Property owner and Chamarro nation chief, Tony Sablan, who is also a disabled veteran, told RNZ Pacific he'd been fighting for access to his land for 45 years. Photo: Eleisha Foon/RNZ
In Guam, the battle for land rights continues ahead of proposed long-range missile testing in December.
The Missile Defence Agency has backtracked on the overall number of landowners potentially being impacted from hundreds to dozens.
Property owner and Chamarro nation chief, Tony Sablan, who is also a disabled veteran, told RNZ Pacific he has been fighting for access to his land for 45 years.
Across the decades, he said he had been held at gunpoint and detained by the military for attempting to access his property and his "family lost over 5000 acres of land in the name of the United States government".
"It would be a lot easier if they take away their nuclear weapons, all their bombs and military forces and leave Guam in peace," he said.
Sablan said further restrictions to his beachfront property - which was once used as a daytime resort for Japanese visitors - is sitting idle.
"It is not being developed because the military restrict us in everything," he said.
"They won't give us water, power; they close our road whenever we want."
Guam's Bureau of Statistics and Plans, Matthew Snubbs, said landowners can afford the disruptions which are proposed to happen across eight days every year for the next decade.
"These are people with private beaches," he said.
"We are not looking at a poor housing community. People are not being kicked out of their homes. They located the missile testing essentially in a place that would have the least amount of impact."
Sablan said regardless, military expansion would also impact the economy at large.
"Absolutely - it is going to be a deterrance to our economy. It is concerning. All we are going to hear is 'bang bang bang, boom boom boom.' It is not a welcoming atmosphere for anybody."
Santos disagrees that missile testing will deter tourists.
In Guam the battle for land rights continues ahead of proposed long-range missile testing in December. Photo: Eleisha Foon/RNZ
"The Japanese and the Koreans...who are a big part of our visitor sector are used to this already."
RNZ Pacific put the question directly to a group of Japanese tourists on holiday in Guam: Will you still come to Guam if there is missile testing?
The response was: "No, may be dangerous."
Guam's Governor said despite opposition from some landowners, being completely independent of the military was not an option.
She said Guamanians and Chammorros would not be willing to give up their US citizenship, and said people could both be Pacific islanders and patriotic towards the US.
Sablan held another view.
"I want my freedom. I don't want my American citizenship.
"I would definitely give it up just to have respect for my culture, people and my island."
Property owner and Chamarro nation chief, Tony Sablan claims his family has lost over 5000 acres of land. Photo: RNZ Pacific / Eleisha Foon
