by Clynt Ridgell, KUAM NewsWednesday, May 07, 2008 Subscribe to Clynt's newsfeed
Governor Felix Camacho has recently returned from his trip to Washington, DC where he and Congresswoman Madeline Bordallo spoke before the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on the military buildup planned for Guam. The General Accountability Office also reported on the island's migration of troops before the same committee hearing. The GAO's recent report cites much of the same concerns regarding the U.S. Department of Defense's lack of specific planning and thus the Government of Guam's difficulties in planning preparing and securing funding for beefing up it's infrastructure and government services. "The military is caught in a way between a rock and a hard place for security measures," said Camacho. "There's only so much they can release they have to be sensitive on how information is put out, so as not to confuse the situation in Japan as there is opposition to the move also. At the same time there is an obligation for them to provide us with as much information as is necessary and so information has been coming out piece meal and it is not the best way for any community to plan."The governor says that the federal government never consulted the people of Guam as to the impacts such a move would cause before they made the deal with the Japanese government.Read the full report at GAO.gov