Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo on Tuesday issued the following statement on the status of the negotiations between the U.S. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific (NAVFAC Pacific) and the Guam Shipyard on a long-term lease for a ship repair facility on Guam.
“The U.S. Navy, NAVFAC Pacific in particular, has not been negotiating in good faith with the Guam Shipyard,” said Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo. “Recent negotiations have been terminated prematurely and I have urged senior Navy leadership to re-engage in these lease negotiations. The Navy is insisting on significant necessary capital improvements at the shipyard. However, any good businessman understands that there needs to be a way to fund those improvements. NAVFAC Pacific had insisted that they would facilitate conversations between Navy’s Pacific Fleet and Military Sealift Command but that has yet to occur. The operational Navy is the ultimate end-user of the ship repair capability and their input is critical to the lease agreement. The current strategy by the Navy is wrong and needlessly risks jobs on Guam. We must have a long-term ship repair capability; the current strategy proposed by the Navy is not cost effective and would undermine existing capabilities. It’s time for the negotiations to recommence.”
[mappress] Naval Today Staff, December 28, 2012