Villages on Guam will finally have their abandoned vehicles removed after years of waiting. The decision to award the contract will provide substantial opportunities for the business community. Balli Steel Guam once known as BKA KOKU Recycling is now the contractor awarded the bid to remove Guam’s abandoned vehicles.

Balli Steel Guam was awarded the contract in December by the General Services Agency through the Department of Public Works. According to Joe B. Sicad general manager of Balli Steel Guam the five-year contract is worth about $160 000.

“Our particular scope is to collect all of the abandoned vehicles throughout the island. There are approximately 6 000 that have been surveyed. Within each village the mayor’s are going to be involved. The mayor’s have actually identified and physically surveyed their constituents and essentially made a list of all the abandoned vehicles that they would like to dispose of ” Sicad said. He added that while there may be approximately 6 000 abandoned vehicles but there may be double that amount.

Sicad said there may be a need for personnel as the company grows and that there will be a need for strategic alliances and links with other companies that deal in shipping processing and trucking “We definitely are looking to form alliances with companies that can help us process move dispose and export metallic waste off the island.” He added Balli Steel Guam would also like to form relationships with other waste disposal companies such as Mr. Rubbishman.

He said the metals market is volatile “In the end we’re selling a commodity. We see gold going up gold going down. We see oil prices going down. Metal prices are going up and metal prices also going down. We’re kind of riding both. We’re able to capitalize on the up market but also when the market is down we have to hunker down and sometimes take losses.”

Sicad said Balli Steel Guam started operations after 1996 and that the business’s parent company is able to help Balli Steel Guam weather a down market. He said this year could see a drop of 40% in the metals market. “We’re here for the long run ” Sicad said. He said “For us this is sort of a market share issue. We want to control the supply and we want to control the metallic market. For us we’re willing to entrench ourselves and make this investment as long as we’re able to break even because we are looking for other opportunities.”

Sicad said “It’s not a lucrative business by any standards. If you are careful and you have the right synergy have the right alliances have the right people you can make a profit but this industry or this market is not any more lucrative than the tourism industry. There are probably other industries that offer far greater return than this industry.”

The government of Guam experimented with two villages Dededo and Yona to study the method of abandoned vehicle removal. It turned out Sicad said that the company that participated in the experiment subcontracted with Balli Steel Guam then KOKU Recycling to help complete the project.

In December the Pedro Paulino mayor of Talofofo received a notice of violation from the Guam Environmental Protection Agency regarding his storage of junk cars on government of Guam property. According to Paulino KOKU Recycling now Balli Steel Guam was able to step in and expedite the removal of the vehicles with the approval of the Department of Public Works.

According to Sicad the company restructured in 2005 and is falling in line with its parent company and other worldwide affiliates and will follow the branding of parent company Balli Steel a division of international powerhouse Balli Group. Balli Group is a leading trader in steel non-ferrous materials chemicals and agricultural products

Balli Grou’s web site indicates “It is a privately held billion-dollar company with net assets in excess of $90 million. MBJ