25 Jul 2003

Guam Supreme Court approves Governor's borrowing powers

11:03 am on 25 July 2003

The Guam Supreme Court has ruled the governor can legally borrow hundreds of millions of dollars on the bond market, possibly ending a stand-off between the government and the Attorney General.

The Attorney-General, Douglas Moylan, had refused to sign off the bond bill allowing the money to be borrowed, saying it would take the government over its debt limit.

However the Governor, Felix Camacho, who disagrees with the debt limit, believes Guam needs to borrow over 200-million US dolllars to avoid collapse.

The governor's spokesperson, Shawn Gumataotao, says the governor has now called on Mr Moylan to be a man of his word.

"The Governor made a commitment before the court ruled that he would abide by their decision. The Attorney-General also made the same commitment when he first urged the administration to take the matter to the Supreme Court. He only changed his position when the request for a declaratory judgement was filed. Now he has asked the Attorney-General to stay true to his commitment and to act quickly."

Mr Gumataotao says the Attorney-General needs to act quickly as several months have already been lost because of his opposition.

Mr Moylan has yet to decide whether to appeal the decision.