Groundbreaking for Gill-Baza Subdivision

by Ken Quintanilla

Guam - It's literally been a long and bumpy road for the residents of the Gill-Baza Subdivision in Yigo, and after years of bringing this attention to island leaders, work is well on its way to pave the road leading to their homes. For years children and families have had to travel down a bumpy unsafe gravel road, but today a groundbreaking ceremony not only marked the beginning of improvements to the area but also brought hope to residents who didn't think they'd ever see this day come.

"I'm glad that the people who don't believe in this will see this and will believe that things can happen and that we have to be patient to whatever the leaders of Guam promise us, so I'm glad I am one of them even though I have the hardship but I was just patient," said Yigo resident and Gill-Baza Subdivision board member Sontag Martin. He's been a resident of area since 1999 and experienced first hand the challenges of having his kids walk more than a mile on an unpaved road. And although it was only a groundbreaking to pave the road leading into the neighborhood, he was happy to finally see some work move forward.  

"First, I kind of feel goose bumps because of the way things are going on, especially the hardships we have had to face when its raining the kids have to go in the boonies and walk in the boonies to try and avoid the road pots."

The $800,000 project was funded through legislation by former senator Telo Taitague for DPW to pave and repair damaged village projects. DPW director Joanne Brown meanwhile says this will be the first project in nearly a decade that Public Works will do most of the work minus the final asphalt pavement done by a private contractor. "And this in particular case, when the department is providing funding, we are demonstrating we certainly can go and do the work and improve the community which I think in the end this all comes down to," she said.

Governor Eddie Calvo noted that improvements should have been done years ago by the site's developer, but it's ultimately about helping the nearly 500 residents who live in this area. "I think for whatever happens and however the court moves and whatever legal actions occurs with those of the developers who have caused some issues such as areas such as this and others, hopefully justice will be served, but we as public servants cannot just stand present and watch a very difficult situation to occur that has an impact on the health and safety of our people," he said.

Ultimately, Martin hopes both the administration and DPW will continue to improve the residential area to allow his kids a safe place to play. "There's still hope that after the pave, we still hope that around the Gill-Baza community, we still hope that Public Works will continue to pave the area," he said.

The pavement is expected to be complete by the end of April. The administration meanwhile is working to put concrete bus stops in the area as well.