The Guam Legislature suspended debate on a bill to expand the island's only public cemetery after members asked for confirmation of land-transfer paperwork and detailed development plans.

Sponsor remarks introduced Bill 49-38 COR as a transfer of Lot 258 in Nimitz Hill to the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) to increase burial capacity at Vicente A. Limtiaco Memorial Park (Tiguaq Cemetery). The sponsor said DPR estimates the transfer would provide roughly 20 more years of burial capacity and that the Bureau of Budget and Management Research's fiscal note describes the certificate-of-title issuance as administrative in nature but that construction, land clearing and other work would incur additional costs that DPR had not yet specified.

A November 25, 2025 letter from DPR director Angel R. Sablan was read into the record and appended to the file. The letter, which the sponsor read aloud, said Tiguaq is Guam's only public cemetery and urged immediate action to avoid closure for residents who cannot afford private plots. It outlined constraints including steep topography, environmental permitting challenges and the potential for delays if archaeological artifacts are found. The letter also described phase 1 preparation work and said the proposed consolidation of Lot 258 into Lot 273 would enable DPR to apply for federal grants and pursue infrastructure improvements.

"Immediate action is necessary because Tiguaq is Guam's only public cemetery providing burial services for residents who cannot afford plots in commercial cemeteries," the director's written statement said (read into the record by the sponsor).

Several senators pressed for more concrete plans. A floor member noted that the mayor of the affected village objected in the public hearing and asked why the legislature should convey additional acreage to DPR without seeing management or maintenance plans, a timeline for the work, or evidence the agency could maintain the expanded property. That senator also pointed out that the letter read today states Lot 258 "has been officially conveyed to DPR," raising the question of whether the conveyance has already occurred and, if so, which portions of the bill remain necessary.

The sponsor and the committee chair countered that agency-to-agency arrangements and a memorandum of understanding had been in place and that the bill contains language authorizing DPR to substitute Lot 258 with other adjacent government lots (up to 12 acres) to ensure usable acreage given the site's topography. The committee chair said that ownership or utilization determinations must be resolved for DPR to seek federal grant funding.

An amendment to delete the bill's section granting DPR authority to substitute the referenced lot with other adjacent lots was moved on the floor. Proponents of the amendment said DPR had not presented plans in the public hearing and that allowing substitution without a public hearing would remove legislative oversight of additional transfers. Opponents argued that deleting the substitution authority could prevent the bill from achieving its purpose because Lot 258 alone may not provide usable acreage given the terrain, and that flexibility was needed so DPR could consolidate usable land and pursue grants.

Because of conflicting information in the hearing record and the newly read letter, the presiding officer called a brief recess and then suspended further discussion on Bill 49 to obtain confirmations from the Department of Land Management and DPR. No formal vote on the floor amendment or the bill was recorded before the suspension.

Next steps: The legislature suspended action so clerks could confirm whether Lot 258 has been conveyed and to obtain the development plans the committee said were submitted earlier this year. The bill will be brought back for debate once the requested confirmations and documentation are on the record.