JMI asserts airport contractor lacks license, will head to court

In an interview with KUAM, JMI Edison continues to defend they did nothing wrong, and the OPA decision to dismiss their appeal related to an airport contract was based solely on the use of the word "bro" and not on the merits and the baggage of the winning contractor.


Instead of getting T-M-I, J-M-I says the OPAs decision only focused on the use of B-R-O.


"In hindsight, the bro-noun might have been poorly chosen but there's nothing illegal with the word bro there is something illegal when a contractor working for the government of Guam GIAA continues to operate as a contractor without a contractor's license 1," JMI's John Ilao told KUAM News. 

JMI specifically appealed GIAA's contract award to Menzies for a baggage handling system because the company didn't' have a contractor's license. But it was an email from JMI to CLB Executive Director Cecil Orsini that the OPA took issue with. Ultimately deciding this was a case of a bro just helping out another bro. Ilao however says the OPA focused on the bro-noun instead of the actual letter submitted by Orsini, which he maintains does not need action by the CLB board because it's a citation.

"On the two findings the first finding was really CLB stating that Menzies did not have a license the second finding was that the work at GIAA required a contractor's license and that's the content the CLB letter had," he said. "Just those two findings there wasn't any manipulation of any other things those were pretty straightforward."

According to JMI the facts were lost in all the turbulence.


"It just became intertwined but really if you go back since day one since September when we foia'd GIAA we continued with the CLB the staffer gave us information," Illao said. "They weren't licensed you just have to go back to the beginning rather than in December and that's when you know I wish the auditor should have conducted a full hearing that way you can all of us stakeholders in from Menzies me and GIAA to get the whole story." 

For now, the issue is grounded with the OPA but JMI is charting a new flight path at the Superior Court, the entire ordeal costing a pretty hefty ticket.


"It's disappointing in two ways not only are we fighting spending money on our lawyers on the OPA but now we gotta spend more money when we got to the court system whereas if it stayed in the OPA and we had a full hearing then all the stakeholders would have been sworn in and they would have learned more about the history from September not just basing his decision on December  and solely on the word which again is not illegal."

Ilao also points out that this is a contract renewal for Menzies, and that it hasn't had a contractor's license for the past several years.