By Gerardo R. Partido
Variety News Staff

TROUBLE is brewing anew at the Port Authority of Guam as some port employees have started circulating a petition criticizing current PAG chairman Monte Mesa.
PAG public information officer Mike Henderson confirmed that a petition has been circulating but stressed that this is an unofficial publication.
“Some of the employees are doing this on their own time,” Henderson told Variety.
Mesa’s policies have been questioned, including the hiring of Brian Bamba, the son of the governor’s chief of staff George Bamba, as the new general manager of the port.
However, Bamba has apparently not yet accepted the position, which commands a $90,000 annual salary.
According to Henderson, the PAG board has not yet submitted an official communication designating Bamba as the new port GM.
The PAG chairman has brushed off the petition and branded it as the work of people who have entrenched interests in PAG and don’t want the port to move forward.
Mesa, who comes from the private sector, has been working hard to have the port run as an efficient business, similar to the way the Guam airport has been managed.
The need to transform the port and make it more productive is crucial, Mesa said, in light of the military’s planned expansion on Guam.
With the expansion, thousands of tons of construction materials are expected to pass through the port, as well as other goods that will be needed by the military.