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Letter to the editor
Kudos to this administration for stance on Guma Trankilidat
Joaquin P. Perez
Feb 18, 2019 Updated Feb 18, 2019 Comments
Joaquin P. Perez
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Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero, Lt. Gov. Joshua Tenorio and freshman Sen. Amanda Shelton are to be commended for their stance and support of the original spirit and intent for the construction of Guma Trankilidat in the middle of Tumon. Notwithstanding the government of Guam’s financial dilemmas or the money-generating potential of that particular Tumon parcel, these three elected leaders exhibit a degree of wisdom which belies their young age. Dangkulu na Si’ Yu’os Ma’ase para y finayi yan tinemtom miyu.
Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority’s proposal to lease, or sell, the Tumon property, popularly referred to as Guma Trankilidat, for the development of a hotel or other visitor attraction, is not a novel idea. The idea was first hatched in the late 1980s, by GHURA officials. At that time, an eager off-island developer approached GHURA and other GovGuam leaders, painting visions of eight- and nine-digit windfalls for Guam’s treasury, from the development of that lot, which strategically sits in the middle of Tumon – approximately halfway between Hilton Point and Gun Beach. All of these dreams were based on visions that any tourist-related development would be the “goose which lays golden eggs,” a panacea for GovGuam’s financial woes.
Several years ago, after the old Guam Memorial Hospital building was leveled, people noticed the unbelievable view of Tumhom and Puntan Dos Amantes, from 300 feet above the Tumon shoreline. Off-island developers visited Guam officials with artist renditions of proposed developments designed to hypnotically entice visitors, and gullible locals, to part with their money while enjoying the ambiance, glitz and glamour of Guam’s new Rodeo Drive. To date, Hospital Point remains a vacant lot. A few units of the staff/doctors housing complex are homes to the Hurao Academy and Sagan A’amti while the greater area is overgrown with dense tangantangan and gagu and occasional visiting stray birds.
The late Gov. Ricky Bordallo’s primary justification for Guma Trankilidat was to showcase, to everyone, including island visitors, the value, care and respect the people of Guam extend to their elders and senior citizens. Guma Trankilidat exhibits the compassion and humanity that our people and leaders have for the island’s elderly and senior citizens. Bordallo championed, despite opposition by the Republican establishment, the creation of GHURA, in order to secure a portion of Housing and Urban Development rehabilitation funding. In the aftermath of Supertyphoon Karen, Bordallo was the prime mover, despite opposition by Guam’s Republican leadership, for HUD/GHURA development in Sinajana and Yona.
Bordallo fought to ensure that the reconstruction/redevelopment of Sinajana and Yona mirror the residential and “village” atmosphere of the two villages before Supertyphoon Karen ravaged the island. Since then, all GHURA development has emulated this philosophy and formula, rather than the high-rise “project” orientation prevalent in America’s inner cities where developers look to multiple-floor buildings as a way of housing as many people as possible into developments that quickly turn into “projects” and tenements.
Thank you, Gov. Leon Guerrero, Lt. Gov. Tenorio and Sen. Shelton for your understanding of how your predecessors viewed housing development, but most of all, for your compassion and humanity for this island’s manamko’. Hopefully, when and if I turn 90-plus years, island leaders will understand and know where they came from.
Joaquin P. Perez is a resident of Santa Rita.
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Ghura Ricky Bordallo Politics Building Industry Amanda Shelton Joshua Tenorio Kudos Building Yona Parliament Lou Leon Guerrero Guam Developer Official
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