called for an end to the US troop presence.
They gathered for a rally at a park, under a banner that read "Change! Japan-U.S. Relations".
UPDATED ON:
Monday, February 01, 2010
08:47 Mecca time, 05:47 GMT
The US assistant secretary of state for East Asia is due to arrive in Tokyo on Monday for talks on the future of American military bases in Japan.
Kurt Campbell's visit comes after thousands of people from across Japan joined protests at the weekend against plans to relocate a US base on the southern island of Okinawa.
Some 47,000 US troops are stationed in Japan, with more than half on the island.
Local residents have long complained about noise, pollution and crime around the bases.
In 2006, the two countries signed a pact that called for the realignment of American troops in the country and for a marine base on the island to be moved to a less populated area.
But the newly elected Japanese government is re-examining the deal, caught between increasing public opposition to US troops and its crucial military alliance with Washington.
'Cornerstone' alliance
Last month Campbell called on Japan to stick to the 2006 deal and relocate the US Futenma air base in Okinawa.
In written testimony before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee subcommittee on January 21, Campbell said the alliance with Japan was a "cornerstone" of the US engagement in Asia.
Campbell also reiterated Washington's desire to see that the US Marine Corps Air Station at Futenma be transferred to another area on the island by 2014.
He said the US is assisting the Japanese government, led by prime minister Yukio Hatoyama, with its review of the Futenma relocation plan.
Decision postponed
However, Hatoyama has repeatedly postponed his decision on the pact, with members of his own government divided on how to proceed.
Last week, he pledged to resolve the issue by May, just before national elections.
But the issue is a difficult one for the prime minister to juggle, with members of his coalition government calling for all US troops to leave Japan.
At a rally against the base, Mizuho Fukushima, a minister in Hatoyama's cabinet, told a crowd protesters that she wants to see the Okinawa base closed and US troops moved out of Japan entirely.
Meanwhile, opposition to the US-Japan pact is growing louder, as thousands marched through central Tokyo on Saturday.
Labor unionists, pacifists, environmentalists and students called for an end to the US troop presence.
They gathered for a rally at a park, under a banner that read "Change! Japan-U.S. Relations".
PNC :: Senator Aguon To Meet With Health Directors On Buildup Impact
PNC :: Senator Aguon To Meet With Health Directors On Buildup Impact
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Guam - Senator Frank Aguon, Jr. will meet directors and key staff of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse
(DMHSA), Department of Department of Integrated Services for Individuals with Disabilities (DISID), Department of Public Health and Social Services (DPHSS) and Guam Memorial Hospital Authority (GMHA) to discuss the impact of the military buildup on health care and services on Guam.
A roundtable discussion will be held on February 4, 2010 at 9 AM in the Public Hearing Room of Guam Legislature with the attendance of DMHSA Acting Director Elisabeth Cruz, DISID Director Rosanna Ada , DPHSS Director J. Peter Roberto and GMHA Administrator Peter John Camacho.
Senator Aguon, Chairman of the Committee on Economic Development Health and Human Services, and Judiciary along with members of the Committee want to discuss health issues and concerns of each health agency to be able to find measures and translate findings into reasonable plans to avoid negative impact of the military and further improve the Government of Guam health services.
“With the US military plans to redeploy thousands of Marines and their families we need to be prepared and make sure that our current health care resources will not diminish and our health care services will not suffer due to the increase of the Guam population,” Senator Aguon said.
“We are all aware that we are currently facing so many challenges in improving health care services. The current situations on our present health care system and the question whether we are ready to embrace additional consumers are in urgent need to be addressed and answered. I am hoping that through this meeting we can identify measurable solutions and plans to this bigger challenge,” the Senator added.
Written by : News Release
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Guam - Senator Frank Aguon, Jr. will meet directors and key staff of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse
(DMHSA), Department of Department of Integrated Services for Individuals with Disabilities (DISID), Department of Public Health and Social Services (DPHSS) and Guam Memorial Hospital Authority (GMHA) to discuss the impact of the military buildup on health care and services on Guam.
A roundtable discussion will be held on February 4, 2010 at 9 AM in the Public Hearing Room of Guam Legislature with the attendance of DMHSA Acting Director Elisabeth Cruz, DISID Director Rosanna Ada , DPHSS Director J. Peter Roberto and GMHA Administrator Peter John Camacho.
Senator Aguon, Chairman of the Committee on Economic Development Health and Human Services, and Judiciary along with members of the Committee want to discuss health issues and concerns of each health agency to be able to find measures and translate findings into reasonable plans to avoid negative impact of the military and further improve the Government of Guam health services.
“With the US military plans to redeploy thousands of Marines and their families we need to be prepared and make sure that our current health care resources will not diminish and our health care services will not suffer due to the increase of the Guam population,” Senator Aguon said.
“We are all aware that we are currently facing so many challenges in improving health care services. The current situations on our present health care system and the question whether we are ready to embrace additional consumers are in urgent need to be addressed and answered. I am hoping that through this meeting we can identify measurable solutions and plans to this bigger challenge,” the Senator added.
Written by : News Release
Guam governor asks U.S. to delay military buildup
Guam governor asks U.S. to delay military buildup
By Teri Weaver , Stars and Stripes
Online edition, Friday, January 29, 2010
TOKYO — Guam’s governor on Thursday asked the U.S. military to delay its plans to move more than 9,000 troops to the island.
In a subsequent news release on Friday, Gov. Felix Camacho said he thought extending the construction timeline would lessen the overall impact on the island. He did not offer specifics, other than to say the buildup should extend beyond 2014.
“There is support of the relocation of U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam and overall support for the U.S. armed services,” Camacho wrote to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus in a letter dated Jan. 28.
“However, we must not overlook the reality that we have a fragile territorial economy, possess a limited amount of financial resources and lack the capacity to absorb the impacts of 20 years worth of growth in a five-year time frame.”
The request is not meant to signal an overall decrease in Camacho’s support for the project, according to the governor’s spokeswoman Charlene Calip.
Through a spokeswoman, Navy Undersecretary Robert Work said late Friday the Navy had received the letter and was working on a prompt response.
“The Department appreciates the Governor’s comments and will continue to work closely with Guam’s and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands’ elected leaders in the planning and execution of the military realignment,” Work said in a written statement.
But Camacho's request does come as more residents and local leaders have expressed concerns about the buildup in public meetings in recent weeks.
Mabus was traveling in the Pacific and could not be immediately reached for comment, according to Lt. Laura Stegherr, a Navy spokeswoman.
The buildup calls for adding nearly 80,000 people to Guam’s 178,000 population during the height of construction in 2014. Plans include permanently moving 8,600 Marines from Okinawa to Guam, adding an Army air defense unit, and building a wharf that can support three-week visits by aircraft carriers, which typically carry a crew of 5,000.
In recent weeks, the military, Guam’s legislature and Camacho have all held hearings on the project as part of a federally required environmental review. Some of those meetings have turned into platforms for sharp criticism of the buildup, with residents and local leaders questioning the military’s proposal to use land outside its current footprint.
Rep. Madeleine Bordallo, the island’s non-voting congressional representative who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, was to fly back to the island to hold five more hearings on Saturday and Sunday.
By Teri Weaver , Stars and Stripes
Online edition, Friday, January 29, 2010
TOKYO — Guam’s governor on Thursday asked the U.S. military to delay its plans to move more than 9,000 troops to the island.
In a subsequent news release on Friday, Gov. Felix Camacho said he thought extending the construction timeline would lessen the overall impact on the island. He did not offer specifics, other than to say the buildup should extend beyond 2014.
“There is support of the relocation of U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam and overall support for the U.S. armed services,” Camacho wrote to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus in a letter dated Jan. 28.
“However, we must not overlook the reality that we have a fragile territorial economy, possess a limited amount of financial resources and lack the capacity to absorb the impacts of 20 years worth of growth in a five-year time frame.”
The request is not meant to signal an overall decrease in Camacho’s support for the project, according to the governor’s spokeswoman Charlene Calip.
Through a spokeswoman, Navy Undersecretary Robert Work said late Friday the Navy had received the letter and was working on a prompt response.
“The Department appreciates the Governor’s comments and will continue to work closely with Guam’s and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands’ elected leaders in the planning and execution of the military realignment,” Work said in a written statement.
But Camacho's request does come as more residents and local leaders have expressed concerns about the buildup in public meetings in recent weeks.
Mabus was traveling in the Pacific and could not be immediately reached for comment, according to Lt. Laura Stegherr, a Navy spokeswoman.
The buildup calls for adding nearly 80,000 people to Guam’s 178,000 population during the height of construction in 2014. Plans include permanently moving 8,600 Marines from Okinawa to Guam, adding an Army air defense unit, and building a wharf that can support three-week visits by aircraft carriers, which typically carry a crew of 5,000.
In recent weeks, the military, Guam’s legislature and Camacho have all held hearings on the project as part of a federally required environmental review. Some of those meetings have turned into platforms for sharp criticism of the buildup, with residents and local leaders questioning the military’s proposal to use land outside its current footprint.
Rep. Madeleine Bordallo, the island’s non-voting congressional representative who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, was to fly back to the island to hold five more hearings on Saturday and Sunday.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Chamber opposes land condemnation
Chamber opposes land condemnation
By Dionesis Tamondong • Pacific Daily News • January 28, 2010
The Guam Chamber of Commerce is opposed to the U.S. military condemning land it needs for its military expansion around the island, the group's board chairman said during its meeting yesterday.
David John, president of ASC Trust Corp., said he wanted to clear misconceptions in the community that the business organization supported everything about the buildup, including the possibility for land condemnations.
The Department of Defense plans to build a new Marine Corps base in Dededo and transfer about 8,000 Marines and their 9,000 dependents from Okinawa to Guam.
The military also plans to acquire land in Yigo and Mangilao to build a firing range there, and to obtain other properties around the island.
John said the Chamber has assembled a committee to review each volume of the draft Environmental Impact Statement, which explains the military's buildup proposals and how they will affect the island.
He said the Chamber plans to submit comments by the Feb. 18 deadline, Guam time.
By Dionesis Tamondong • Pacific Daily News • January 28, 2010
The Guam Chamber of Commerce is opposed to the U.S. military condemning land it needs for its military expansion around the island, the group's board chairman said during its meeting yesterday.
David John, president of ASC Trust Corp., said he wanted to clear misconceptions in the community that the business organization supported everything about the buildup, including the possibility for land condemnations.
The Department of Defense plans to build a new Marine Corps base in Dededo and transfer about 8,000 Marines and their 9,000 dependents from Okinawa to Guam.
The military also plans to acquire land in Yigo and Mangilao to build a firing range there, and to obtain other properties around the island.
John said the Chamber has assembled a committee to review each volume of the draft Environmental Impact Statement, which explains the military's buildup proposals and how they will affect the island.
He said the Chamber plans to submit comments by the Feb. 18 deadline, Guam time.
Locals question military’s plan to acquire more land on Guam
Locals question military’s plan to acquire more land on Guam
By Teri Weaver, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, January 28, 2010
MANGILAO, Guam — As the U.S. military makes preparations to add at least 9,000 troops to Guam, Glenn Nelson wonders how close they’ll be coming to his driveway.
Nelson lives with relatives on the Pacific island’s western shore. North of Nelson’s property lie jungle, freshwater caves, a few quarries and Guam’s only sanctioned raceway.
Photo: The Pagat area on Guam’s eastern side provides popular swimming and diving spots in the summer and good fishing year round. The U.S. military has proposed building three firing ranges – part of plans to move more than 9,000 troops to the island - just north of the area on land controlled by the government of Guam. The ranges would most likely mean limited access to more freshwater caves and land north of this shoreline.
It’s there the military wants to add three ranges to train on live firing, from pistols to .50-caliber guns.
And it’s that proposal for more land — plus another to acquire acreage on the western side of the island for Marine housing — that is at the heart of many arguments from island residents about the military’s plans.
“It’s very important to know — there is a moral wrong for acquiring more land than they actually need,” Nelson said on a recent Sunday from his back deck. “[If our land isn’t affected], that’s great. But everyone has an interest in these lands.”
The military plans to move 8,600 Marines from Okinawa to Guam, a $10.27 billion project partially funded by the Japanese government. Plans also include the addition of an Army unit. As the United States continues to work with the Japanese on the move, residents and leaders on Guam are asking the military to reconsider its plans to use more of the island.
Photo: 222 - The military controls about one-third of the 212-square-mile island, including 8,800 acres of ammunition storage for the Navy toward Guam’s southern end. These 1,000-pound bombs are ammunition for the 5th and 7th U.S. fleets in one of 129 earth-covered magazines at the Navy Munitions Command.
Land is a sensitive issue for a place where some people remember how their parents and grandparents ceded or sold land, often reluctantly, to the U.S. military before and after World War II. The military holds nearly one-third of the island’s 212 square miles, including the northern end for Andersen Air Force Base, much of the natural port at Apra Harbor and another 8,800 acres in the middle of the island that stores millions of pounds of munitions for the Navy’s 5th and 7th fleets.
Those bullets, bombs and missiles are the military’s stockpile for crises and contingencies, as are the mostly empty flight lines at Andersen, military officials on Guam say.
It’s Andersen — a base with no home AIR squadron and 15,000 acres of land that include a golf course, a recreational beach and a planned wildlife preserve — that has drawn more recent criticism from local residents and leaders.
On Thursday, the chairwoman of the Guam Legislature’s military buildup committee sent an eight-page proposal to the Navy office in charge of the buildup, asking officials to consider rearranging weapons stockpiles on Andersen and looking harder at its own recreational beach for firing ranges.
“The Navy needs to put on its thinking cap about this matter and be open-minded,” Sen. Judith Guthertz wrote to the military’s Joint Guam Program Office.
Marine Corps Capt. Neil Ruggiero, a spokesman for the program office on Guam, said Thursday that his office had received the proposal. He said it would likely take a week to get a reply from the program’s headquarters office in the Washington area.
David Bice, a retired Marine major general now in charge of the buildup plan, said in an interview Jan. 8 that earlier proposed plans included more use of military lands for the ranges. But he said that would mean more Marines would be driving around the island each day, additional traffic that local leaders have said they don’t want.
“You’d have 7-ton trucks going up and down the highway every day,” Bice said during an interview in his office on Naval Base Guam.
Bice said the military has approached only three private landowners for the entire buildup. While he declines to name them, he said he is confident there will be no problems with land transactions.
Photo: 444 - The hotels and the military control access to some of Guam’s beachfront, like this area at Ritidian Point just on the outside of Andersen. The beach is controlled by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which allows access to the sand but not the water during the day. Tourists, like this family from South Korea, come to visit, take photos and look for crabs.
But the military also is looking at land controlled by the government of Guam, including that swath north of the Nelsons’ home. To get a hold of that land, the Guam Legislature must either approve the land deal or force the military to use eminent domain proceedings. Nearly every leader on the island, including Bice, has said they do not want things to come to that.
Earlier this month, Air Force Brig. Gen. Philip Ruhlman, commander of the 36th Wing and Andersen, said some of the base’s land that looks unused now is needed for response plans in case of crises or war.
“There were 155 B-52s here in Vietnam,” Ruhlman said in an interview in his office Jan. 13. “Every parking space was taken. That’s the marker.”
The base also hosts routine deployments of U.S.-based fighter, bomber and tanker squadrons, and it’s the home to the 36th Contingency Response Group, a rapid-deployment unit that can secure and establish airfields.
Another 5,500 acres at Andersen contains more even ammunition for the military — 19 million pounds valued at $2 billion — making that land off limits for further buildup, Ruhlman said. The base’s old airfield, known as the Northwest Field, is being developed as a training center for Air Force security forces on their way to Iraq or Afghanistan, he said.
The undeveloped land on Andersen further complicates things, Ruhlman said. An agreement between the departments of Defense and Interior means that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has oversight of much of the overgrown land on Andersen.
“For every tree I cut down, I have to plant four more,” Ruhlman said.
The Air Force environmental unit working under Ruhlman is putting up a 12,000-foot fence to enclose 135 acres to provide a home for endangered or near-extinct plants and birds, including the Guam rail and the Mariana crow. The decision to create that refuge was made more than three years ago, according to Andersen officials, about the same time the United States and Japan announced plans to move the Marines.
Still, the government’s simultaneous plans to create a habitat for birds while asking for more land for ranges are hard for some residents to take.
“There’s a golf range at Andersen,” Guam Sen. Ben Pangelinan said at one of the military’s public hearings on the project. “You can bulldoze it and just put [the ranges] there.”
The proposed ranges would also limit access to swimming and fishing areas around the Pagat Caves, just north of the Nelson home, according to the military. It’s this that upsets Desiree Ventura, Glenn Nelson’s niece who also lives in the family home.
“It’s not just about the land,” she said. “We’re lucky because we have land. Most of the people don’t have it. It’s about the environment. It’s about the access to recreational sites.”
The following clarification to this story was posted January 28: A Jan. 28 story should have said that although Andersen Air Force Base on Guam has no permanently stationed air squadrons, it hosts routine deployments of U.S.-based fighter, bomber and tanker squadrons. It also is home to the 36th Contingency Response Group, a rapid-deployment unit that can secure and establish airfields.
By Teri Weaver, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, January 28, 2010
MANGILAO, Guam — As the U.S. military makes preparations to add at least 9,000 troops to Guam, Glenn Nelson wonders how close they’ll be coming to his driveway.
Nelson lives with relatives on the Pacific island’s western shore. North of Nelson’s property lie jungle, freshwater caves, a few quarries and Guam’s only sanctioned raceway.
Photo: The Pagat area on Guam’s eastern side provides popular swimming and diving spots in the summer and good fishing year round. The U.S. military has proposed building three firing ranges – part of plans to move more than 9,000 troops to the island - just north of the area on land controlled by the government of Guam. The ranges would most likely mean limited access to more freshwater caves and land north of this shoreline.
It’s there the military wants to add three ranges to train on live firing, from pistols to .50-caliber guns.
And it’s that proposal for more land — plus another to acquire acreage on the western side of the island for Marine housing — that is at the heart of many arguments from island residents about the military’s plans.
“It’s very important to know — there is a moral wrong for acquiring more land than they actually need,” Nelson said on a recent Sunday from his back deck. “[If our land isn’t affected], that’s great. But everyone has an interest in these lands.”
The military plans to move 8,600 Marines from Okinawa to Guam, a $10.27 billion project partially funded by the Japanese government. Plans also include the addition of an Army unit. As the United States continues to work with the Japanese on the move, residents and leaders on Guam are asking the military to reconsider its plans to use more of the island.
Photo: 222 - The military controls about one-third of the 212-square-mile island, including 8,800 acres of ammunition storage for the Navy toward Guam’s southern end. These 1,000-pound bombs are ammunition for the 5th and 7th U.S. fleets in one of 129 earth-covered magazines at the Navy Munitions Command.
Land is a sensitive issue for a place where some people remember how their parents and grandparents ceded or sold land, often reluctantly, to the U.S. military before and after World War II. The military holds nearly one-third of the island’s 212 square miles, including the northern end for Andersen Air Force Base, much of the natural port at Apra Harbor and another 8,800 acres in the middle of the island that stores millions of pounds of munitions for the Navy’s 5th and 7th fleets.
Those bullets, bombs and missiles are the military’s stockpile for crises and contingencies, as are the mostly empty flight lines at Andersen, military officials on Guam say.
It’s Andersen — a base with no home AIR squadron and 15,000 acres of land that include a golf course, a recreational beach and a planned wildlife preserve — that has drawn more recent criticism from local residents and leaders.
On Thursday, the chairwoman of the Guam Legislature’s military buildup committee sent an eight-page proposal to the Navy office in charge of the buildup, asking officials to consider rearranging weapons stockpiles on Andersen and looking harder at its own recreational beach for firing ranges.
“The Navy needs to put on its thinking cap about this matter and be open-minded,” Sen. Judith Guthertz wrote to the military’s Joint Guam Program Office.
Marine Corps Capt. Neil Ruggiero, a spokesman for the program office on Guam, said Thursday that his office had received the proposal. He said it would likely take a week to get a reply from the program’s headquarters office in the Washington area.
David Bice, a retired Marine major general now in charge of the buildup plan, said in an interview Jan. 8 that earlier proposed plans included more use of military lands for the ranges. But he said that would mean more Marines would be driving around the island each day, additional traffic that local leaders have said they don’t want.
“You’d have 7-ton trucks going up and down the highway every day,” Bice said during an interview in his office on Naval Base Guam.
Bice said the military has approached only three private landowners for the entire buildup. While he declines to name them, he said he is confident there will be no problems with land transactions.
Photo: 444 - The hotels and the military control access to some of Guam’s beachfront, like this area at Ritidian Point just on the outside of Andersen. The beach is controlled by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which allows access to the sand but not the water during the day. Tourists, like this family from South Korea, come to visit, take photos and look for crabs.
But the military also is looking at land controlled by the government of Guam, including that swath north of the Nelsons’ home. To get a hold of that land, the Guam Legislature must either approve the land deal or force the military to use eminent domain proceedings. Nearly every leader on the island, including Bice, has said they do not want things to come to that.
Earlier this month, Air Force Brig. Gen. Philip Ruhlman, commander of the 36th Wing and Andersen, said some of the base’s land that looks unused now is needed for response plans in case of crises or war.
“There were 155 B-52s here in Vietnam,” Ruhlman said in an interview in his office Jan. 13. “Every parking space was taken. That’s the marker.”
The base also hosts routine deployments of U.S.-based fighter, bomber and tanker squadrons, and it’s the home to the 36th Contingency Response Group, a rapid-deployment unit that can secure and establish airfields.
Another 5,500 acres at Andersen contains more even ammunition for the military — 19 million pounds valued at $2 billion — making that land off limits for further buildup, Ruhlman said. The base’s old airfield, known as the Northwest Field, is being developed as a training center for Air Force security forces on their way to Iraq or Afghanistan, he said.
The undeveloped land on Andersen further complicates things, Ruhlman said. An agreement between the departments of Defense and Interior means that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has oversight of much of the overgrown land on Andersen.
“For every tree I cut down, I have to plant four more,” Ruhlman said.
The Air Force environmental unit working under Ruhlman is putting up a 12,000-foot fence to enclose 135 acres to provide a home for endangered or near-extinct plants and birds, including the Guam rail and the Mariana crow. The decision to create that refuge was made more than three years ago, according to Andersen officials, about the same time the United States and Japan announced plans to move the Marines.
Still, the government’s simultaneous plans to create a habitat for birds while asking for more land for ranges are hard for some residents to take.
“There’s a golf range at Andersen,” Guam Sen. Ben Pangelinan said at one of the military’s public hearings on the project. “You can bulldoze it and just put [the ranges] there.”
The proposed ranges would also limit access to swimming and fishing areas around the Pagat Caves, just north of the Nelson home, according to the military. It’s this that upsets Desiree Ventura, Glenn Nelson’s niece who also lives in the family home.
“It’s not just about the land,” she said. “We’re lucky because we have land. Most of the people don’t have it. It’s about the environment. It’s about the access to recreational sites.”
The following clarification to this story was posted January 28: A Jan. 28 story should have said that although Andersen Air Force Base on Guam has no permanently stationed air squadrons, it hosts routine deployments of U.S.-based fighter, bomber and tanker squadrons. It also is home to the 36th Contingency Response Group, a rapid-deployment unit that can secure and establish airfields.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Another buildup snag
Another buildup snag
Tuesday, 26 January 2010 05:25
by Romeo Carlos | Variety News Staff
Okinawa vote heralds roadblock for Marines move
AT AN early morning breakfast meeting with a group of visiting Japanese and local businessmen news of an election in Okinawa Sunday colored discussions over a planned military-related project funded by the Japanese government.
In yet another setback to plans for transferring 8,000 Marines from Japan to Guam which was set to begin this year, voters in Okinawa elected a mayor on Sunday who campaigned on a promise to oppose the relocation of the Futenma Air Base to Nago from a more crowded part of the southern Japanese island.
“This only complicates things further,” a Japanese representative for a group of contractors preparing ahead of a major construction project to the breakfast workgroup. Like others at the table he asked not to be identified for this story because of the sensitive nature of ongoing talks.
Voters in the Okinawa city of Nago have amped up the pressure on Japan's left-leaning government to nix a 2006 agreement with the U.S. about the base by choosing challenger Susumu Inamine - who campaigned against any expansion of U.S. military presence in the area - over incumbent mayor Yoshikazu Shimabukuro.
Rising concern
“There are real concerns,” said a manpower expert from the Philippines at the morning meeting. “Stringent regulations mean up to six months time to plan for labor recruitment but contractors are shy about committing resources right now, when they should be finalizing things because they are afraid of being stuck too far out if this keeps dragging on like this.”
The leader of the Japanese team of businessmen told Variety, "Our contractors are very nervous because the investments at stake are very large," he said, adding that a lengthy delay could increase the costs of buildup projects by millions.
"We already have projects on the table that will move forward, even with this delay. After that however is questionable," the nervous contractors' representative said. He questioned, "If at the last minute we have the green light the question will be ‘will we have the time to get things ready on Guam and how much will the delay add to project costs?’ These things are going to have to be factored."
Another official associated with the visiting business group said he expected their project activity to create between 160 and 200 local nonconstruction jobs as they begin operations on Guam later this year - that is if things stay on track.
But he and his colleagues fear timelines will have to be pushed back as much as up to 14 months if Tokyo ultimately allows the Marines air force base to move to Nago.
Washington officials have repeatedly said, despite counter claims by officials at the Joint Guam Program Office, calling off the agreement would end plans to transfer the marines and their dependents to Guam.
Economic activity
With a stagnant tourism industry and little else bringing in revenue to the government of Guam, the island is in sore need of the infusion of multibillion dollar construction projects to stir economic activity.
Even without significant measures to assure the government, local businesses and residents capture a greater portion of the windfall that will flow through Guam, government coffers stand to surge by more than $100 million per year.
Moreover, in the event Tokyo and Washington leadership is unable to arrive at an agreement over what to do about the controversial air base it may lead to years of dialog to renegotiate the entire matter, and leaving Guam on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure costs meant to support the demands of increased military presence on the island.
But if the planned buildup tarries much longer or simply never materializes the longterm debt implications are likely to have a worse impact on the island’s future than the planned militarization ever would.
Tuesday, 26 January 2010 05:25
by Romeo Carlos | Variety News Staff
Okinawa vote heralds roadblock for Marines move
AT AN early morning breakfast meeting with a group of visiting Japanese and local businessmen news of an election in Okinawa Sunday colored discussions over a planned military-related project funded by the Japanese government.
In yet another setback to plans for transferring 8,000 Marines from Japan to Guam which was set to begin this year, voters in Okinawa elected a mayor on Sunday who campaigned on a promise to oppose the relocation of the Futenma Air Base to Nago from a more crowded part of the southern Japanese island.
“This only complicates things further,” a Japanese representative for a group of contractors preparing ahead of a major construction project to the breakfast workgroup. Like others at the table he asked not to be identified for this story because of the sensitive nature of ongoing talks.
Voters in the Okinawa city of Nago have amped up the pressure on Japan's left-leaning government to nix a 2006 agreement with the U.S. about the base by choosing challenger Susumu Inamine - who campaigned against any expansion of U.S. military presence in the area - over incumbent mayor Yoshikazu Shimabukuro.
Rising concern
“There are real concerns,” said a manpower expert from the Philippines at the morning meeting. “Stringent regulations mean up to six months time to plan for labor recruitment but contractors are shy about committing resources right now, when they should be finalizing things because they are afraid of being stuck too far out if this keeps dragging on like this.”
The leader of the Japanese team of businessmen told Variety, "Our contractors are very nervous because the investments at stake are very large," he said, adding that a lengthy delay could increase the costs of buildup projects by millions.
"We already have projects on the table that will move forward, even with this delay. After that however is questionable," the nervous contractors' representative said. He questioned, "If at the last minute we have the green light the question will be ‘will we have the time to get things ready on Guam and how much will the delay add to project costs?’ These things are going to have to be factored."
Another official associated with the visiting business group said he expected their project activity to create between 160 and 200 local nonconstruction jobs as they begin operations on Guam later this year - that is if things stay on track.
But he and his colleagues fear timelines will have to be pushed back as much as up to 14 months if Tokyo ultimately allows the Marines air force base to move to Nago.
Washington officials have repeatedly said, despite counter claims by officials at the Joint Guam Program Office, calling off the agreement would end plans to transfer the marines and their dependents to Guam.
Economic activity
With a stagnant tourism industry and little else bringing in revenue to the government of Guam, the island is in sore need of the infusion of multibillion dollar construction projects to stir economic activity.
Even without significant measures to assure the government, local businesses and residents capture a greater portion of the windfall that will flow through Guam, government coffers stand to surge by more than $100 million per year.
Moreover, in the event Tokyo and Washington leadership is unable to arrive at an agreement over what to do about the controversial air base it may lead to years of dialog to renegotiate the entire matter, and leaving Guam on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure costs meant to support the demands of increased military presence on the island.
But if the planned buildup tarries much longer or simply never materializes the longterm debt implications are likely to have a worse impact on the island’s future than the planned militarization ever would.
Mayor's election in Okinawa is setback for U.S. air base move
Mayor's election in Okinawa is setback for U.S. air base move
By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 25, 2010
TOKYO -- In a small-town election that may have a big impact on U.S. ties with Japan, voters in Nago on Okinawa chose a new mayor Sunday who opposes the relocation of a noisy U.S. military air base to his town.
Susumu Inamine, who said during his campaign that he did not want the air station constructed in Nago, defeated the incumbent, Yoshikazu Shimabukuro, who has long supported hosting the base as a way of increasing jobs and investment.
"I was campaigning in the election with a pledge not to have a new base built," Inamine told supporters Sunday night.
The United States and Japan agreed four years ago to move the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, now located in a dense urban area in the center of Okinawa, to Nago, a town of 60,000 in the thinly populated northern part of the tropical island. It was to have been built on landfill along a pristine coast on the edge of the town.
But to the exasperation of the Obama administration, that deal was put on hold last fall after the election of a new government led by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who says Japan has been too passive in its dealings with the United States. Hatoyama has suggested that the base be moved off Okinawa or out of Japan altogether -- and has also said that the outcome of the mayoral vote in Nago would be a factor in his government's final decision, which he has promised to make by May.
Inamine's anti-base campaign attracted support from environmentalists and from local members of Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan and its coalition partners, as well as from the Japanese Communist Party.
Nago's mayor avoided mention of the airbase in his campaign, saying its relocation was not a matter that could or should be decided by him or residents of his city.
That view is shared by U.S. Marine Corps commanders, who view the Futenma air station as a linchpin in the continuous training and on-call mobility of the Third Marine Expeditionary Force, which is based on Okinawa and is the only such U.S. force in the Far East.
"National security policy cannot be made in towns and villages," Lt. Gen. Keith J. Stalder, commander of Marine forces in the Pacific, said in an interview last week.
Relocating the Marine air station to Nago is a key part of a $26 billion deal between Japan and the United States to transfer 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam and turn over valuable tracts of land to people on the island. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said last fall that the deal would probably collapse if the air station does not move to Nago.
Several U.S. officials said last week they believe that senior leaders in the Hatoyama government have begun to realize that there is no workable alternative to relocating the air station as previously agreed. They also said that such an important decision should be made in Tokyo and not in a local election.
Construction of the air station in Nago would require a massive landfill in a picturesque stretch of waters now used by fishermen and snorkelers. It is opposed by environmentalists who have filed a lawsuit saying it would destroy habitat of the rare dugong, a manatee-like sea mammal. A Japanese government environmental assessment has said that dugongs have not been seen in the proposed construction area for many years.
For many Okinawans, the Futenma air station has become a symbol of the noise, pollution and risk of accidents that they associate with the large U.S. military presence on the island.
Surrounded by 92,000 people in the city of Ginowan, Futenma torments its neighbors with the comings and going of combat helicopters and transport aircraft.
In 2004, a helicopter based at the airfield crashed into the administration building of a nearby college. There were no deaths, but the incident angered local residents and led to the 2006 agreement to move the air base to Nago.
The vote in Nago does not necessarily kill the relocation of the air station. The final decision is up to the governor of Okinawa, who has shown qualified support for the base relocation plan, and the central government in Tokyo.
By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 25, 2010
TOKYO -- In a small-town election that may have a big impact on U.S. ties with Japan, voters in Nago on Okinawa chose a new mayor Sunday who opposes the relocation of a noisy U.S. military air base to his town.
Susumu Inamine, who said during his campaign that he did not want the air station constructed in Nago, defeated the incumbent, Yoshikazu Shimabukuro, who has long supported hosting the base as a way of increasing jobs and investment.
"I was campaigning in the election with a pledge not to have a new base built," Inamine told supporters Sunday night.
The United States and Japan agreed four years ago to move the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, now located in a dense urban area in the center of Okinawa, to Nago, a town of 60,000 in the thinly populated northern part of the tropical island. It was to have been built on landfill along a pristine coast on the edge of the town.
But to the exasperation of the Obama administration, that deal was put on hold last fall after the election of a new government led by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who says Japan has been too passive in its dealings with the United States. Hatoyama has suggested that the base be moved off Okinawa or out of Japan altogether -- and has also said that the outcome of the mayoral vote in Nago would be a factor in his government's final decision, which he has promised to make by May.
Inamine's anti-base campaign attracted support from environmentalists and from local members of Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan and its coalition partners, as well as from the Japanese Communist Party.
Nago's mayor avoided mention of the airbase in his campaign, saying its relocation was not a matter that could or should be decided by him or residents of his city.
That view is shared by U.S. Marine Corps commanders, who view the Futenma air station as a linchpin in the continuous training and on-call mobility of the Third Marine Expeditionary Force, which is based on Okinawa and is the only such U.S. force in the Far East.
"National security policy cannot be made in towns and villages," Lt. Gen. Keith J. Stalder, commander of Marine forces in the Pacific, said in an interview last week.
Relocating the Marine air station to Nago is a key part of a $26 billion deal between Japan and the United States to transfer 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam and turn over valuable tracts of land to people on the island. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said last fall that the deal would probably collapse if the air station does not move to Nago.
Several U.S. officials said last week they believe that senior leaders in the Hatoyama government have begun to realize that there is no workable alternative to relocating the air station as previously agreed. They also said that such an important decision should be made in Tokyo and not in a local election.
Construction of the air station in Nago would require a massive landfill in a picturesque stretch of waters now used by fishermen and snorkelers. It is opposed by environmentalists who have filed a lawsuit saying it would destroy habitat of the rare dugong, a manatee-like sea mammal. A Japanese government environmental assessment has said that dugongs have not been seen in the proposed construction area for many years.
For many Okinawans, the Futenma air station has become a symbol of the noise, pollution and risk of accidents that they associate with the large U.S. military presence on the island.
Surrounded by 92,000 people in the city of Ginowan, Futenma torments its neighbors with the comings and going of combat helicopters and transport aircraft.
In 2004, a helicopter based at the airfield crashed into the administration building of a nearby college. There were no deaths, but the incident angered local residents and led to the 2006 agreement to move the air base to Nago.
The vote in Nago does not necessarily kill the relocation of the air station. The final decision is up to the governor of Okinawa, who has shown qualified support for the base relocation plan, and the central government in Tokyo.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
US military build-up on Guam worries islanders
US military build-up on Guam worries islanders
Fri, Jan 22, 2010
By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
HAGATNA, Jan 22, 2010 (AFP) - Residents of the US territory of Guam fear the planned influx of thousands of American troops and their families will leave their Pacific island home swamped.
Around 19,000 personnel and their families are set to relocate to Guam from southern Japan in a move that will treble the US military presence on the island.
But despite proclaimed economic benefits, not all of the 178,000-strong population is looking forward to the troops' arrival.
"This proposed military build-up, with our current political status, will result in the cultural and racial genocide of the Chamorro people," said Frank J. Schacher, chairman of the Chamorro Tribe Inc., a group representing the island's indigenous people, who make up a third of the population.
"It is our island, our ancestral remains, our sacred artifacts, our waters, our culture, and our right to exist as a race that would be destroyed by these intended actions."
It is a long time since the Chamorro have been masters of their own destiny: Spain controlled the island for more than two hundred years until the late 19th century, when it was taken over by the United States, and it was occupied by Japan during World War II.
In 2006, Washington and Tokyo agreed to shift thousands of marines from Okinawa after complaints that, with half of the country's 47,000 US military personnel, the island was over burdened.
Guam's US Congress delegate, Madeleine Bordallo, hailed the plan as a great opportunity for the territory. The local government and the business community have also welcomed an expected economic boom fuelled by the build-up.
"We acknowledge the unprecedented growth that lies ahead," Guam Governor Felix P. Camacho said recently.
"Our future, however, will test our resolve and we will be called upon to display our commitment to doing what is good and right for our people."
An 11,000-page US Defense Department draft environmental impact statement said the military expansion would strain the island's limited infrastructure, healthcare, and ecology.
The study says the relocation, costing up to 15 billion dollars, would bring 8,600 marines, 630 army personnel, and about 10,000 dependents to Guam.
More than 33,000 foreign workers would also be needed to build wharves, aircraft carrier berths, roads, military barracks, and homes.
The Guam Chamber of Commerce, an early supporter of the relocation, said it was not oblivious to growing scepticism within the community.
"We're the voice of the businesses, but our members all live in Guam too. So we're looking out for the best interests of our businesses and the community at large and so we're looking at everything," Chamber president David Leddy said.
"There are positive and negative impacts. We just have to weigh the positive and negative and see what's good for the people."
About a third of Guam's 549 square kilometres (212 square miles) is already owned by the US government, mainly for military use, and it wants to buy another 2,200 acres (890 hectares) as part of the troop transfer.
"Lands that our ancestors fought for are passed down from one generation to the next until they are indiscriminately taken away for purposes other than sustaining and nourishing the family clan," said Gloria B. Nelson, whose property is being eyed by the Department of Defense.
Melvin Won Pat, one of the founders of a new activist group opposed to the build-up, said it was false to suggest the move was supported by the wider community.
"I think a lot of our people have been misled into believing the general population is in full support of this move," he said.
The Department of Defense's Joint Guam Project Office, which is in charge of the relocation, has held a series of public meetings to discuss the draft report, but some locals remain sceptical.
"I refuse to dignify this whole charade," resident Filamore Alcon Palomo said.
"Attending public hearings would just be a waste of time because I know - everybody knows - this is a done deal. The military won't listen to us. They will do what they want to do."
Fri, Jan 22, 2010
By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
HAGATNA, Jan 22, 2010 (AFP) - Residents of the US territory of Guam fear the planned influx of thousands of American troops and their families will leave their Pacific island home swamped.
Around 19,000 personnel and their families are set to relocate to Guam from southern Japan in a move that will treble the US military presence on the island.
But despite proclaimed economic benefits, not all of the 178,000-strong population is looking forward to the troops' arrival.
"This proposed military build-up, with our current political status, will result in the cultural and racial genocide of the Chamorro people," said Frank J. Schacher, chairman of the Chamorro Tribe Inc., a group representing the island's indigenous people, who make up a third of the population.
"It is our island, our ancestral remains, our sacred artifacts, our waters, our culture, and our right to exist as a race that would be destroyed by these intended actions."
It is a long time since the Chamorro have been masters of their own destiny: Spain controlled the island for more than two hundred years until the late 19th century, when it was taken over by the United States, and it was occupied by Japan during World War II.
In 2006, Washington and Tokyo agreed to shift thousands of marines from Okinawa after complaints that, with half of the country's 47,000 US military personnel, the island was over burdened.
Guam's US Congress delegate, Madeleine Bordallo, hailed the plan as a great opportunity for the territory. The local government and the business community have also welcomed an expected economic boom fuelled by the build-up.
"We acknowledge the unprecedented growth that lies ahead," Guam Governor Felix P. Camacho said recently.
"Our future, however, will test our resolve and we will be called upon to display our commitment to doing what is good and right for our people."
An 11,000-page US Defense Department draft environmental impact statement said the military expansion would strain the island's limited infrastructure, healthcare, and ecology.
The study says the relocation, costing up to 15 billion dollars, would bring 8,600 marines, 630 army personnel, and about 10,000 dependents to Guam.
More than 33,000 foreign workers would also be needed to build wharves, aircraft carrier berths, roads, military barracks, and homes.
The Guam Chamber of Commerce, an early supporter of the relocation, said it was not oblivious to growing scepticism within the community.
"We're the voice of the businesses, but our members all live in Guam too. So we're looking out for the best interests of our businesses and the community at large and so we're looking at everything," Chamber president David Leddy said.
"There are positive and negative impacts. We just have to weigh the positive and negative and see what's good for the people."
About a third of Guam's 549 square kilometres (212 square miles) is already owned by the US government, mainly for military use, and it wants to buy another 2,200 acres (890 hectares) as part of the troop transfer.
"Lands that our ancestors fought for are passed down from one generation to the next until they are indiscriminately taken away for purposes other than sustaining and nourishing the family clan," said Gloria B. Nelson, whose property is being eyed by the Department of Defense.
Melvin Won Pat, one of the founders of a new activist group opposed to the build-up, said it was false to suggest the move was supported by the wider community.
"I think a lot of our people have been misled into believing the general population is in full support of this move," he said.
The Department of Defense's Joint Guam Project Office, which is in charge of the relocation, has held a series of public meetings to discuss the draft report, but some locals remain sceptical.
"I refuse to dignify this whole charade," resident Filamore Alcon Palomo said.
"Attending public hearings would just be a waste of time because I know - everybody knows - this is a done deal. The military won't listen to us. They will do what they want to do."
'Explore thermal energy on Pagan Island'
'Explore thermal energy on Pagan Island'
Friday, January 22, 2010
By Moneth Deposa
The chairman of the Commonwealth Retirees Association, Juan M. Sablan, is urging the U.S. military to explore thermal energy on Pagan Island for its energy requirements when it relocates troops to Guam.
There are about 8,600 Marines and about 9,000 of their dependents that will be transferred from Okinawa, Japan, to Guam starting in 2012.
Because Guam cannot accommodate all training for the relocating Marines, the military looks at Tinian to provide opportunities for training groups.
Tinian is only about 100 miles or 160 km away from Guam and two-thirds of its land is leased to the U.S. Department of Defense.
Sablan, in his letter to the military yesterday, said that since the military will demand more electricity for buildings, homes, and other facilities, he recommends that they consider investing in green energy, which would be beneficial to all.
“Instead of investing in a power plant that is run with diesel, the military should seriously look into investing money in green energy, free energy by utilizing the thermo energy from the active volcano on Pagan Island,” Sablan said.
Sablan believes that this investment will not only benefit the military but the entire population of the Mariana islands.
The CRA chairman pointed out that green energy is a top priority of U.S. President Barrack Obama and his administration.
“If the military utilizes the thermo energy from Pagan Island successfully, the people of Marianas will have a cheap and dependable energy source,” he said, adding that military would be protected from unpredictable sources and fluctuations in oil prices.
He said it has been the desire of the CNMI to make use of the thermal energy on Pagan but all efforts have been halted by financial concerns.
“The real challenge is the cost of harnessing thermal energy from a volcano and transmitting it to Saipan. It is beyond the financial capability of the CNMI government to make this project feasible,” Sablan said.
The Guam military buildup is estimated to cost $15 billion to $20 billion. Besides the relocation, it also involves the construction of a new deep-draft wharf in Apra Harbor, Guam to support a transient nuclear powered aircraft carrier.
Friday, January 22, 2010
By Moneth Deposa
The chairman of the Commonwealth Retirees Association, Juan M. Sablan, is urging the U.S. military to explore thermal energy on Pagan Island for its energy requirements when it relocates troops to Guam.
There are about 8,600 Marines and about 9,000 of their dependents that will be transferred from Okinawa, Japan, to Guam starting in 2012.
Because Guam cannot accommodate all training for the relocating Marines, the military looks at Tinian to provide opportunities for training groups.
Tinian is only about 100 miles or 160 km away from Guam and two-thirds of its land is leased to the U.S. Department of Defense.
Sablan, in his letter to the military yesterday, said that since the military will demand more electricity for buildings, homes, and other facilities, he recommends that they consider investing in green energy, which would be beneficial to all.
“Instead of investing in a power plant that is run with diesel, the military should seriously look into investing money in green energy, free energy by utilizing the thermo energy from the active volcano on Pagan Island,” Sablan said.
Sablan believes that this investment will not only benefit the military but the entire population of the Mariana islands.
The CRA chairman pointed out that green energy is a top priority of U.S. President Barrack Obama and his administration.
“If the military utilizes the thermo energy from Pagan Island successfully, the people of Marianas will have a cheap and dependable energy source,” he said, adding that military would be protected from unpredictable sources and fluctuations in oil prices.
He said it has been the desire of the CNMI to make use of the thermal energy on Pagan but all efforts have been halted by financial concerns.
“The real challenge is the cost of harnessing thermal energy from a volcano and transmitting it to Saipan. It is beyond the financial capability of the CNMI government to make this project feasible,” Sablan said.
The Guam military buildup is estimated to cost $15 billion to $20 billion. Besides the relocation, it also involves the construction of a new deep-draft wharf in Apra Harbor, Guam to support a transient nuclear powered aircraft carrier.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tinian, Goat Island offered as alternatives to Guam
Tinian, Goat Island offered as alternatives to Guam
Thursday, 21 January 2010 00:00
By Gemma Q. Casas - Reporter
TINIAN — Mayor Ramon M. Dela Cruz asked the U.S. military to consider Tinian and the nearby uninhabited Aguijan, or Goat Island, as alternative sites for the planned buildup in the Marianas in the wake of increasing opposition on Guam to the project.
The newly elected Republican mayor met last week with retired Maj. Gen. David Bice, the executive director of the Joint Guam Program Office, which is tasked to oversee the military buildup project on Guam and the Northern Marianas.
“We discussed a lot of things,” the mayor said. “We know for a fact that they are getting a lot of opposition on Guam about the military buildup, so jokingly I asked him, if there’s so much opposition on Guam, we’re willing to take the military on Tinian as fallback for Guam.”
According to Dela Cruz, Bice laughed but said, “We’ll consider it seriously.”
The mayor added, “I also offered Goat Island as an alternative. They said they will take a look at it. They flew over it.”
Goat Island is an uninhabited island of the CNMI located about 5 miles southwest of Tinian. It has a large number of feral goats, but it used to host a Japanese garrison during World War II.
Bice and other military officials went on Tinian for a public hearing on the draft Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS, regarding the military buildup in the Marianas.
Much of the anticipated projects will be constructed on Guam.
Tinian is expected to host military drills and exercises that cannot be accommodated on Guam.
Dela Cruz said Tinian has always been supportive of the U.S. military’s presence.
“For a very long time, we were made to believe that Tinian could capitalize on a military economy. As you know, we released two-thirds of our island to the military,” he added.
He admitted that the island’s economy, like the CNMI’s, “is not really good — I think we will keep on sinking.”
He remains optimistic, however, that Tinian will soon have new hotels and casinos, especially if the military buildup is finally implemented.
Thursday, 21 January 2010 00:00
By Gemma Q. Casas - Reporter
TINIAN — Mayor Ramon M. Dela Cruz asked the U.S. military to consider Tinian and the nearby uninhabited Aguijan, or Goat Island, as alternative sites for the planned buildup in the Marianas in the wake of increasing opposition on Guam to the project.
The newly elected Republican mayor met last week with retired Maj. Gen. David Bice, the executive director of the Joint Guam Program Office, which is tasked to oversee the military buildup project on Guam and the Northern Marianas.
“We discussed a lot of things,” the mayor said. “We know for a fact that they are getting a lot of opposition on Guam about the military buildup, so jokingly I asked him, if there’s so much opposition on Guam, we’re willing to take the military on Tinian as fallback for Guam.”
According to Dela Cruz, Bice laughed but said, “We’ll consider it seriously.”
The mayor added, “I also offered Goat Island as an alternative. They said they will take a look at it. They flew over it.”
Goat Island is an uninhabited island of the CNMI located about 5 miles southwest of Tinian. It has a large number of feral goats, but it used to host a Japanese garrison during World War II.
Bice and other military officials went on Tinian for a public hearing on the draft Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS, regarding the military buildup in the Marianas.
Much of the anticipated projects will be constructed on Guam.
Tinian is expected to host military drills and exercises that cannot be accommodated on Guam.
Dela Cruz said Tinian has always been supportive of the U.S. military’s presence.
“For a very long time, we were made to believe that Tinian could capitalize on a military economy. As you know, we released two-thirds of our island to the military,” he added.
He admitted that the island’s economy, like the CNMI’s, “is not really good — I think we will keep on sinking.”
He remains optimistic, however, that Tinian will soon have new hotels and casinos, especially if the military buildup is finally implemented.
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