2 Jul 2007

Guam landowners resist US military expansion plan

2:27 pm on 2 July 2007

Landowners in Guam's Urunao lands say they are preparing to reorganise themselves to resist plans by the United States military to build military housing in the area.

About 400 Urunao landowners have expressed concern that they are being kept in the dark about how their land is to feature in the construction plans for the US military's pending build-up with the relocation of 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam.

The Marianas Variety newspaper reports that some of the landowners have blocked off the access road leading to their property.

One of the landowners, Antonio Sablan, says landowners are also experiencing intimidation by US military officers over the use of their own land.

"When the talk about militarisation and re-fortification of Guam again, we really begin to worry because that only means one thing, and that is abuse of our rights and the use of our land, depriving us local people of the rights to utilise our own island, our own home."

Antonio Sablan