by Ken Quintanilla

Guam - Lawmakers who attended Tuesday's buildup briefing weren't too impressed by what they heard. Speaker Judi Won Pat says the Joint Guam Program Office's briefing revealed the Draft Master Plan, which raised several red flags for her including a "live where you work" concept that described a self-contained community within the base for the military provided housing and other recreational activities like a mall.

She says this sends the wrong message of a "One Guam" approach. "You've seen our malls and all other little mom-and-pop stores and gift shops that they're not packed and they can surely use additional business from the military," she stated. "You might as well take them and put them on a carrier ship and put them out in the middle of the ocean and not worry about anything because you're going to have everything. But in an island like this where we want to have this one community and stop this separation of military and the local community."

She hopes JGPO rethinks this idea as a way to possibly save money considering the climate in Washington, DC to make federal cuts.

Meanwhile, military buildup chairperson Senator Judi Guthertz wasn't impressed either, saying she was heartened by the renewed contract and requested that the president and secretary of defense officially community the people of Guam on the status of the buildup.