Guam - A local company has been issued a cease-&-desist order by the Chamorro Land Trust Commission, prompted after last week's heated roundtable meeting.

Lawmakers didn't have to wait long for the CLTC to rescind board chairman Oscar Calvo's unilateral decision to allow Guam Rocks to proceed with a survey of 400 acres of Chamorro Land Trust property in the northern part of the island.  KUAM News has confirmed that a cease-&-desist letter was sent to Guam Rocks' George Torres after that hearing, dated February 19.

Last Friday, a roundtable meeting was held and chaired by CLTC Oversight Chair Senator Ben Pangelinan. Pangelinan, along with Vice-Speaker B.J. Cruz, was visibly frustrated with chairman Calvo's decision to allow Guam Rocks to proceed with the surveying, because not only is a moratorium in place for the CLTC's commercial lease program but also the agency's legal counsel advised Calvo not to move forward with the authorization in the first place.

Guam Rocks manager Tony Sanchez declined to comment, telling us only that Guam Rocks plans to meet with Senator Pangelinan this week to further discuss the issue.  Sanchez says Guam Rocks attorney George Valdez is reviewing the C&D letter to determine the company's next course of action.  He adds the company has already begun the master design process and has identified the survey points.

Sanchez last week told KUAM News there were a lot of mistruths about the Guam Rocks issue, even so far as saying the company's dealings with the CLTC date prior to the moratorium being in place.  

In the meantime, senators are still waiting to see whether Chairman Calvo will step down - something the vice-speaker suggested during last week Friday's roundtable. "Okay, so I made the biggest mistake of my life," Calvo stated during the hearing.  "I made that mistake, and that's the bottom line.  What am I gonna do?"  Cruz quickly stated, "Resign".

In an interview today, the vice-speaker said he hasn't changed his position, saying, "I have grave concern about having a chairman unilaterally decide that he's going to approve something that legal counsel, general manager, and not even the rest of the board has been consulted with."

While Guam Rocks is paying for Calvo's premature actions, it looks like the CLTC may be able to move forward with commercial leases soon.  It was a lack of rules and regulations that prompted the moratorium but CLTC administrator Jess Garcia says they're close to completion.  "The rules and regulations are in the final stages now. We submitted it back to our legal counsel. Legal counsel has reviewed it and turned it over to us today and we're meeting with legal counsel tomorrow to go over it with her," he said.

There's still no word when an oversight hearing for the Chamorro Land Trust Commission will be held.