Phone call shuts down port
http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060414/NEWS01/604140311/1002
The island's only civilian seaport shut down for
about three hours yesterday, complicating an
unrelated leadership crisis on the Port Authority
of Guam board.
The seaport's operations stood still because
everyone at the port -- dockworkers, administrative
staff and officials, construction crews and
even private employees of a fuel depot --
were told to evacuate Cabras Island as a safety precaution.
Anyone who needed to get any cargo or conduct other
business at the seaport was unable to do so, and all
vehicles besides those of emergency responders were
barred from entering the seaport's main gate.
Someone called in a bomb threat around 1:28 p.m.
against a Matson ship, which was in port, agency
spokesman Mike Henderson said. The ship can carry
1,650 containers.
A firetruck, police cars and Guam Homeland Security
vehicles sped toward the port's restricted area,
even an hour after the bomb threat was called in.
The port reopened around 5 p.m.
* Board turmoil
There was no bomb found, but the threat postponed a
special port board meeting that Gov. Felix Camacho
had expected to occur at the port agency's
administration building.
Earlier yesterday, the governor's new nominee to
the port board, Monte Mesa, said he planned to
participate in a vote for a new chairman at the
meeting scheduled for 2 p.m.
The port agency needs a new chairman because the
governor relieved banker Richard Northey of his
board seat on Tuesday.
The governor yesterday said it's taken the board
"an awfully long time" to make a decision on the
privatization of the port agency's management and
terminal operations.
The port board had been negotiating with
Philippine-based International Container Terminal Services Inc.,
a global port operator.
But the port agency's negotiating committee sent
a letter Tuesday morning -- before Northey was
unseated later that day -- ceasing negotiations with ICTSI.
The port halted talks with ICTSI, Henderson said on
Wednesday, because ICTSI insisted that its contract
be signed by the company's subsidiary, Guam ICTSI.
The company's financial proposal also means the
port would lose money, according to Henderson on Wednesday.
ICTSI Guam's first directors are Edgardo Abesamis,
Francis Andrews and Vivien Minana, all with
Philippine addresses, according to records at
the Guam Department of Revenue and Taxation.
Andrews is a U.S. citizen, according to information
on the Philippine Stock Exchange, where ICTSI
stock is traded.
The governor said part of his dissatisfaction was
the port had not responded quickly enough to
upgrade broken-down cranes and improve efficiency
through privatization.
"Basically, we have a port that's been paralyzed
through inactivity," the governor said, on the
privatization process and equipment upgrades.
* Military buildup
Guam is on the verge of an economic boost from the
expected military buildup and increased visitor
arrivals, and the port's efficiency is key to
that growth, the governor said.
But there have been concerns, including from the
military leadership, the governor said, "about our
ability to deliver."
While the military has its own wharves, the civilian
seaport is key to the entry of construction materials
that are needed for the military projects. Guam military
projects have been reported to be in the range of
$2 billion over the next five years.
Monte Mesa said just before noon yesterday he had asked
the board to schedule a special board meeting at 2 p.m.
yesterday.
"This is a critical situation," he said.
Asked whether there will be a change in management-level
officials at the port, Monte Mesa said:
"It's something the board and I will discuss."
Outside the port's administration building yesterday,
prior to the evacuation of the port, some of the
agency's employees began to gather in a show of support
for port General Manager Joe Mesa.
The general manager disagrees with the governor's
observation that the privatization process has
been slow.
"We're just following the procurement process," the
port general manager said.
* Open government
Attorney General Douglas Moylan and several other people
from his office stood outside the building before the
port premises were vacated.
Moylan said he wanted to observe the board meeting
because of a potential violation of the Open
Government Law.
A letter yesterday from the AG's office to the
port management and board states the law requires a
five-day notice before a special meeting. The notice
of the port's special meeting, signed by board
Secretary Rosita Adkins, was dated the same day
it was to occur.
"Please be advised that it appears that the board
of directors of the Port Authority of Guam does not
have legal authority to conduct a special meeting
today and that any action taken will be void and the
board members could be liable for criminal and
civil penalties resulting from a violation of this
statute," the AG's office wrote yesterday.
As of press time, no notice of a new board meeting
time had been issued.
ICTSI: International Container Terminal Services Inc.
was incorporated in December 1987 by The Soriano Group,
the Razon Group and Sea-Land Services Inc. to bid for
the concession of the Manila International Container Terminal.
ICTSI Ltd.: A wholly owned subsidiary, it manages
ICTSI-related foreign operations. It has regional
representatives in Manila, Dubai and Miami.
http://www.ictsi.com/
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Guam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guam
The Territory of Guam (Guåhån in Chamorro) is an island
in the Western Pacific Ocean and is an organized
unincorporated territory of the United States.
Its inhabitants are largely Chamorros, who first
populated the island approximately 3,500 years ago.
It is the largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands.
The capital is Hagåtña, formerly Agana.
Guam's economy is mainly supported by tourism
(particularly from Japan) and United States armed forces bases.
The latter takes up one-third of the entire land mass
of the island. The United Nations Committee on
Decolonization includes Guam on the United Nations
list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.
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