Customs officers to receive hazardous pay

With the decline of visitors on Guam over the last couple of years, the Customs and Quarantine Agency on Island has taken a hit. However, officers will be receiving additional hazardous pay on April 22.

Under Public Law 33-195, Customs Officers were identified as holding hazardous duty positions and are eligible to receive duty pay. The Committee on Border Safety and Maritime Transportation convened for a round table hearing addressing the plans for payment.

Chair of the Committee on Border Protection and Maritime, Senator Telena Nelson, announced, "From Fiscal Year 2017 to Fiscal Year 2021, the Guam Customs and Quarantine Agency was owed $2,979,869 in retroactive hazardous pay." The Department of Administration will start retroactive hazardous pay increases on the 22nd and will be done in lumpsum payments, per year owed.

In addition to the hazardous duty pay, CQA received $3.5 million from American Rescue Plan funds. Customs acting administrative services officer Pilar Carbullido said, "To date, we’ve expended $1,914,567 and what we’ve expended it for is our the Covid differential pay of about $310,000 and that’s paying up until December and then we’re about to expend 1,604,567 and that is for the Customs and Quarantine trainees and we’re looking at about 30 recruits."

With the remaining $1.5 million, Carbullido said they hope to use some of it for promotions. This has raised concern for senators, such as Joanne Brown. She commented, "I just think we start to making responsible decisions and stop abusing the funds and especially there is no public accounting until after the fact and now we’re hearing about it now this afternoon that your using federal money to pay for promotions and I just don’t think that's right I think those things should not be put out there after the fact and expect the people to pay for it."

Senator Brown and Nelson both questioned how CQA will sustain payments in the future if ARP funds are being used for the promotions.