1 week Ago By John O'Connor | The Guam Daily Post
The recent announcement of land acquisition in Mangilao for the purpose of building a new public hospital on Guam has drawn some concern from Sen. Chris Barnett, who had introduced legislation for the hospital to be built in Tamuning. "From the very beginning, Gov.
Leon Guerrero has made it very clear that it’s her way or the highway and has gone to great lengths to get what she wants at all costs, no matter the consequences, and I disagree with her unilateral approach to governance, and I am not willing to look the other way," Barnett stated in a press release published Monday night, some hours after the governor's announcement that day. The Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority oversaw the property purchase after its board accepted a $10 million loan offer from the governor in May. The loan utilized Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, or CSLFRF, granted to the governor by the American Rescue Plan Act.
Barnett submitted a Sunshine Act request to GHURA on Oct. 11 seeking information about the property sought for the new hospital, including information about beneficiaries or heirs. It was stated Monday that the property was 48 acres of private property that belonged to the estate of Catalina Eclavea Camacho.
The property purchase is anticipated to be completed Wednesday. The attorney general was not part of the purchase process, nor was the Legislature, because it involved an autonomous agency and federal dollars under the governor's control. But now that he has the information he requested from GHURA, Barnett said he will be forwarding the response to Attorney General Douglas Moylan for review.
"Building a new hospital is great news for Guam, but this administration has taught us that it’s important to trust, but we must also verify. I will be forwarding the (Sunshine Act) responses from GHURA to AG Moylan to verify and ensure that every transaction was done according to the 'rule of law' and not according to 'rules of Lou,'" Barnett stated in the release. Before this property acquisition, the governor eyed the Eda Agaga area of Barrigada/Mangilao to house a medical complex, inclusive of a new public hospital.
But many doctors opposed that proposal, wanting instead to build the hospital at Ypao Point in Tamuning. Barnett introduced a bill that would ensure any hospital constructed under the previously enacted Guam 21st Century Healthcare Center Act would be built in Tamuning, specifically at Ypao Point. The bill passed but was vetoed by the governor.
The senator's press release stated that the announcement of a new hospital site is "a victory for everyone," but Barnett also urged people to consider various questions. Barnett asked readers to consider how they would react if they "discovered corruption at the highest levels of government," and how they would feel if it was disclosed that a contractor was informed of the property purchase for the hospital and that contractor purchased adjacent property, among other questions..
