By Trina A. San Agustin
Variety News Staff

THE Guam Power Authority will give the Guam Public School System until the close of business today to make a payment. Without a payment, GPA said it will begin disconnecting services to the school system starting with the GPSS central offices.
GPA spokesperson Art Perez said the $814,000 power bill is due for the month of February and another $150,000 on a previous promissory note, bringing the total bill to $964,000.
“We are already going into our March billing and we need to collect on the February billing. At this point, we will be disconnecting GPSS accounts if there are no payments made,” Perez told Variety.
Perez said if GPSS does not pay, GPA will disconnect school campuses as well.
“This is a concern for us, too. We found out in the Marianas Variety that their priority right now is payroll and vendors. In this case, we are also a vendor that needs to get paid. We need to treat all accounts (equally). We will be diligent in all collections,” Perez said.
GPSS spokesperson Gerry Cruz, in an earlier interview, said because of the preliminary injunction by the Department of Labor and the Attorney General’s Office, the GPSS superintendent cannot pay anything but payroll and payroll vendors when the agency is in receipt of any local funds.
Right now, there is a remaining $3.3 million in arrears to vendors. Cruz said once this amount is paid, they will be able to pay the other vendors.
GPSS Superintendent Luis Reyes told Variety that he is hopeful that the Office of the Governor or the Department of Administration would “step in to help.”