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APRIL 9, 2010
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| PII to sell cheaper gas Gasoline prices in Majuro are expected to drop significantly in the next few weeks. Pacific International Inc. is currently setting up fuel tanks for gas storage and additional fuel pumps near the bridge where it will begin selling gas, possibly as soon as three weeks from now, according to Manager Kenneth Kramer. PII will be importing its gasoline from New Zealand in small tanks aboard the new Reef Shipping service that has just started, linking the South Pacific with Majuro and Tarawa, Kiribati. AMI pilots to test Dornier in Taiwan Air Marshall Islands Dornier aircraft in Taiwan for major overhaul could be ready to return to Majuro later this month, according to AMI General Manager Bill Capelle. In an update on airline developments, Capelle said the plane is waiting on additional parts for its GPS (navigation equipment) that are expected to arrive from Australia this week. “Once these are installed and tested, the plane will be ready for ‘rollout,’” Capelle said. This means AMI will then send its pilots to Taiwan to test fly the plane for a couple of days and then ferry it back to Majuro. “If all goes well, this could happen in the third week of April,” Capelle said. Muller new Ambassador to Germany RMI’s UN Ambassador Phillip Muller will become the first accredited RMI representative to Germany when he goes to Berlin in June this year. The Marshall Islands has had diplomatic ties with Germany for many years, but Muller is the first non-resident ambassador to be accredited, according to Foreign Minister John Silk. RMI has lot of work to do The Marshall Islands government and community has a lot of work to do to meet the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that the RMI government agreed to 10 years ago. At a talk to the World Water Day program late last month, WUTMI Director Daisy Momotaro said the Marshall Islands must pick up the pace of its activity to meet the eight goals. The RMI government signed the world agreement in 2000 committing it to meet the eight MDGs by the year 2015. That deadline is only five years away but the Marshall Islands is on track to meet only two of the eight goals, she said. |
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| Ading: 'When will it stop?' | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The problem of “pouring money into failed state owned enterprises” is an important issue for the government to address, he added. “When will it stop?” he asked. The report looked at the following public enterprises: Air Marshall Islands, Kwajalein Atoll Joint Utilities Resources (KAJUR), Majuro Atoll Waste Company, Marshalls Energy Cmpany, Marshall Islands Development Bank, Marshall Islands Ports Authority, Marshall Islands Shipping Corporation, Majuro Resort Inc., Majuro Water and Sewer Company, National Telecommunications Authority and Tobolar Copra Processing Plant. Because of the cost to government of subsidizing many of these public enterprises, reforming them must be a priority for government, the report said. It noted that reforms are underway at MEC, Tobolar and AMI — “three enterprises that have encountered serious challenges in recent years and that have required subsidies and/or | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| cash advances from the national government.” Cash advances needed by MEC to survive the past several years have placed severe pressure on RMI government cash flow, the report said. “The vast majority of public enterprises have run significant financial losses in the vast majority of years (from) fiscal year 1999 to FY2008,” the report said. “Collectively, public enterprises have run annual average losses of around $6.4 million and in FY2008, over $9 million was lost.” Only NTA “generated consistent operational profits” over this period, the report said. In FY2008, only NTA and MIDB showed significant profits, while the Shipping Corporation and Tobolar had small profits. The rest lost amounts ranging from $300,000 to over $3 million in FY2008. In addition to losing money, “several public enterprises have become delinquent on retirement and health fund taxes and have run up significant liabilities to the Marshall Islands Social Security Administration (MISSA). In these cases, public enterprises have withheld taxes from employee compensation, but have failed to match and remit these withholdings to MISSA.” This has hurt the financial security of many workers whose retirement accounts do not have money in them, “negatively impacted the national health fund, and has gotten public enterprises into serious legal complications.” Government subsidies to many of these public enterprises more than doubled from FY2005 to FY2008, indicating problems with the enterprises are getting worse. “There is wide recognition that current subsidy levels are unsustainable, given the fiscal outlook and the challenges that lie ahead,” the report said. AMI, MWSC, Tobolar and Marshall Islands Shipping Corporation were the top four subsidy recipients in FY2008, receiving $6 million in government money. While most of the enterprises required increasing government help to operate, their levels of employment also increased. MEC and NTA are the largest employers of the 11 enterprises checked, with 161 and 160 employees, respectively. Reductions in staff at Tobolar, MEC, KAJUR and AMI did not match the drop in their revenues from FY2008 to FY2008, the report said. “AMI, for instance, saw a 71 percent drop in revenue over FY2006 to FY2008 but only 23 percent fall in employment.” A consultation on these issues with members of the public produced the recommendations including that: • government should phase out subsidies to the worst performing public enterprises. • public enterprises should have the same pay scale. • a comprehensive review is needed to see if the enterprises are meeting their government-provided mandates. • Cabinet should adopt a get-tough approach in demanding performance and accountability and if public enterprises managers are failing they should be replaced. |
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| Alvin push for female senator | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Speaker Alvin Jacklick (pictured) says that it is his plan for the 2011 election to endorse a woman to run for Jaluit’s second seat in Nitijela. In an interview this week, the Speaker indicated his support for gender equality in the Marshall Islands. This is the latest indication that the rift between the Speaker and Jaluit Senator Rien Morris is not going away soon. Speaking about a workshop the Nitijela hosted last month on the topics of population, HIV/AIDS, gender and climate change, Jacklick said the previous two Speakers — Jurelang Zeadkaia and Litokwa Tomeing — started a program of improving operations at the Nitijela. “I am taking up the torch from them,” Jacklick said. “I am going to revolutionize the Nitijela.” He said his goal, which follows in the footsteps of the two previous Speakers, is to improve the work of Nitijela — not just by developing the capacity of the members but to improve service for the voting public. He also mentioned his plan to hire support staff who can assist committee chairmen and members to access relevant information from the Internet and to connect with legislators and sources of information in other countries. Regarding gender, he said he plans to endorse a woman candidate and is looking at possible candidates for next year’s national election. “In my camp, there will be one man and one woman running,” he said. Jacklick is a four-term representative from Jaluit. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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