by Ken Quintanilla

Guam - It was earlier this week when lawmakers were called into special session to address Bill 250 that would help the Guam Memorial Hospital move forward with its $25 million loan.

The measure would amend current law over the waiver of sovereign immunity after concerns were raised with the lender of the loan. Today, two measures went up for a public hearing - Bill 251 and 252, this time to help move forward the Guam Legislature's new building loan and the Port Authority of Guam's service life extension loan.

Port deputy general manager Felix Pangelinan said, "Bank of Guam has informed PAG that Bank of Guam does not intend to back out of the current PAG/Bank of Guam agreement and therefore the inclusion of the additional waiver of sovereign immunity should not affect the status of the loan approval before the Public Utilities Commission."

The Guam Preservation Trust meanwhile noted that once this bill is passed and signed into law, they can close the loan for the rehabilitation of the old Guam Legislature building within a week.