thedrifter
06-13-06, 01:24 PM
June 19, 2006
Military a big boon for Guam
Influx of 8,000 Marines from Okinawa, new infrastructure could bolster local economy
By Gaynor Dumat-ol Daleno
Special to the Times
GUAM — This island could see not just $10 billion over eight years, but up to $15 billion worth of military-related projects over 15 years, the commander of Naval Forces Marianas told the American Forces Information Service.
The lower, $10 billion cost previously confirmed by the U.S. and Japanese governments was specific to the relocation of about 8,000 Marines and their families from Okinawa, Japan, to Guam by 2014.
Japanese taxpayers will pick up most of the tab for the Marines’ move to Guam as part of a broader agreement between the two countries on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan.
But there might be substantially more military growth on Guam besides the Marines’ relocation.
Rear Adm. Charles Leidig, Naval Forces Marianas’ commander, outlined details of the Joint Guam Military Master Plan that calls for $10 billion to $15 billion in infrastructure improvements on Guam over the next 15 years, AFIS reported June 2.
Leidig talked about the master plan when Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited Guam on June 2, the information service reported.
Pace visited Andersen Air Force Base and the Navy base on Guam as part of getting the island ready to host 8,000 Marines and about 9,000 of their family members.
Pace praised Andersen’s “world-class facilities” that provide a platform for U.S. forces to surge where needed in the Pacific theater.
“If you start drawing circles from Guam, you can see how strategic it is in the region,” the chairman said.
“This forward location cuts down on the time required to respond to a crisis or contingency in the region and makes Guam perfectly situated for the global war on terror,” he said.
Pace also raised the issue of Guam’s infrastructure, which he said must keep pace with the need. Power, water and other utility plants would need upgrades that could cost more than $900 million, according to an earlier local government estimate.
Finegayan location?
The military information service also reported that Leidig said the incoming Marines are likely to be based at the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station in Finegayan, which has more than 800 acres of undeveloped land.
The master plan is being fine-tuned for submission to Adm. William Fallon, head of U.S. Pacific Command, the information service reports.
The plan will usher in a construction boom that’s expected to top $1 billion a year, the Navy commander on Guam said.
“It’s a level of growth unprecedented in Guam’s history, dwarfing the previously unparalleled spurt that established Guam’s bustling hotel district and its status as a regional tourist hub,” he said.
Economic boom, speculation
If most of the $1 billion in annual infrastructure spending stays on the island in the form of work produced here, it will stimulate Guam’s economy, said Roseann Jones, associate professor of economics at the University of Guam.
Part of the potential billion-dollar spending, however, will find its way off the island for services and materials that are not developed locally, she said.
Guam must get its work force ready for the skills that will be needed when the military projects start, Jones said.
Mike Benito, chairman of the Guam Chamber of Commerce board, who’s also a retail chain executive, said even if the majority of the military-related spending will be inside the fences of Andersen and Navy bases, the local economy will grow substantially.
Some of the benefits to the economy include tax payments from the projects’ contractors and their workers, he said.
The possibility of as much as $15 billion in military-related spending on Guam adds further pressure to local government, business and community leaders to quickly get moving on solving the work force challenge.
Last year, Guam Contractors Association executive director James Martinez estimated that the number of skilled construction workers available locally can serve only up to $250 million in private and government construction projects at a time.
“Our government and our private sector must work together to train our work force to handle the multiple skill sets that will be required. The time to move on this is NOW,” Benito wrote in an e-mail response to questions.
“We should do everything possible to ensure that our local work force is prepared to take on high-paying skilled jobs to the fullest extent possible before we have to import labor,” he said.
Long-term development
Jones said the military expansion also gives Guam an opportunity for a longer-term development of local workers’ skills that will be useful beyond military projects.
“Guam needs to think about a work force that will be so talented that others seek out services from Guam. In other words, we need to think about creating industries and work-force talents that we can export,” Jones said.
“When we have a better balance of trade, perhaps the $1 billion will not simply be an injection, but truly an investment that yields productive, long-term growth,” Jones said.
Even before any of the construction activities related to the Marines’ relocation start to break ground, Guam’s real estate market is experiencing a boom fueled by expectations.
“There’s a lot of speculation in the market right now,” said Nick Captain, president of the Captain Company, a real estate consulting and appraisal firm.
Professionals who would be on the first wave of any construction boom, such as architects, engineers and other planning professionals, have yet to see any of the billion-dollar projects start, Captain said.
He is cautiously optimistic.
“I’m still subscribing to the ‘Where’s the beef?’ school. Is anything any different? Not yet,” he said.
A variety of real estate investors, including some from Japan, Hawaii, the U.S. mainland and locals, have been in a buying mode on Guam, resulting in a dwindling supply of real property for sale, Captain said.
“The optimism associated with the future local economy is just ... phenomenal,” Captain said.
Jones said she’s concerned that the talk of upcoming military spending is fueling a speculative economy.
“Prices are rising in anticipation of the military investment,” Jones said.
Speculations about the potential economic boom, she added, might be “too much, too soon.”
Gaynor Dumat-ol Daleno writes for the Pacific Daily News.
Ellie
Military a big boon for Guam
Influx of 8,000 Marines from Okinawa, new infrastructure could bolster local economy
By Gaynor Dumat-ol Daleno
Special to the Times
GUAM — This island could see not just $10 billion over eight years, but up to $15 billion worth of military-related projects over 15 years, the commander of Naval Forces Marianas told the American Forces Information Service.
The lower, $10 billion cost previously confirmed by the U.S. and Japanese governments was specific to the relocation of about 8,000 Marines and their families from Okinawa, Japan, to Guam by 2014.
Japanese taxpayers will pick up most of the tab for the Marines’ move to Guam as part of a broader agreement between the two countries on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan.
But there might be substantially more military growth on Guam besides the Marines’ relocation.
Rear Adm. Charles Leidig, Naval Forces Marianas’ commander, outlined details of the Joint Guam Military Master Plan that calls for $10 billion to $15 billion in infrastructure improvements on Guam over the next 15 years, AFIS reported June 2.
Leidig talked about the master plan when Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited Guam on June 2, the information service reported.
Pace visited Andersen Air Force Base and the Navy base on Guam as part of getting the island ready to host 8,000 Marines and about 9,000 of their family members.
Pace praised Andersen’s “world-class facilities” that provide a platform for U.S. forces to surge where needed in the Pacific theater.
“If you start drawing circles from Guam, you can see how strategic it is in the region,” the chairman said.
“This forward location cuts down on the time required to respond to a crisis or contingency in the region and makes Guam perfectly situated for the global war on terror,” he said.
Pace also raised the issue of Guam’s infrastructure, which he said must keep pace with the need. Power, water and other utility plants would need upgrades that could cost more than $900 million, according to an earlier local government estimate.
Finegayan location?
The military information service also reported that Leidig said the incoming Marines are likely to be based at the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station in Finegayan, which has more than 800 acres of undeveloped land.
The master plan is being fine-tuned for submission to Adm. William Fallon, head of U.S. Pacific Command, the information service reports.
The plan will usher in a construction boom that’s expected to top $1 billion a year, the Navy commander on Guam said.
“It’s a level of growth unprecedented in Guam’s history, dwarfing the previously unparalleled spurt that established Guam’s bustling hotel district and its status as a regional tourist hub,” he said.
Economic boom, speculation
If most of the $1 billion in annual infrastructure spending stays on the island in the form of work produced here, it will stimulate Guam’s economy, said Roseann Jones, associate professor of economics at the University of Guam.
Part of the potential billion-dollar spending, however, will find its way off the island for services and materials that are not developed locally, she said.
Guam must get its work force ready for the skills that will be needed when the military projects start, Jones said.
Mike Benito, chairman of the Guam Chamber of Commerce board, who’s also a retail chain executive, said even if the majority of the military-related spending will be inside the fences of Andersen and Navy bases, the local economy will grow substantially.
Some of the benefits to the economy include tax payments from the projects’ contractors and their workers, he said.
The possibility of as much as $15 billion in military-related spending on Guam adds further pressure to local government, business and community leaders to quickly get moving on solving the work force challenge.
Last year, Guam Contractors Association executive director James Martinez estimated that the number of skilled construction workers available locally can serve only up to $250 million in private and government construction projects at a time.
“Our government and our private sector must work together to train our work force to handle the multiple skill sets that will be required. The time to move on this is NOW,” Benito wrote in an e-mail response to questions.
“We should do everything possible to ensure that our local work force is prepared to take on high-paying skilled jobs to the fullest extent possible before we have to import labor,” he said.
Long-term development
Jones said the military expansion also gives Guam an opportunity for a longer-term development of local workers’ skills that will be useful beyond military projects.
“Guam needs to think about a work force that will be so talented that others seek out services from Guam. In other words, we need to think about creating industries and work-force talents that we can export,” Jones said.
“When we have a better balance of trade, perhaps the $1 billion will not simply be an injection, but truly an investment that yields productive, long-term growth,” Jones said.
Even before any of the construction activities related to the Marines’ relocation start to break ground, Guam’s real estate market is experiencing a boom fueled by expectations.
“There’s a lot of speculation in the market right now,” said Nick Captain, president of the Captain Company, a real estate consulting and appraisal firm.
Professionals who would be on the first wave of any construction boom, such as architects, engineers and other planning professionals, have yet to see any of the billion-dollar projects start, Captain said.
He is cautiously optimistic.
“I’m still subscribing to the ‘Where’s the beef?’ school. Is anything any different? Not yet,” he said.
A variety of real estate investors, including some from Japan, Hawaii, the U.S. mainland and locals, have been in a buying mode on Guam, resulting in a dwindling supply of real property for sale, Captain said.
“The optimism associated with the future local economy is just ... phenomenal,” Captain said.
Jones said she’s concerned that the talk of upcoming military spending is fueling a speculative economy.
“Prices are rising in anticipation of the military investment,” Jones said.
Speculations about the potential economic boom, she added, might be “too much, too soon.”
Gaynor Dumat-ol Daleno writes for the Pacific Daily News.
Ellie