by Mindy Aguon

Guam - Federal receiver Gershman, Brickner & Bratton's David Manning spoke via teleconference that he was pleased with the recent findings from the Office of Public Accountability which gave the Guam Solid Waste Fund for Fiscal Year 2012 a clean audit. The OPA however did note a repeat compliance finding related to procurement in which there was incomplete documentation.

For example, an item awarded in 2004 for $1.3 million was up to $8.2 million due to several amendments and change orders without supporting documents. "The findings for the most part of the auditors were findings related to contractual issues that are really a matter of disagreement in the way in which the receiver operates and the way in which the Government of Guam operates," said Manning. "We have the authority to depart from Guam law under certain conditions for certain types of contracts in order to facilitate the compliance with the consent decree when it was necessary and that became the basis of some of the audit findings, but those audit findings in my experience are not terribly significant audit findings."

The audit also noted concerns about how GovGuam will have to come up with a $25.1 million court ordered payment to the owners of the land where the Layon landfill was built on. Since October 2012, the OPA notes that $110,000 in interest is accruing monthly.