Guam - With millions in funding spent on improving the island's roadways, millions have also been spent on consulting contracts to steer the Department of Public Works on a path to progress.

According to DPW's web site, in 2007 the agency brought on board Parsons Brinkerhoff Americas and two local consultants to serve as its program management team. The following year, Parsons Transportation Group was added to the program to provide construction compliance management assistance and to augment the forward planning and execution effort. Together these companies referred to as the pmt provide advice guidance and services to DPW for program planning and design, construction and construction compliance with federal regulations. 

Since 2008 Guam has embarked on more than $246 million in federally-funded road improvement projects. One of the major ones has been the Route 8 tri-intersection project in Barrigada - this project alone has gone through repeated setbacks, all to the dismay of surrounding shops whose businesses such as Pacific Grocers controller Chris Kim, who owns Happy Mart. He saw a plunge when the dirt was turned.

"We're the lucky ones," he shared. "We managed to survive even in this difficult time because we cut down in our expenses to stay open, but other smaller businesses around here closed down or had to relocate in order to survive, so that caused us a lot of problems."

One may ask what happened to the "management" in the program management team contract. PB Americas and Parsons Transportation Group were originally awarded $19 million apiece to ensure projects like the one in Barrigada would flow smoothly. DPW deputy director Carl Dominguez tells KUAM News that to date, the Federal Highway Administration has approved payments to PTG at $24 million and PB at $18 million.

He admits there could have been better planning.

"I think that best that two Parsons groups could have done was just schedule it in such a way that the minimum number of businesses would be affected concurrently would be one, and number two to make sure the contractor gets in and out of the area just as quickly as possible," said Dominguez.

While both companies were supposed to get paid nearly $20 million each, KUAM News has learned it's gone way beyond that. According to documents we've obtained, combined the companies are actually going to be paid $84.3 million for work through from 2007 to July this year.

The contracts evidently were on the radar of the Calvo-Tenorio Transition Team, which in January red-flagged the contracts. The transition report noting that the program management team contracts of both Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB Americas) and Parsons Transportation Group should be evaluated.  The transition team noted several concerns, including

- how local architecture and engineering firms have not been used for design and construction management tasks, resulting in designs that lack local institutional knowledge, causing numerous design clarification requests, delays and higher, costs. Further, there are no taxes paid by off-island design firms.

- the transition team also noted, federal specifications are not tailored to Guam's unique natural resources - for example, Guam's limestone aggregate cannot meet technical requirements written the U.S. mainland.

- the program management team is paid regularly regardless of whether a specific project is actually moving forward, there is no incentive for the pmt to insure a project is actually completed on time since they are paid regardless of actual progress, something businesses at the tri-intersection in Barrigada have been waiting to see: progress.

Said Kim, "We can't really judge whether they're doing the right thing or not we cannot know, but from the business affected by that construction. we just want it done as soon as possible."

According to Dominguez, the Barrigada tri-intersection project target completion date is October 23; while in November, Parsons Brinckerhoff's contract expires. Parsons Transportation Group, however, is contracted through next year.  Parsons Brinkerhoff or PB America declined an on-camera interview for this story, but told KUAM News that the initial contract ceiling was $19 million, but is now at $50 million.

Documents state that since 2007 through July 2011, they'll be authorized some $36 million for task orders since 2007, while Parsons Transportation Group so far has been authorized $37.1 million, which brings us to the total of $84 million since 2007 to manage and oversee the island's multiple road construction projects.