By Gerardo R. Partido
Variety News Staff

A NEW Department of Defense report released on March 12 has concluded that the cost for the relocation of 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam would be higher than expected.
The report also said that the budget given to the Air Force, the Navy, and the planned Army missile defense unit to be based on island would not be sufficient for their expansion to Guam.
According to the DoD, the transfer of the Okinawa Marines and their dependents to Guam would cost an additional $464 million.
“To support a larger presence on Guam, the Navy and Air Force will also require an increase in annual funding,” the report said.
The DoD warned that the Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps are not financially prepared for additional deployments to Guam because their current budgets do not reflect the actual cost for such expansion.
The report also cautioned that Japan, which has agreed to fund 60 percent of the Marines’ relocation, has not yet finalized its financing for the transfer.
Japanese lawmakers have been visiting the island since last year to inspect facilities and estimate the costs that Japan would have to shoulder in building new facilities for the Marines.
This week, the latest batch of Japanese lawmakers visited the island. A seven-member non-partisan task force of the Japan Diet met with Gov. Felix P. Camacho to discuss the impending move of the Marines from Okinawa to Guam.
The Japan Diet members are in Guam for a three-day visit in anticipation of budget talks scheduled to begin in Tokyo later this week.
“While you are busy with budget talks that are about to begin, I appreciate that you took some time out to see for yourselves what Guam will offer in the repositioning of military forces in this part of the world,” Camacho said during a reception held for the Japanese delegation.
Hiroshi Imazu, Ryuzo Sasaki, Gen Nakatani, Otohiko Endo, Akira Uchiyama, Seiken Akamine and Tetsuo Kanno led a 15-member delegation that included members of the Japan Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Defense, and the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.
Camacho shared with the group the details of his recent visit to Washington, D.C. where he discussed the relocation of the Marines with U.S. Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter and other U.S. Department of Defense officials who are taking the lead in the largest move of the U.S. military since the end of World War II.
“While the Marine move may provide relief for Okinawa, it will provide an opportunity for Guam to grow,” said Camacho.
The governor encouraged the Diet members to gather as much information as they can during the trip, offering the full assistance of the Camacho-Cruz administration.
The Diet members, in return, described the visit as part of what they called a “good alliance” with the U.S. and Japan, and that Guam was important for the security of the region.
“Much work needs to be done. We are putting the plans in place that we feel will adequately support the quality of life and infrastructure for the citizens of this patriotic American community,” the governor said.