By Gerardo R. Partido
Variety News Staff

ALTHOUGH the actual relocation of Marines from Okinawa is still a couple of years away, visiting Pentagon officials have assured community leaders that money related to the troop movement will be streaming into Guam’s economy sooner than that.
In their remarks before the Guam Chamber of Commerce on Friday, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Navy for Installations and Environment B.J. Penn and retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. David Bice, executive director of the Joint Guam Program Office, said many projects related to the military build-up need to be completed before the actual transfer and local firms will get their fair share of business.
According to Bice, some $4 billion of the $10.3 billion in estimated costs for the Marine relocation will be spent on Guam for housing and related facilities, including infrastructure that will complement the island’s existing utilities.
The officials assured the business community that local firms will have a crack at the multi-million dollar contracts headed Guam’s way.
“We will assure fair and open competition for all contracts,” Bice said, as concerns were raised about whether the Japanese government might insist that Japanese contractors be used for the bulk of the construction projects related to the Marines’ transfer.
The Japanese government has already agreed to finance roughly half of the relocation costs and this has already been incorporated into the Japanese government’s budget.
As for whether the Japanese government will turn over its share of the relocation costs to the U.S. or spend the money itself, Bice said lawyers from both sides are still fine-tuning the details.
Bice said the Joint Guam Program Office is now preparing to set up operations on Guam, working with the federal Office for Economic Adjustment to secure grants that will help Guam cope with the relocation of the Marines.
Federal funds will also be available to help finance the newly established Trades Academy that aims to train the local workforce for the many construction jobs that are to become available.
Local contractors have expressed concerns that the island may not have enough construction workers to handle the increase in construction activities.
There have also been fears that the Okinawan government might ask Japan to make use of displaced Okinawan laborers to compensate for the economic fallout of the Marines’ relocation.
It is estimated that 15,000 additional workers will be needed to handle the surge in construction activities.
According to Penn, the relocation of the Marines represents a “major program” for the Pentagon and the military is committed to Guam.
“This is one of the largest projects of the Department of Defense and we will rely a lot on Chamber members to help see this through,” he said.
He described Guam as the “strategic hub of the new century” which is why the military continues to pour resources into the island.
“Aside from the Marine relocation, additional resources are also headed Guam’s way as the military increases its rotations to Guam. The additional capabilities that the military is bringing in are immense,” Penn said.
Over the next 10 years, the military has said Guam will see a doubling of Air Force and Navy personnel, with Air Force personnel increasing to about 4,500 and Navy personnel increasing from 4,000 to 8,000, aside from the 17,000 Marines and their dependents who will be relocated from Okinawa.
At Andersen Air Force Base, the military installation is preparing for 3,100 more active duty personnel and their dependents to be deployed in the next few years.
This is in addition to the 8,500 active duty personnel and their dependents already residing on the base.
With the continuing expansion of the military on Guam, Bice said island companies will benefit from increased military spending.
“Our armed forces will patronize island establishments for goods and services. The base exchanges can’t possibly support all the requirements of the military,” he pointed out.
During the Guam Chamber of Commerce’s meeting on Friday, officials also promised to look into the possibility of getting surplus military cranes for Guam after Port Authority of Guam chairman Monte Mesa made an inquiry on the matter.
Mesa also reminded the officials that Guam is still in the running for homeporting an aircraft carrier group, which could pump an additional $20 billion more into the island’s economy.