‘Guam buildup would need 12,000 alien workers, 5,000 NMI residents’

About 12,000 guest workers and an estimated 5,000 CNMI residents are needed for the upcoming U.S. military buildup in Guam, according to a visiting U.S. military official.

Lt. Col. Rudy R. Kube, operations director for the U.S. Marine Corps Joint Guam Program Office, said yesterday that the foreign workers will not necessarily be Filipinos, but that the Philippines is traditionally one of the sources of manpower for the construction sector.

“In talking to most of the contractors, my understanding is a lot of them work with the Philippines. It’s not necessarily just the Philippines, but that’s one of the sources,” Kube told the media.

Kube made the presentation about the U.S. military buildup during yesterday’s kickoff of the 6th Micronesian Police Executives Association Meeting held at the Saipan World Resort’s Royal Taga Hall.

Rube talked about the training, infrastructure issues on Guam, and the need for guest workers. He also discussed the predicted timeline of the buildup, which is between 2010 and 2014.

He said around 12,000 guest workers are needed at the height of the buildup, but that doesn’t mean that those numbers should be in Guam for the first year.

As the project goes on and construction increases, they anticipate up to that many guest workers, he said.

He said the military buildup would start in 2010 and increase over the years. The numbers of workers would start decreasing as the buildup becomes complete.

“And just like now, they will come under H-2 visas and will have three-year contracts and then they will leave,” he said.

Rube said all benefits such as maintenance, health, housing, and other things associated with guest workers would be part of the contracts.

With respect to CNMI residents, Rube said the forecast is that 5,000 people may apply for jobs during the buildup.

On Tinian, there will be at least three training areas, seven training sites, and seven training ranges. He said Tinian would be mainly used for training areas, probably in 2012.

“Right now the U.S. government leases around two-thirds of the island and we anticipate using most of the land for training, but not on any permanent basis,” he said.

Kube said the training on Tinian would be mainly on weapons type, unit trainings, Marine Corps maneuvering and live fires.

He said the activity on Tinian would provide some level of economic activity on the island, depending on how much infrastructure would be provided.

The $15-billion military buildup will take place following the relocation of 8,000 U.S. Marines and about 9,000 of their dependents to Guam from Okinawa, Japan.