DPW awaits funds for school bus repair

by Michele Catahay

Guam - The Department of Public Works is waiting to receive funding to cover the repair and maintenance of school buses. A bill was signed recently into law that would allocate these funds for that purpose. DPW director Andy Leon Guerrero says the lack of necessary funding made it difficult for the agency to keep up. He says he's hoping the money will be made available soon.

He told KUAM News, "Right now, we're just waiting on GEDA. They just have to certify the fact that all the projects in the bond have been completed and that needs to be certified. Once that has been done, we'll go ahead and load the money and move forward with the plans we had with the $1.85 (million)."

A couple of oversight hearings were held at the Guam Legislature where officials were questioned about the safety of the fleet and whether all buses passed necessary inspections. It was revealed that DPW was actively keeping a record detailing how often the buses were being maintained.