Recent issues involving $740 million for infrastructure upgrades inside and outside the fence line will be discussed, said Speaker Judith Won Pat.
“Given the fact that the governments of Japan and the United States have to work out how this money will be made available to Guam is of concern since it wasn’t clear in the final environmental impact statement and we need to know exactly what their plans are,” said Won Pat.
She believes that Aisawa’s visit will be different from other official visits from Japan because of his budget and foreign ministry background.
Won Pat said her questions will focus on the financing of the military buildup.
“I’d like to know if there is any type of amendment that could be made in terms of how the money could be used outside the fence but yet related to the buildup. If this is possible, then there will be more opportunities outside the fence,” she said.
Won Pat will also broach the possibility of Guam being able to secure interest rates as low as 1 percent from Japan.
“If it’s something that can be made available, rather than us going to other places to secure funding that is at a higher percentage — we need to see if this is something that we can do at a much lower interest rate. This would be for other projects that could…prepare our island for the buildup, such as the building of schools,” said Won Pat.
A public-private partnership between the U.S. and Japan is also a matter that needs clarification, said the speaker.
“Public-private partnership is important, but we’d like to know more about that too. If it’s going to be about Japan and other private companies coming out here, then will this increase the cost of construction which will lead to eventually less construction because the Japanese yen is more expensive than the U.S. dollar. These are some of the issues that will be brought up,” said Won Pat.
