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Friday, August 15, 2008
| PII guilty, but Ingram puts fine on hold Pacific International Inc. was found guilty on three counts related to pollution of Majuro lagoon waters following a brief trial before High Court Chief Justice Carl Ingram last Friday morning. Although fighting the criminal charges that resulted when PII refused to pay an RMI EPA fine of $5,000 will surely cost it more than the fine EPA has sought, PII may have accomplished its apparent intention by forcing the matter to court: after finding PII guilty of the three pollution/reef damage charges, Ingram said he “was not prepared to impose a fine at this time” and he wanted the government to provide a rationale for why the EPA fine was increased from the original $1,000, and he wanted PII to offer a rationale for why the fine should be less than $5,000. Jared gets best time ever Jared Heine, the first Marshall Islands Olympian to compete in Bejing, finished third in a men’s 100-meter backstroke heat, touching in 59.68 — his best time in competition ever, though not fast enough to qualify for the finals. “Jared had a great swim,” Swimming Federation President Cris Lindborg told the Journal from Beijing. “He shaved more than a second from his previous best time, a good way to end his swimming career.” JAL set for October trip Japan Airlines has finally confirmed its first flight of 2008 — now scheduled for October 9-14, according to Satoshi Yoshii, owner of Marshall Islands Tours. The charter is not only being promoted to Japanese customers, but also for Taiwanese. RMI students face language crisis Seven out of 10 public school fourth graders cannot read, speak or understand English and Marshallese adequately, the scores on the latest RMI tests show — and the problem is getting worse.A total of 73 percent of all public schools either got worse or did not improve between 2005 and 2007, according to the results of the Pacific Islands Language Literacy (PILL) test results released by the Ministry of Education earlier this month. But in math there are evident improvements: 63 percent of public schools did better in math during the same period. |
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Games debut: Wrestlinig champ Waylon Muller carries the big flag to lead the RMI Olympic Games group at last Friday's opening ceremony in Beijing.
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Bingo!: Zaion Bruno spins a barrel of colorful bingo balls for a group of people enjoying a relaxing game in Uliga.
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Miss-ile: The Falcon 1 rocket failed for the third time this month at Kwajalein after two sections collided. On board were the cremated remains of Star Trek actor James Doohan ("beam me up, Scotty").
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Track Zac: Teen solo sailor Zac Sunderland left Majuro on Sunday and by Wednesday was 312 miles south in Kiribati waters. He's hoping to sail to Darwin, 3,400 miles from Majuro, in one hop.
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E-mail: |
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Phone: |
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Fax:
(692) 625-3136 |
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Mail:
PO Box 14 Majuro, MH 96960 Marshall Islands |
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In Person:
On the ocean road behind Formosa in Uliga, Majuro |
By GIFF JOHNSON
Former Minister Rien Morris and the Public Service Commission “doomed” the
Former Minister Rien Morris and the Public Service Commission “doomed” the
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2007 vote chaos |
2007 election even before it started by their unconstitutional actions, says the government’s Commission of Inquiry report issued to the Nitijela Tuesday.
“Initial causes of the numerous problems during the 2007 election and its myriad failures were the actions of then-Minister of Internal Affairs Rien Morris (and) contributing causes includes the actions or inactions of the PSC and Chief Electoral Officer Carl Alik,” the report said. Morris’ “unconstitutional interference” with the PSC hiring process vetoing the PSC selection committee’s recommendation to hire Laju Sawej in favor of Alik, and his later reprogramming of funds needed to properly conduct the 2007 national election “doomed the 2007 election even before the process began,” the commission said. “The PSC further doomed the 2007 election by allowing former Minister Morris to interfere with the PSC selection process and by ignoring its own selection committee’s recommendation that Laju Sawej be appointed as the Chief Electoral Officer.” Filimon Manoni, who is now Attorney General, was chair of the commission of inquiry. Members were Maria Fowler, Rev. Enja Enos, Jack Niedenthal and Hirobo Obeketang. “Once the improper selection was made, CEO Carl Alik insured, through his incompetence and inexperience, that the 2007 election would be a debacle of the worst magnitude,” the report says. The report highlights numerous problems encountered in the election, from polling stations being late to open and running out of ballots to ballot boxes being opened illegally and a general lack of transparency throughout the election process. The commission makes 19 recommendations to improve future elections, among them:
• Amend the constitution so national elections are held on a Tuesday or Wednesday, not on Mondays because of difficulties preparing on a Sunday because it is a day for worship and rest in the RMI.
• Establish an Election Commission with an independent five-member board that appoints the Chief Electoral Officer.
“Initial causes of the numerous problems during the 2007 election and its myriad failures were the actions of then-Minister of Internal Affairs Rien Morris (and) contributing causes includes the actions or inactions of the PSC and Chief Electoral Officer Carl Alik,” the report said. Morris’ “unconstitutional interference” with the PSC hiring process vetoing the PSC selection committee’s recommendation to hire Laju Sawej in favor of Alik, and his later reprogramming of funds needed to properly conduct the 2007 national election “doomed the 2007 election even before the process began,” the commission said. “The PSC further doomed the 2007 election by allowing former Minister Morris to interfere with the PSC selection process and by ignoring its own selection committee’s recommendation that Laju Sawej be appointed as the Chief Electoral Officer.” Filimon Manoni, who is now Attorney General, was chair of the commission of inquiry. Members were Maria Fowler, Rev. Enja Enos, Jack Niedenthal and Hirobo Obeketang. “Once the improper selection was made, CEO Carl Alik insured, through his incompetence and inexperience, that the 2007 election would be a debacle of the worst magnitude,” the report says. The report highlights numerous problems encountered in the election, from polling stations being late to open and running out of ballots to ballot boxes being opened illegally and a general lack of transparency throughout the election process. The commission makes 19 recommendations to improve future elections, among them:
• Amend the constitution so national elections are held on a Tuesday or Wednesday, not on Mondays because of difficulties preparing on a Sunday because it is a day for worship and rest in the RMI.
• Establish an Election Commission with an independent five-member board that appoints the Chief Electoral Officer.
By SUZANNE CHUTARO
There was no sugar coating of the global economic situation hurting the Marshall Islands at Monday’s Nitijela opening when President Litokwa Tomeing told the nation that the “path ahead will be painful.” In his address to Nitijela, Tomeing delivered sobering remarks that flatly reminded everyone that the Marshall Islands is not out of the woods yet. “Our government is burdened,” said the President, adding that while the government is thankful to its citizens for doing their part during the State of Economic Emergency, “people still need to be conservative and work harder.” Tomeing produced a thumbnail of challenges ranging from the high cost of fuel, energy and food to job losses at the US missile range at Kwajalein, which have impacted the government since his administration took office in January. “There was nothing we could do other than to declare a State of Economic Emergency,” said Tomeing. “We needed to declare it to get some breathing room and find both short and long term solutions.” Job losses at Kwajalein will continue to
There was no sugar coating of the global economic situation hurting the Marshall Islands at Monday’s Nitijela opening when President Litokwa Tomeing told the nation that the “path ahead will be painful.” In his address to Nitijela, Tomeing delivered sobering remarks that flatly reminded everyone that the Marshall Islands is not out of the woods yet. “Our government is burdened,” said the President, adding that while the government is thankful to its citizens for doing their part during the State of Economic Emergency, “people still need to be conservative and work harder.” Tomeing produced a thumbnail of challenges ranging from the high cost of fuel, energy and food to job losses at the US missile range at Kwajalein, which have impacted the government since his administration took office in January. “There was nothing we could do other than to declare a State of Economic Emergency,” said Tomeing. “We needed to declare it to get some breathing room and find both short and long term solutions.” Job losses at Kwajalein will continue to
hurt government tax revenues, he said. “$1 million in tax revenues will be lost to our government as a result of the job cuts at Kwajalien,” said Tomeing. “There is no question that the changes at Kwajalein will impact us further.” Highlighting how the Marshall Islands is not separated from the rest of world, Tomeing talked about how external
factors have not only impacted his administration but have also greatly impacted average citizens —”we were quick to experience hardship from these sharp price rises,” he said. Tomeing told the Nitijela bluntly: “we are faced with challenges.”
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