With the transfer of 8,000 Marines to Guam from Okinawa four years away, the government of the Pacific island territory is scrambling to be ready for the potentially dramatic changes that await its citizenry. Concerns center around the strain the service members and their families will place on roads, the port, and the only local civilian hospital, according to a Jan. 29 article published by Voice of America. But there is also the anticipation that the influx will spur the island’s economic development, creating as many as 30,000 new civilian jobs in the process. Just how that scenario will emerge remains to be seen, however. The VOA article notes that while the U.S. and Japan together have committed $10 billion to construct or improve on-base facilities for the Marines, the civilian sector has received no comparable guarantees.
