Turning Guam into

a concrete jungle

F AST-moving land development

which in recent years has transformed Guam from backwater to a bustling tourist destination has had one downside effect: Much of what gave the island its character has disappeared under concrete. With 600,000 Japanese tourists visiting Guam last year and the figure rising beyond one million for 1991 (let alone from other countries such as Australia and South Korea), it is a matter of moving quickly to save what remains from the condominium and

hotel developers.

An Agana based consultancy company, Transpacific Associates Inc, claims it has . r, , come up with the answer the Regional Private Land Development Project Chairman Marvin Goolsby said it was aimed at finding ways landowners could inrrMtp • • * * ? , increase their income other than bv sell- • tU ■ . n “ “ mg their property, usually to Japanese buyers thus having much of the island end up in foreign hands. And the temptation to sell is great: A two hectare property can bring US$2 million.

Guam’s present development phase is much like that which occurred in Hawaii 20 years ago: Tourists will this year spend US$4OO million on the UScontrolled island.

Goolsby’s plan is to turn land into tourist attractions by looking for ways to exploit its natural state. Investors put up the money to take a share in the enterprise, the landowners keep their title and share the income and Transpacific earns a living as the consultant and by training staff. If the scheme works, Goolsby intends to expand through Micronesia, particularly Saipan, Truk, Palau and Kosrae.

Planning has started on the first scheme, known as the Guamamozan Project which is located in a part of Guam

not touched during the Second World War. Three landowners are involved, and the project once completed will feature a river tour to an archaeolo gical site (via land that grows wild orchids, palm trees and bamboo with wildlife such as deer and wild pigs as well), an ornamental horticultural planta tion producing for export, a botanical garden based on existing and largely un touched jungle area and fruit farming, -ru , . r u r part of the operation fits ln T , wlth TranspacPtc s o her arm - US lOCa tour business. Goolsby is now uf ' h he around the Pacific; he has the landowners co •,, r , °P erat,on ’ now , he needs flnd com ‘ P an ‘« preparedto put up the money m 11, f 2 °‘ year leaSe j The , m ° st difficult part is getting people to take the .° r „ , time to go and look at the proiect, he 5 F J ‘ Goolsby told Pacific Islands Monthly that the lsland of Guam > 48km long by 24km wlde > is beginning to show the stram of the enorm °us tourist influx wlthout having the benefit of an overall develo pment plan. His interest is archae °logical, a "d he complains impor tant s * tes which contain artefacts and bones § oin S back 6000 y ears have been bulldozed before they could be properly examined - One particular site near the mam hotel area could have been de ‘ velo P ed as a museum. Soon, he said, all sltes would be B one takin S with them a valuable tourist attraction value, “Real estate is the biggest industry in Guam now,” said Goolsby. “There’s a lack of vision these people know the price of everything, the value of no thing,” Development could wait Guam had the lowest unemployment rate in the United States. □