October 16, 2018

Hagåtña – The Pacific News Center aired a news story that convolutes an effort to help people who are in need and that prioritizes human conditions. The goal of the homeless shelter is to ensure that individuals and families have somewhere safe to sleep, particularly at night. This homeless shelter will augment existing emergency housing programs by providing those without shelter a safe haven – particularly for those who are elderly and for families with young children. 

These families need our help. Typhoon Mangkhut magnified the need to help our people and we found a way to do that. 

To be absolutely clear, the CIP grant funding still has about $3 million for the Guam Police Department and the Department of Corrections to complete and execute their plans. GPD has already used a portion of their grant to purchase P21 compliant radios and set aside a portion for a consultant (the RFP is currently a work in progress between GPD and the Attorney General’s office). And the Department of Corrections is working on their plans to move the detention facility, which is part of a greater effort in conjunction with moving the police precinct from Hagåtña to Sinajana and pave the way for continued economic growth in Hagåtña. Additionally, the option is always there to request for the $1 million each, next year, from the Department of Interior Insular Affairs discretionary CIP funds. 

So what we did was reprioritize prior authorizations for the grant money to address a real and immediate need to provide shelter to people. 

A reporter reaching out after 4 p.m. to get comment on a story already crafted and prepped for a 5:30 p.m. broadcast brings to question the purpose of the story –  which takes a humanitarian action and twists it with innuendo.

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