“We wrote this bill so that every Chamorro Land Trust property will get infrastructure, both water and sewage, put in and the cost will be spread to big commercial water users, which include hotels and golf courses,” Sen. Matt Rector explained.
Bill 96 notes that most CLTC applicants are unable to shoulder the enormous costs associated with providing the infrastructure needed to bring water to their properties.
Most of those who testified at the public hearing were Chamorro activists.
Known as the “Sen. Angel Leon Guerrero Santos Memorial Water for the People Act,” the grassroots measure was introduced by Rector. Only three lawmakers showed up to hear public input for the bill. Rector, Sens. Adolpho Palacios and Ben Pangelinan convened to listen to the public’s perspective on the matter.
Fight for it
“None of the costs will be passed to the average household owner on Guam or the average water user on Guam,” Rector said, noting he expected resistance from special interests in seeing his bill move forward. “I know it’s frustrating,” said Rector. “We’re not going to get this unless we fight for it.”
Palacios stated that he could not understand how GWA can expect qualified CLTC applicants, most of whom are landless to begin with, to pay thousands of dollars to get their water line connection. Palacios suggested that maybe the authority can foot the bill and allow land recipients to pay down the costs for infrastructure implementation over time.
“They lost sight of protecting the interests of the people. It’s almost impossible to use the land leased from the Chamorro Land Trust if you don’t have the money just to put the water infrastructure in, which is around $1,000 per foot,” he said.
Danny Jackson was just one of the numerous voices that came out in support of the measure. He, like the majority testifying in favor of the bill, sees Rector’s effort as a way to help out struggling property owners.
“I support this bill. Not only do I support it, but I also need it very badly. I respect this issue that you’re doing and I support it 100 percent,” said Jackson. “If we can do something for our people and our community, it will be the best thing to start with the water so that we can live without poverty.”
Fa’et Garrido lamented what he felt was a lack of concern for this issue shown by the absence of most lawmakers. Garrido had hoped to see more senators other than Rector, Palacios and Pangelinan make the water issue priority enough to come to the public hearing to discuss the matter with the people.
Garrido admonished the notable absence of most of the senators, saying that if it had been an issue that was “good for the outsiders” or good for “the pockets of senators,” then he believes the other 12 senators missing-in-action would have been at the hearing.
A clearly perturbed Garrido emphasized his sincere belief that as the hearing deals with helping “I Taotao Tano, then no one wants to come out for this.”
Trini Torres specified that an “explicit amendment” should be included to exclude non-Chamorro land holders who use CLTC lands agriculturally for profit. She added that they should not be leasing out land trust plots to non-Chamorros.
Torres told Rector that there will be those who will try to shoot the bill down since many feel that CLTC is unconstitutional and that land for “Chamorros only” is racial discrimination.
“We’re under the Organic Act. We’re not even part of the constitution,” she said. “We’re a colony. We’re slaves. We’re an oppressed people.”
Torres said that land trust lands are for the “Chamorro people to survive,” adding that many activists will try to support the bill “no matter what.”
