Japan Press Weekly

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2009 March 11 - 17 [US FORCES]

Guam legislature committee chair says decision to move U.S. Marines to Guam was made without listening to concerns of residents

A Guam lawmaker said that the U.S. had decided to relocate about 8,000 U.S. Marines to Guam from Okinawa without listening to what Guam residents have to say about the matter.

Judith Guthertz, a member of the Guam Legislature, made the remark during a meeting with the Japanese Communist Party investigation team visiting Guam on March 10. Guam residents did not participate at all in the decision-making process, she said.

Guthertz heads the Guam legislature’s committee on the issue of U.S. Marines’ relocation to the island.

She stated that the U.S. government had never presented the legislature with any proposal, although the Guam government repeatedly urged the U.S. government to improve social infrastructures, including schools and hospitals, in connection with the plan to reinforce U.S. forces, which will cause a rapid increase in the Guam population total because of the influx of the U.S. military personnel and their families as well as construction workers.

Regarding the recent revelation that the U.S. Forces was planning to expropriate land and public property without providing any information to the Guam legislature and residents, Guthertz said that the residents’ deep concern is understandable and expressed her support for the proposed ordinance to hold a referendum on the U.S. military buildup and the U.S. Forces’ request for their use of public land.