by Mindy Aguon

Guam - The Department of Defense had no involvement in the insertion of a provision in the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act that would allow for the transfer of Fena. That's the message Navy Undersecretary Robert Work made in a letter to Senator Frank Blas, Jr. who recently inquired about how the Fena provision was included in the NDAA.

Work explained that the DoD did not seek the Fena transfer, as it does not support the transfer or the 33% voting rights for the DoD on the Consolidated Commission on Utilities. "It brought some clarification that there was some negotiation and discussion that was gong on and now I know why the DoD never brought up the CCU provision in those discussions because they didn't know about it either and they had no hand in it," he stated.

Undersecretary Work did note that while the DoD is currently opposed to the transfer of Fena, they are open to the possibility of supporting such action in the future. Senator Blas meanwhile says he will continue his efforts to determine who had a hand in the specific provisions and why they felt they were necessary without consultation with island leaders.