9 May 2007

Guam contractors eye share of work from marines' transfer

6:01 pm on 9 May 2007

The Guam Contractors Association says it wants local companies to be given a fair share of the contracts as the territory prepares to accommodate large number of US marines.

The United States plans to begin a gradual transfer of the marines from bases in Japan from next year until 2014.

It's expected the territory will see between 400 million and 1 billion US dollars worth of military construction a year for up to 10 years.

The executive director of the Association, James Martinez, says there are few details yet as to what facilities and infrastructure will be needed.

"So we're still kind of up in the air. Currently they're donig an environmental impact study here and that's to be ongonig for the next two to three years. So we're not really going to see anything develop over the next three years in terms of a final plan or any inventory of facilities or infrastructure that's needed until after this environemtnal impact study is done."

James Martinez