THE federal government puts about $18 million a year into Guam’s highways. That money is funding most of the projects you see going on all over the island. The Department of Public Works is actually catching up on this work because for several years, that money accrued in the bank without being earmarked for specific projects. Now, there is probably more highway work going on than ever before in Guam’s history.

Unfortunately, that money may only be spent on route-numbered highways, with a couple of exceptions. So that leaves maintenance of hundreds of miles of village streets and roads tied to the resources of the local government. And DPW barely has enough money to fill potholes.

During her talk to the Rotary Club of Guam, reported elsewhere in this issue by Zita Taitano, DPW Director Joanne Brown lamented the tight financial situation. And, she told us something we didn’t know – barely any of the money we all pay at the pump in liquid fuel taxes gets to DPW.

“Our liquid fuel tax generates about $18 million a year, very similar to what we get from [the Federal Highway Administration] – a significant amount of money,” she said. But by the time it trickles down to DPW, “we get less than $1 million a year.” That’s because legislatures and administrations over the years have diverted money from the liquid fuel tax.

“The amount of money I get every year just to address road maintenance and construction, and buy asphalt and equipment, is less than $1 million,” the DPW director said. “I have over 165 miles of routed roads the federal government helps us take care of. I have over 600 miles of secondary roads that I cannot – can not – take care of. I relay this to you,” she told the Rotarians, “so that you can talk to your favorite senators, because I do not get the funds."

“I’ve only got 16 road maintenance workers – 16. I can’t re-stripe a road; I can’t put a reflector on a roadway.” Unless we get the resources, she said, we can’t do the work.

In 1980, the Department of Public Works had 770 employees. Twenty years ago, during the Ada-Blas administration when Benny Paulino was the director, there were 1,000 or more. Today, Brown said, the department has 283. That includes bus drivers and mechanics who repair the school buses, a responsibility of DPW that has nothing to do with repairing roads.

So the next time your car bangs into an 8- or 10-inch-deep pothole, just slow down and watch out. Your government can’t do anything except put gravel into the worst of those holes, which will wash out in the next heavy rain. DPW can’t even afford a hot asphalt patch. There’s no money to buy the materials.