Saturday, April 29, 2017

Workshop to detail buildup's progress on historic lands

Progress on the Programmatic Agreement dealing with the military buildup on Guam will be discussed Thursday in a Joint Region Marianas workshop at the Guam Museum in Hagåtña.
The Department of Defense will meet with government of Guam officials and representatives from Guam’s State Historic Preservation Office to share updates on what has been done since the 2011 signing of the agreement.
Everyone can catch up on what’s been happening in relation to the buildup, according to Al Borja, environmental director for Marine Corps Activity Guam.
The Programmatic Agreement sets guidelines as to how the buildup will proceed, while taking into consideration cultural and historical properties on Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas that may be affected.

Borja said some notable progress includes the appropriation in the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act for a cultural storage facility and plans for historic preservation and public access to cultural and historic sites.
According to the agreement, the military buildup will relocate about 5,000 Marines and their dependents from Okinawa to Guam. With that comes the construction of a new base for training facilities and housing for the Marines. About $8.6 billion in federal funds is projected to be spent on the relocation, according to Pacific Daily News files.
Editor’s Note: The story has been edited to show about 5,000 Marines will be relocated to Guam from Okinawa. A previous version of the story showed a different number.

No comments: