Diet member Ichiro Aisawa brought the message during his meeting with the lawmakers led by Speaker Judith Won Pat.
But it’s still not clear whether the U.S. or Guam will make the loan and who will pay for it.
“They’re under the impression that the loan will come to Guam but somebody will have to pay for it,” said Won Pat.
But Sen. Tom Ada told Aisawa Guam has made its position very clear it will not incur the debt because it is related to the buildup.
Further, he said that in the final environmental impact statement, the U.S. acknowledged the debt will not be passed on to Guam ratepayers.
“If the military buildup doesn’t move forward, then we don’t need to build up our infrastructure for a move that’s not going to happen,” Won Pat added.
At the meeting, Sen. Jim Espaldon recalled the injustices that the people of Guam had to endure during World War II.
Sen. Ben Pangelinan said this was a dark stain in Guam’s history and asked Aisawa if he could speak to the prime minister and solicit an apology for the people of Guam.
Pangelinan said Guam’s relations with Japan will get better if those who suffered atrocities would be appeased.
Through his interpreter, Aisawa said he will discuss the request but declined to make promises.
Lawmakers asked for a detailed breakdown of the $6.1 billion that Japan will invest in Guam and Aisawa said there’s no reason why this information couldn’t be available.
They also asked Aisawa to give them information on how the buildup money would be spent.
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