HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Lawmakers met in emergency session Tuesday to potentially authorize the governor to shift $50 million away from intended spending areas in this fiscal year’s budget toward emergency response for Typhoon Mawar.
Agencies working to respond to the disaster left by Mawar are in need of heavy equipment, power, water, fuel and manpower, according to government officials who appeared before senators of the 37th Guam Legislature at the Guam Congress Building in Hagåtña.
But the slow and disorganized response to the typhoon in the villages is an issue that an infusion of cash won’t fix, said an outraged Jesse Alig, mayor of Piti and president of the Mayors’ Council of Guam.
Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero, through the current budget law, is authorized to shift $50 million away from any purpose set by lawmakers. Speaker Therese Terlaje’s Bill 127-37 would bring the governor’s total transfer authority up to $100 million, provided half of it goes toward Mawar recovery in areas such as public safety and emergency response.
It’s meant to give Adelup the money needed to ensure recovery is on track, according to the speaker. Terlaje said it was the only request of the Legislature made by the governor.
Senators were discussing the measure into Tuesday afternoon.
‘The plan failed’
But Mawar hasn’t been as bad for the people of Guam as the response to it has been, according to Mayor Alig, who aired a litany of complaints about how the government was handling the situation. If there was a response plan to the typhoon, he told lawmakers, “the plan failed.”
“Shame on us for making our people suffer,” Alig said. “We created our own storm. Mawar was nothing compared to what we’re going through.”
Almost a week after the typhoon, sites for the dumping of green waste had just been announced, potentially endangering federal reimbursement for disposal, he said. A site for white goods and other waste was still unavailable.
“How many people lost their homes?” the mayor asked. “Where are we going to put their trash?”
Mayors were unable to get purchase orders processed for heavy equipment, some of it as basic as chainsaws, and their staff members were informed they had to wait in line for gasoline to power what equipment they did have.
No one had thought about the need for the island’s large number of diabetes patients to put their insulin on ice, Alig said. And the utilities, which had said they were prepared for the storm, were slow to bring services back online, said the mayor.
Alig also decried the lack of food and water distribution nearly a week out from the storm.
“Have you been to a store? They’re closed,” he said.
Unlike the pandemic, where there was no playbook for how to respond, the government of Guam should be able to deal with the aftermath of a typhoon, he added.
“This is not rocket science.”
Public Works response
Vince Arriola, director of the Department of Public Works, said his crews were doing their best given the situation, and had cleared all major routes of debris. Green waste was estimated to be between 75% and 85% of all waste generated by the typhoon, which is why it was being prioritized.
“If ever there was a perfect storm, it was Mawar. … Were we prepared for it? Probably not,” he told lawmakers.
The director, who served as GTA general manager through Supertyphoon Pongsona, offered one explanation for the delayed response.
“Back in the day, the governor had full control of everything,” Arriola said.
But with utilities becoming autonomous and moving away from tax dollars held in the general fund, getting everyone under the same roof and accountable was more difficult. He noted that representatives from the Guam Waterworks Authority didn’t appear before the Legislature.
The stalled distribution of fuel also was making recovery efforts move more slowly, Arriola said, and his teams were forced to assist other agencies with clearing due to that problem. Additionally, regulations on waste disposal hampered work, he said.
More equipment and equipment operators needed by DPW are on the way from both federal agencies and from Saipan in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Arriola said the military was unable to provide the 20 dump trucks, 20 backhoes and operators he requested.
“I can safely say, does Guam have enough heavy equipment? Absolutely not,” Arriola said. “A huge portion of the heavy equipment is being used for the military buildup inside Andersen (Air Force Base), inside (Naval Base Guam), inside (Marine Corps Base) Camp Blaz.”
Power, other issues
Kenneth Gutierrez, safety and physical security manager for the Guam Power Authority, said GPA is in need of more manpower and equipment. Line crews from the CNMI were requested, along with specialized bucket trucks and materials from the American Public Power Association.
Art San Agustin, director of the Department of Public Health and Social Services, said that out of 31 Public Health sites, 16 have low water pressure and 15 have no water at all. As for power, just one site is back on the island’s power grid, while 19 are on generator power and 11 have no generators.
“So we’re very much challenged with regards to our operations,” San Agustin said.
The Northern Community Health Center and Southern Community Health Center both were shut down as of Tuesday. Though both centers had their generators fueled up and were operating through Typhoon Mawar, “post-typhoon we now need them to be refueled.”
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program offices, as a result, will have to be relocated to the Ran Care Building in Tamuning, he said.
San Agustin said the agency is looking to help residents who need to refrigerate their medication.
“I have my chief public health officer working with our chief pharmacist,” he said, though the legality of holding medication for people may be an issue.
“If ever there was a perfect storm, it was Mawar. … Were we prepared for it? Probably not,” he told lawmakers.
Watch this <a href=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9SyYs50yVk” target=”_blank”>video</a> (39:21) of <span>Piti Mayor Jesse Alig blasts the Leon Guerrero administration during emergency session Tuesday, May 30, 2023, at the Guam Congress Building in Hagåtña. </span>
Piti Mayor Jesse Alig blasts the Leon Guerrero administration during emergency session Tuesday, May 30, 2023, at the Guam Congress Building in Hagåtña. If there was a response plan for Typhoon Mawar, he told lawmakers, “the plan failed.” Screenshot from the 37th Guam Legislature’s YouTube channel
