Previous Story
EMO sued for unpaid car rental services
|
Posted on Aug 02 2004
Gov. Juan N. Babauta and government personnel who responded to Rota during the Pongsona disaster have yet to settle unpaid rent to a car rental company, nearly two years after the supertyphoon devastated the island.
This information cropped up in a Superior Court civil lawsuit filed by Venture Transportation, Inc., which does business as Budget Rent A Car of Guam, against the Emergency Management Office.
Unpaid rent by Babauta reached $1,251, the company claimed. The rent covered the period from Dec. 10 to 23 in 2002.
Budget also billed the EMO for Public Works Secretary John Reyes’ rent worth $1,015.90, as well as for then Commerce Secretary and now Finance Secretary Fermin Atalig’s rent, which amounted to $646.60. The government already settled these amounts.
In all, the remaining balance for car rental services being assessed against the EMO remains at $7,287.70.
The company’s lawyer, S. Joshua Berger, sued the EMO for breach of contract. It seeks to collect on the outstanding balance plus interests, besides costs incidental to the lawsuit.
The EMO rented several vehicles from Budget when they responded to the disaster area on Dec. 2002. The rent covered the period from Dec. 10 to Jan. 2, 2003.
The agency allegedly failed to settle the obligation, even if Budget billed it as early as May 2003.
By this time, though, the EMO had already settled some $5,206.45 out of the total billing of $12,494.15 for car rental services, the company said.
