The delay in the relocation of United States Marines from Okinawa to Guam has given the Pacific an opportunity to work on its strategy.
The US is seeking 10,000 workers from the Pacific to help Guam prepare for the relocation.
“The initial discussions with the Guam authorities have led to an understanding for a quota of 10,000 for the Pacific,” said Peter Forau, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat's deputy secretary-general.
He pointed out that the delay could work to the Pacific’s advantage by giving it more time to discuss the matter.
“First and foremost is whether we do have the skills and expertise and if we can supply the Guam demand.
“From our side, we have done on the ground consultations and signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Guam authorities regarding cooperation on securing opportunities for Pacific Islanders,” Forau said.
The Secretariat of the Pacific Community and the Forum Secretariat are jointly progressing this work for the region.
“We have also raised this issue with the outgoing US Secretary of State when she visited Apia recently and we are now waiting on the Guam relocation (now delayed) to actually start.
“At one of the recent stakeholders meetings, a Guam-based construction company was offering opportunities for Pacific Islanders but these have not been taken up yet."
According to Forau, Guam was looking for skilled and semi skilled workers in fields such as construction and engineering.
“One of the works that need to be completed is a regional register of available skills. This could help determine the supply of skills in order to meet the demand for labour arising from the relocation,” he said.
However, as with Pacific attitude and “thought”, Forau admits there is also the risk of loss of interest because of the delay.
The project delay, a direct result of the global financial crisis, is expected to be delayed at least until 2015.
While the Guam government is optimistic the relocation will go ahead as scheduled, Admiral Senior Commander in the Pacific, Timothy Keating, says the move will take longer and more expensive than originally thought.
Initially, the relocation was budgeted at a little over $10 billion with Japan putting in around $6 billion. But the word now is that it will cost over $15 billion.
The US defence department says “the two governments of the US and Japan have recommitted at the very highest levels—prime minister and president—to the eventual success of the agreement”.
“But budgetary challenges measured in billions of dollars that both countries face could cause delays in how quickly the relocation will occur,” Keating says.
The plan is to relocate 8000 marines and their families by 2014. But with speculations that president-elect Barak Obama will cut the defence budget, it is not clear at this stage what is going to happen.
A US Government Accountability Report issued in May, however, noted that some defence department and Guam officials said the schedule was overly optimistic in light of financial shortfalls and infrastructure and credit requirements in Guam.
“It’ll take a little bit longer to effect—it won’t be done by 2014 or may be even 2015—but it’s about a decade in execution,” Keating adds.
The move to Guam, some observers say, would enable the US to monitor “threats” within the Asia-Pacific region and also enable it to mobilise its forces quickly if the need arises.
“We want to represent the strength and capabilities of the United States but we don’t want to overdo that,” Keating says.
“We would much rather have a cooperative and collaborative atmosphere that we enjoy in almost every part of (our area of responsibility) rather than rely on military force.”
He also revealed that the US Pacific Command was watching closely the potential areas of concern in its region, which include terrorist threats in the southern Philippines from the Jamaah Islamiyah and Abu Sayyaf organisation as well as tensions between India and Pakistan, South and North Korea, China and Taiwan.
“We do all we can to reassure all our partners and allies and friends in the region that we are all about a stable, secure environment with economic prosperity for all,” Keating says.
