By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
Variety News Staff

THE Public Utilities Commission has recommended that the Solid Waste Management Division, currently a line agency of the Department of Public Works, be reconstituted into a public corporation that would handle the capital projects related to the Ordot Dump consent decree.
Citing SWMD’s handicaps that hinder its ability to meet the mandates of the consent decree, PUC suggested that the DPW-attached office be transferred to CCU and given a full governing body authorized to handle its own financial operations and revenue collections.
In a report submitted to the Attorney General’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, PUC said converting the SWMD office into a public corporation under CCU would enable Guam to consolidate its responsibilities under the consent decree through a single commission.
PUC said CCU “has proven its ability to secure the revenue bond financing, which is necessary to comply with the consent decree,” and has “a seasoned team of managers” who could be tasked with overseeing the proposed corporation.
“CCU could draw upon the legal, financial, managerial and operational resources of sister utilities, including the Guam Power Authority, the Guam Waterworks Authority, and its team of outside consultants in empowering the corporation to establish itself as a functioning utility. Such collaborations are already occurring between GPA and GWA,” PUC added.
PUC noted that SWMD’s current status as DPW’s line agency renders it incapable of fulfilling its mandates, such as billing and collecting the revenue necessary to meet the financial obligation required to fund procurements mandated by the consent decree.
These handicaps, according to PUC, include “the fragmentation of operational and governing authority” among the executive department’s management team created by an executive order issued last year.
The executive order tasked the DPW director to handle the solid waste operations, and the Department of Administration with billing and financial management. The Attorney General’s Office is charged with the legal aspect of the case, the governor’s office with policy, revenue transfer authority and contract authority, and the Legislature with policy and appropriation power.
Among other drawbacks of the current SWMD status include the lack of adequate personnel, systems and resources to manage and operate waste collection and landfill duties, and the fact that rate revenues are being subject to appropriation and executive transfer for other purposes, PUC said.
PUC thus recommended that the U.S. District Court order and direct the local government to enact legislation within 60 days to reconstitute SWMD as a public corporation, which would also have the central responsibility to facilitate the procurement process for capital projects related to the construction of a new landfill and the closure of the Ordot Dump.