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Friday, April 24, 2009
This Week's
Inside Stories
Silk likes $10m airport project
The US government has submitted a proposed agreement to the RMI that, if approved, will allow a $10 million, phase two airport improvement project move forward. Foreign Minister John Silk told the Journal Wednesday that “we need to get the project moving. I’ve read the document and have no problems with it.”
Mayor Alson ready to 'work together'
It’s official: Alson Kelen is now the Mayor of the Kili/Bikini/Ejit Local Government, following a council vote Thursday. The election of Kelen, who had been acting since the October death of Mayor Kataejar Jibas, followed a vote by the KBE Council Wednesday to allow the Council to vote in a replacement mayor.
Ingram ruling leads to Saturday vote
High Court Chief Justice Carl Ingram ruled Friday evening April 17 that the Constitution is clear that the five-to-10-day period in which a vote of no confidence must be held includes weekends and holidays and that if the Nitijela failed to vote on the matter by Saturday April 18 it would be in violation of the RMI Constitution. “The failure to vote on the motion of no confidence within this time period is contrary to the Constitution,” Ingram ruled.
Proposal for new southern air link
Marshall Islands government officials have made a pitch to Fiji’s Air Pacific to service the Marshall Islands. The proposal was put to Air Pacific recently to add Majuro to its current Nadi-Tarawa route, with the possibility of onward service linking Majuro with Honolulu and return, according to Marshall Islands Visitors Authority officials.
Airport safety talks
The RMI Ports Authority and Ministry of Transportation and Communications will be hosting this year’s FAA Airport Improvement Program conference (AIP) and Pacific Aviation Director’s Workshop (PADW) scheduled for April 30 to May 6 in Majuro. This year’s theme is “Aviation Safety and Sustainability in the Pacific – Environment, Energy, and Economic Viability.”
Copra $ crisis
Tobolar management has asked the government to reduce the price of copra and provide emergency funds to support copra makers until the August session of Nitijela.
“The world market price for copra and oil has plummeted compared to last year,” said PII CEO Jerry Kramer, whose company manages Tobolar. “Prices are at one-third (of the 2008 prices).” Tobolarhas been able to maintain the current high price of 22 cents per pound on outer islands and 23.5 cents in Majuro because of the high priced sale of oil it made a year ago, and a line of credit with Bank of Guam.
But its financial situation is rapidly deteriorating because the RMI slashed its subsidy based on last year’s high world market prices.
The price support subsidy was reduced to less than half this year as it appearedthe world market price would remain high,” said Kramer. “It didn’t, and the present price support subsidy is not sufficient to maintain the present price to producers.” Further complicating the picture “is the difficulty of selling our oil because there is a glut of low-priced oil in world wide inventory.” Kramer said Tobolar management “has asked for the price to be reduced, for approval of an increased line of credit facility with Bank of Guam, and for emergency funds to maintain purchasing power until an oil sale can be made — all this until next budget session of Nitijela to determine how much subsidy Nitijela will provide for the next financial year.”
Tomeing takes firm action
By GIFF JOHNSON
A two-month leadership struggle was put to rest Saturday afternoon when President Litokwa Tomeing beat a vote of no confidence. The wheels of government had virtually come to a halt during the past two months as the ruling Aelon Kein Ad party split over the dispute between former Minister Tony deBrum and President Tomeing. But after weeks of closed-door talks and much speculation about the direction of the RMI, the wheels turned quickly last week. On Wednesday, Speaker Jurelang Zedkaia announced the vote of no confidence would be held this week Wednesday, April 22. Friday morning, President Tomeing moved decisively, first sacking four AKA Cabinet members and naming four new UDP opposition members to his Cabinet, and then dispatching RMI Acting Attorney General Tion Nabau to the High Court to challenge the constitutionality of the Speaker’s scheduled date for the vote. Late Friday, following a 90-minute hearing, High Court Chief Justice Carl Ingram ruled for the government, agreeing that because the motion of no confidence was put on the parliament’s agenda on April 8, Saturday April 18 was the 10th and last day for the vote to be held according to the Constitution. Speaker Zedkaia responded to the ruling Friday night by calling the Nitijela to an unprecedented Saturday meeting.
The affect of Tomeing’s Cabinet transformation put his AKA opponents on notice that the UDP was behind him as the vote loomed Saturday. The Cabinet is now comprised of five UDP members, two former UDP members, and three independents.
Nitijela members gathered Saturday at 10am in response to the Speaker’s call. But its start was delayed until after 11:30am by meetings in the legislative counsel’s office in the back of the chamber involving the Speaker, the President, LC Divine Waiti, Attorney General Tion Nabau and Cabinet and Nitijela staff members. This behind-closed-doors meeting ended with Zedkaia signing letters confirming the appointments of the four new Cabinet Ministers: Maynard Alfred, Kenneth Kedi, Ruben Zackhras and Mattlan Zackhras.
The Speaker then called the Nitijela to order and announced the new appointments, and the roll was called, with 31 of 33 present (Ruben Zackhras came in after roll call to bring the number to 32) — only Minister David Kramer was absent. From there, the session plunged into debate, uncertainty and confusion about the next step evident. First, Vice Speaker Alik Alik requested the Nitijela’s attorney Waiti be called to report on Friday’s court ruling. Zedkaia took the Nitijela off the air. Waiti got about two sentences out before he was interrupted by various UDP senators wanting to go back on the air so people outside Nitijela would understand what was going on with the court and no confidence motion. Zedkaia returned the session to the air.
But Waiti’s presence sparked objections based on the fact that the roll call had already been conducted, and so a non-Nitijela member could not be called to speak. He then left the chamber.
The debate about Waiti then turned to discussion of the court ruling and whether the vote should move ahead or Nitijela recess until the following week. Zedkaia again took the debate off the air.
Zedkaia, who indicated his dissatisfaction with
meeting on a Saturday, listed a number of reasons why he wanted to delay the vote, expressing extreme unhappiness with the seating arrangements, having the new ministers sitting in senators’ position and senators in ministers’ chairs. He criticized the President for not informing him until that morning of the Cabinet changes. The President said, however, that he’d informed the Speaker the day before, and said seating arrangements were not an issue of consequence. “The vote needs to be held,” he said. Senator Ruben Zackhras said the vote is required by the Constitution, the supreme law of the RMI. “We have to do it today,” he said. “It won’t take 20 minutes to vote.”
But debate continued. UDP Senator Kessai Note sided with Zedkaia, supporting a delay, listing seating arrangements, Zedkaia’s big housewarming party that evening, and the need to have more time to consider the situation. Note said the High Court ruled the motion does not lapse even if the vote didn’t occur Saturday and Nitijela could go to court next week concerning a date for the vote. But UDP Senator Alvin Jacklick called it a “constitutional crisis,” saying the only reason to go back to court is if Nitijela didn’t do its constitutional duty Saturday.
Although Ingram’s ruling said the Constitution is clear that the 10 days clock runs on consecutive days once a motion of no confidence is put to parliament and Saturday was “day 10,” Zedkaia expressed anger about the way the court calculated the days.
“What kind of days are we talking about?” he asked. “We don’t meet on weekends and public holidays.” That was the reason he set the vote for next Wednesday, he said. “Am I a rubber stamp?” he asked.
Senator Gerald Zackios congratulated the Speaker for calling the session Saturday and dealing with the constitutional problem raised by the court.
After about 30 minutes, the Speaker returned the debate to the air for about 10 minutes. And it continued in the same vein, with no resolution of the key issue: would Nitijela hold the vote or not?
When the Speaker took the session off the air again, the chamber burst out in multiple discussions and debates as the senators and audience buzzed with evident confusion. As it approached 1pm, Zedkaia indicated he’d like to recess and let the court fix the date for the vote. UDP Senator Brenson Wase said the Nitijela could not “fail” to vote because it had a quorum present. “We would have to fail before the court gets involved,” Vice Speaker Alik said.
By about 1:15pm, the Speaker indicated the motion would move ahead. This led to speeches from Senator Christopher Loeak and the President (see page 13 for details). Just before 2pm, Zedkaia called for the vote by secret ballot. The vote: President 18, no confidence supporters 14. The session recessed for the call of the Speaker.

Journal 4/25/1970

Journal 4/23/1976
P1 US Post Office branch 96960 changed location last week. Majuro’s new post office is now located at Mieco Annex, across from the Mieco Hotel. Mrs. Murakami, Majuro’s postmaster for the past three-and-a-half-years, said the present post office was built during Navy times and is too small to operate efficiently (it was located oceanside Uliga near the present day CMI student dormitory).
P1 The sum of $5.88 was stolen
P2 The five districts of the Trust Territory and the newly designated district of Kusaie are now drawing up plans for their long-range development. Aided by experts from the United Nations Development Program, district leaders hope to solve the problems that have slowed development in the territory since the end of World War II.
last night from Whitney Brothers Restaurant, according to Nejdrik Jacob, a worker in the restaurant. The thieving was a clear case of breaking and entering, said Jacob.
P3 The quarantine on breadfruit from the southern islands of Kili, Jaluit, Namdrik and Ebon presently in effect will continue indefinitely, according to District Agriculturalist George Nakanishi. He said the exact nature of the disease has not yet been verified. It was discovered on Namdrik in 1965 by a group of plant pathologists making an examination there. At the time he disease was diagnosed as the same one found on Pingelap Atoll (Ponape). An investigative trip to Namdrik in May will ascertain the condition of the disease to help establish in fact if the breadfruit disease now in the Marshalls is the same as the one discovered earlier on Pingelap. Determination of the origin of the disease will make disease control measures possible.
P3 The 1970 census for the Marshall Islands will begin on Monday next week, according to coordinator Togo Langrine, Community Organizer for the Marshalls Community Action Agency.
P4 The recent broadcast station construction contract awarded to Acme Importers is running into complications on determination of site for the new facility, according to Acme General Manager Joseph Kramer. The contract, which was awarded to the local contractor last week, carried a completion time stipulation of 180 days beginning April 11 — but the contractor maintains he cannot begin work until a site has been determined. Cabled messages between Trust Territory headquarters and Majuro have done nothing to clarify the situation, says Kramer. He adds that if anything the problem is becoming more confused. The original site for the new broadcast station was to have been the present location of Majuro’s tennis courts (Uliga across from present Mobil bulk plant). An engineering study concluded that it would not be technically advisable to locate the necessary antenna network so close to the beach. An alternative recommendation to locate the station on government land presently occupied by the Coconut Rendezvous Club has had no recent development or confirmation.
P3 The Political Status Commission of the Marshall Islands published its 1976 Interim Report last week and made four main recommendations: 1) The proposed Federated States of Micronesia Constitution should be rejected; 2) Commonwealth status should be rejected; 3) Separate status should be sought immediately, with separate administration of the Marshalls to come at the earliest possible date; 4) Strong and friendly ties with the United States should be maintained under a future status of free association leading to independence.
P8 The Nite Life by Stoney. Friday last week I met a friend, he was here five years ago, he is Charley Lanzillotta, he was a Peace Corps Volunteer here in Marshalls. One thing really surprise me, was the zorries he was wearing. They are the same zorries we went and bought it together at Robert Reimers Store five years ago, he bought one pair, and I bought one, but mine broke five years ago, but he still wearing his. I ask Charley, what are you dong now? Working for the TT government? No Stoney, I’m just here on a visit, come and see all my Marshallese friends here. That really good of you Charley to think about your island friends. When Charley was here, he used to work with Zebedy Tarkwon at Economic Development office. Anyway, Charley said to me there’s been a lot of change on Majuro since the last time he was here, like the road, the airport, and new building and the town is very clean, and new stores, and water system, and almost everyone get air condition house. I asked him, what do you think about if Majuro become capital of Micronesia? And he said, it would be great and within five years time, Majuro will be the Paradise of the Pacific because of all this improving going on here on Majuro every year. So I told him, ok Charley have one more beer on me.

Journal 4/24/1992
P1 The Marshalls’ first foray into international wrestling competition bore fruit as the two-man team won a silver medal last week in Western Samoa. Waylon Muller beat two Australians, a New Zealander and two Samoans on his way to putting the Marshalls on the map by winning the second spot in the 180 pound competition, said coach Andrew Bing, who accompanied Muller and Andrew Stinnett to the Oceania Wrestling Championships. Muller is the first Marshall Islander to win an individual medal in reginal competition.
P1 Davey Jones’ locker has claimed many a shipwrecked sailor over the millennium. But thankfully for Koni Ishoda, he is not one of them. The young fisherman was lost at sea for six months, and just returned to Majuro after the long ordeal.
P4 Around Town Last week the prosecutor, Jerry Messenbourg, filed charges against two young women for allegedly stealing and cashing a bunch of Marimed Foundation paychecks, including his wife Susan’s. Reminds of the group of kids who burgled Judge
P23 Baron Bigler made it three in a row. He and Steven Philip showed off the winning sailfish they caught on Ronnie Reimer’s boat Jinekjij. When you’re hot, you’re hot and in local fishing tournaments, that translates into big bucks and President’s Cup points. The fish were not biting Saturday, in fact they weren’t even in sight for most fishermen, but Bigler hauled in what is believed to be the Marshalls Billfish Club’s biggest sailfish. He has won three tourneys in a row, and the latest catch vaults him into the lead in the President’s Cup competition.