By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
Variety News Staff

DEMOCRATIC senators are seeking an investigation into the road project being undertaken by the Department of Public Works in Dandan, Inarajan.
But DPW director Larry Perez said there is nothing irregular or illegal with the project. DPW is constructing a temporary road in Dandan to create an access to the selected landfill site for further hydrological survey.
“It’s not something that we’re doing for any personal gain. It’s not something that we want to do, but something that we have to do because we are required to do it,” Perez said.
Perez was responding to the Freedom of Information Act request made by Sen. David Shimizu, D-Inarajan, who questioned the legality of the ongoing road project leading to Layon, a property in Dandan which is the proposed site of a new solid waste municipal landfill.
Sen. Tina Muna Barnes, D-Mangilao, yesterday joined Shimizu in his call for an investigation into the project.
Shimizu and Barnes have asked Sen. James Espaldon, R-Tamuning, chairman of the committee on natural resources and infrastructure, to hold an oversight hearing and ask DPW to explain the project.
Perez explained that DPW needs to conduct further studies on Layon to justify its selection as the site for a new landfill. “You can’t do further study unless you have access to the site,” he said in an interview with Variety.
In a letter to Perez on Tuesday, Shimizu said although Layon has been selected by DPW and the Guam Environmental Protection Agency to host the new landfill, the private properties around the area have not been properly acquired by the government.
The department, according to the Inarajan senator, could not use government resources to carry out projects in privately owned properties.
Perez said DPW constantly consults the Attorney General’s Office before commencing any project. “We’re not abusing our authority and we’re not violating any law,” he said.
“Within four business days, I will respond to the senator’s FOIA request to assure him that we’re not doing anything above the law,” Perez added.
Barnes, meanwhile, reiterated her position against constructing a landfill in Dandan. “The proposed Dandan site is located within the Inarajan River watershed containing several sources of fresh water including the Tinaga, Fensu and Finatasa rivers, various other tributaries and wetland areas comprising a potential significant source of fresh water for drinking, farming and other uses,” she said.