News Analysis Guam Buildup Housing Delays: There's A Much Bigger Picture At Play
| Guam Buildup Housing Delays: There's A Much Bigger Picture At Play |
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| News Analysis | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Written by Jeff Marchesseault | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sunday, 23 August 2009 13:15 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Jeff Marchesseault GUAM - It seems one potential roadblock after another is threatening the timely buildout of military installations on Guam before the scheduled settlement of U.S. Marines from Okinawa by 2014. And today at least two independent news sources are reporting that housing construction projects for arriving Marines are already six months behind schedule. But, as with any multi-billion-dollar undertaking, the devil is always in the details. And Department of Defense officials, contractors, Congress, elected local officials and bureaucrats should all keep the bigger picture in mind while staying the course. The U.S. and Japan have already agreed to the terms of a realignment of U.S. forces in the Pacific and they wouldn't have mapped out these terms unless they made sense for the individual interests of both nations and for the security, defense and prosperity of the region at large. Furthermore, contracting and preliminary projects are already underway for the transfer. On-base renewable energy projects, harbor dredging, service contracts, impact and development assessments, and constant U.S.-Guam communication on funding needs for civilian economic adjustment and military operations name just a few of the efforts now fast afoot. And the buildup is, despite disagreements and challenges, still moving forward. Perhaps not always as precisely as planned and hoped for, but the bigger picture and the momentum for change are too important for the powers that be to let territorial bluster and devilish details derail a plan that will ultimately protect the U.S. and Japan's shared values of freedom, economic opportunity, and security. Before today's announcement on the Guam housing delay, several chief hurdles to overcome were already challenging the process: (1) disputes over Guam-buildup wage rates and foreign labor levels among Members of Congress; (2) Congress' $211 million reduction for Navy construction on Guam in a recent version of the 2010 Defense spending bill (and President Obama's insistence that the Guam dollars be added back in before he signs off on the overall package); (3) a lack of infrastructural readiness on Guam; (4) delayed environmental impact assessments; (5) the likelihood that the Democratic Party of Japan will topple the 50-year reign of the Liberal Democratic Party and attempt to scale back the LDP's bilateral agreement to finance $6.09 billion of the estimated $10.3 billion Guam move; and (6) the DPJ's stance against transferring Futenma Air Base operations anywhere within Okinawa at a time when the LDP and U.S. have longsince agreed that air operations will be relocated from overcrowded Ginowan city to coastal Nago, Okinawa. (The air operations move is contingent upon the transfer of 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam.) And now this new, comparitively smaller wrinkle over military housing preparations on Guam. Both the Marine Corps Times and the Japan Times Online are reporting that, according to sources, the housing holdup hinges on differences in interpretation of the U.S.-Japan agreement to realign American forces. Apparently our two nations don't see eye to eye on housing quality standards, nor on a U.S. proposal to use a portion of Japan's financing to improve military facilities not directly linked to the transfer of Okinawa-based Marines. If the impasse holds, it could ostensibly delay the multi-year bidding, awarding and construction process on Guam and thereby stretch the targeted buildout and resettlement beyond the current 2014 deadline. Just yesterday Guam News Factor reported that Navy Secretary Ray Mabus himself had publicly expressed doubts that the Navy could even afford to transfer Marines to Guam under the House version of the 2010 Defense Authorization Act. That's the version containing a controversial amendment added by Hawaii Representative Neil Abercrombie that would raise Guam's construction industry wages to union levels paid in Hawaii and keep 70 percent of the workforce American. House and Senate versions of the bill are now under review in Congress. Mabus made his statement at Pearl Harbor during his tour of the Pacific and is now on Guam as part of his trip. He will hold a press conference tomorrow. But voices against Abercrombie's proposed wage and labor rules have been antiphonal, because there is broad agreement that they are out of touch with economic realities on Guam and within the Navy. And it is concerted stances against ideas that wind up not making good economic sense for the transfer that will keep the buildup moving right along. In the end, the transfer of forces is going to boil down to time, money and the mutual best interests of the U.S., Japan and the security and prosperity of the Pacific. And, all housing concerns aside, the completion time of the Okinawa-to-Guam transfer will fall right in line with these priorities. Read the Japan Times story, "Housing dispute may delay troop transfer to Guam", Sunday, August 23, 2009. Read the Marine Corps Times story, " Housing disagreement may delay transfer to Guam", August 23, 2009. Read the Guam News Factor story, "Guam Buildup 'Hurdles' Hold Up Housing On Okinawa", August 3, 2009. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites          
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