HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — With the debate on where to build the medical complex as contentious as it was when the governor proposed Eagles Field in Mangilao, the administration continues its effort to lobby support for the Eda Agaga area of Barrigada one talk at a time.
Adelup spokesperson Krystal Paco-San Agustin will be the featured guest speaker for the Society of American Military Engineers Guam Post November membership meeting, but instead of talking about Typhoon Mawar, as originally planned, she will be focused on lobbying support.
“It’ll be a similar talk to what’s being presented at (the) governor’s informational meetings for the medical complex,” Paco-San Agustin told The Guam Daily Post.
The governor’s Bill 184-37 seeks to allow the Guam Ancestral Lands Commission the authority to negotiate the sale or lease of crown lands in Barrigada known as Eda Agaga for the purpose of building a medical complex to include a new hospital.
The bill already went through a public hearing on Nov. 1, which was continued on Nov. 3 and now will be heard again on Nov. 16. Speaker Therese Terlaje, chair of the Committee on Health, Land and Justice, said information continues to be lacking on the proposed site as it was not one of the three sites studied by Matrix – the company that assessed the viability and suitability of a new medical facility.
The governor has carried out informational meetings with Guam Memorial Hospital employees, veterans and residents of Mangilao and Barrigada.
“Unfortunately, Speaker Terlaje’s message seems clear: Despite hours of testimony by veterans, village mayors and island residents in support of Bill 184-37, none of it mattered and nearly all of it ignored simply because it did not conform to her mistaken understanding of the facts,” the governor said in a press release issued Thursday.
The administration is now attempting to garner support from the nonprofit professional engineering education organization SAME Guam Post, which, according to the SAME website, “actively promotes the advancement of both individual technical knowledge and the collective engineering capabilities of governments, the uniformed services and private industry.”
Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero speaks Oct. 26, 2023, during an informational meeting at Guam Memorial Hospital in Tamuning to discuss her plans for a medical complex in Barrigada.
