HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — The recent law authorizing the governor to utilize up to $50 million from the general fund for Typhoon Mawar emergency response also mandated that part of those funds be used to make $100,000 disbursements to village mayors, and it appears that mayors are largely looking at reimbursing significant costs incurred on cleanup and/or continuing with cleanup efforts.
Piti Mayor and Mayors’ Council of Guam President Jesse Alig said the funds will, for the most part, reimburse mayors for money used on their heavy equipment.
Mayors had been requesting for heavy equipment to assist with typhoon cleanup.
Alig told The Guam Daily Post Thursday that five villages – Dededo, Yigo, Tamuning, Mangilao and Hagåt – have been able to obtain heavy equipment through emergency purchase orders. Otherwise, if a village is using heavy equipment, that mayor is likely using their district funds, according to Alig.
Larger villages were prioritized, and while remaining villages will get heavy equipment through emergency funds, Alig said he did not know when.
“Like I stated at the Legislature (during an emergency session Tuesday), for Piti alone, we’ve already used $41,000 of district money to clear up the village and it will probably take another $40,000 to finish. We’ve only completed half the village. We haven’t even begun to take care of our government facilities, our playgrounds, or parks,” Alig said Thursday.
He added that $100,000 should be enough for Piti’s recovery and response, but it won’t be enough to repair everything. That is what the Federal Emergency Management Agency is for, Alig said.
“I would definitely say that $100,000 across the board is a good start. If there’s still money, I think every village should be able to submit a budget of their own to ensure they are fully recovered since the administration was given the authority to spend up to $50 million,” the mayor added.
Mayors at Inalåhan and Sinajana both said that they would use the $100,000 for heavy equipment.
While Dededo was one of five villages to obtain heavy equipment through emergency purchase orders, Dededo Mayor Melissa Savares said Friday that her office had spent more than $2,000 on fuel for chainsaws and vehicles utilized in debris clearing. They also had to pay to dispose of village trash, Savares said.
The mayor said she is looking to reimburse those costs, as well as move metal out of village streets.
“I need to move metal. There’s no disposal sites for metal right now. I would need to get dump trucks to help me move this metal out of our roadways and in the neighborhoods,” Savares said, adding that they are also trying to collect street signs snapped out of place by Mawar.
The Astumbo Gym is also in need of repair, Savares added.
Funds, but no supplies
The Yigo Gym was also damaged by Mawar, which buckled shutters and tore at some parts of the roof and ceiling, letting in debris and rain.
But Yigo Mayor Anthony Sanchez said Friday that he’s going to use the $100,000 to help feed residents in his village.
“I’m going to order 500 plates. I’m going to start passing it out,” Sanchez said.
“Even if we want to spend that money on some things, the resources, the supplies is very limited right now. Water – I would love to use money to buy water. But nobody has water,” the mayor added.
Sanchez also expressed some frustration over not having updates and information to provide to village residents regarding power and water, as well as issues with equipment requests.
“We were requesting for chainsaws and pole saws … guess what they give us? A blower,” Sanchez said. “I said, ‘What are we going to do? Blow the tangan-tangan?'”
The Guam Power Authority does provide updates, accessible on its Facebook page. The Guam Waterworks Authority recently launched a website for typhoon recovery updates. But many residents are still without power or may not have the internet connection to access social media pages and websites.
Sanchez said “they don’t tell us what’s going on” with regard to power and water, and that many Yigo residents don’t have water.
“We were requesting for chainsaws and pole saws … guess what they give us? A blower,” Sanchez said. “I said, ‘What are we going to do? Blow the tangan-tangan?'”
Typhoon Mawar damaged areas of the ceiling and roof of the Yigo gym, as seen on June 1, 2023.
The Yigo gym is still heavily damaged from the passage of Typhoon Mawar, as seen June 1, 2023.
