During the press briefing for Environmental Impact Study Scoping Meeting on Aug. 2, the Journal asked about housing for the 700 personnel and 200 support staff that will be required for the missile defense system planned for Guam.
Many of them will be housed in barracks, the deputy commanding general for the Army in the Pacific said. But some staff will come with family members, and for them it will be different.
The general said that the intent is not to impact the community, referring to Guam’s private sector housing industry.
That’s commendable.
And the U.S. military is also awarding contracts for housing on its own properties, aside from barracks at Marine Corps Camp Blaz.
Built by Black Construction Corp., the first phase of housing at Andersen Air Force Base opened in January, and a further contract for $216-plus million in replacement housing at Andersen was awarded late in July.
However, Guam must take responsibility for its own housing needs.
Military personnel cannot be blamed for a tendency for some of their number to prefer the type of housing available in Guam, which often comes with a higher number of rooms than base housing, which is rank-dependent.
But we should not point our fingers and make our problem their problem.
Guam administrations have had plenty of time to understand and prepare for the needs of their population.
The Lada Estates Affordable Housing project for 400 mixed use dwellings is a fine example of a necessary development that sat empty for years.
And the Chamorro Land Use Commission’s allocation of properties has been slow and bedeviled by inappropriate allocation of plots.
Core Tech Development LLC has taken ownership of construction of a number of affordable housing projects in Guam and its Summer Town Estates is now on the site of Lada Estates, which it as been building through a partnership with the Guam Housing and Urban Development Authority.
Aside from the rising cost of construction, local landowners who do not have utilities reaching their properties must also allow hundreds of dollars for those essentials.
These are issues that the island needs to face – sooner rather than later. mbj