by Heather Hauswirth

Guam - Behind closed doors yesterday, GWA met with federal officials including chairperson of the CEQ Nancy Sutley, DOI and insular areas assistant secretary Tony Babauta, officials from Guam EPA, Guam Department of Agriculture and JGPO representatives including David Bice, who indicated that federal dollars may be on the way as early as this week.

CCU chairperson Simon Sanchez, who presented to the group on behalf of power, water and wastewater, says seeing some federal dollars is a good start, but it's only scratching the tip of the iceberg in terms of the ultimate federal commitment required for the buildup.

He said, "We are hearing conversations, but where's the real money? As you know, we didn't get Port money we hope to get, but during discussions yesterday, General Bice alluded to some monies that could be available we are not quite sure if it is for GWA or for Guam, but he did discuss the possibility that in the next few days some announcement might come from Washington that says a couple hundred millions dollars may be available for something related to the buildup."

Sanchez says he is happy to hear that, but adds that everyone knows we talked about a need in the next decade for $1.5 billion, saying, "It's a nice down payment, but its got to be the beginning of a flow of a lot more money to Guam, so we can do this right."