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Friday, February 8, 2008

E-mail:
   journal@ntamar.net

Phone:
   (692) 625-8143
   (692) 625-8146

Fax:
   (692) 625-3136

Mail:
   PO Box 14
   Majuro, MH 96960
   Marshall Islands

In Person:
   On the ocean road
   behind Formosa
   in Uliga, Majuro
Grassroots help for Enewetak airport
The nearly 1,000 people of Enewetak received a welcome check for $83,930 from the Japanese Grassroots Assistance program last Friday. The money will go towards building the Enewetak Airport Community Center.
Tomeing stresses RMI's friendship to ROC's Lu
Taiwan Vice President Annette Lu left the Marshall Islands with no doubt about the RMI’s commitment to ongoing relations with Taiwan. The Vice President spent two days in Majuro last week with her large entourage, meeting both officially and unofficially with President Litokwa Tomeing and his Cabinet members. “He officially expressed his commitment to the relations between the two countries,” Lu told the Journal in an interview last Wednesday.
Fr. Rich to be
head of Xavier
Fr. Richard McAuliff, S.J., who has been the pastor at Assumption Church since the mid-1990s, will be leaving to Chuuk soon. As part of the change from Jesuit to Missionaries of the Sacred Heart management of the Catholic Church in the RMI, Fr. Rich will be leaving Assumption. He will be director of Xavier High School in Chuuk for the 2008-09 school year.
Health needs
up by 43 percent
Spending on hospital equipment, supplies and related costs by the Health Care Revenue Fund increased 43 percent in 2006 compared to 2005, the latest Deloitte and Touche audit to the Nitijela shows. The Health Care Revenue Fund, which supports a portion of Ministry of Health hospital needs, spent $4,395,048 in fiscal year 2006 compared to $3,081,189 the previous year.
Only 29 lawsuits
filed in 2007
The number of criminal cases filed in the High Court in Majuro in 2007 plummeted by more than 70 percent compared to 2006.High Court records show that only 29 criminal cases were filed by the Attorney General’s office last year, compared to 100 in 2006. AG Posesi Bloomfield, in his annual report issued to Minister David Kramer, attributes that mainly to a drop in prosecutions of illegal aliens because the process for deporting aliens is now quicker and the number of voluntary departures has increased, reducing the number of cases filed.
You wouldn’t realize it from these smiley faces but this is a photo of ‘angry’ protesters outside the Capital building last Friday. These workers from the Marshall Islands Shipping Corporation gathered to protest the RMI Ports Authority’s attempt to stop access of MISC crews to Uliga dock because they didn’t have Port-issued passes. Photo by Douglas Henry
Ebeye's fresh water system 'poisoned'
By SUZANNE CHUTARO
An extremely dangerous health situation on Ebeye was uncovered last week as workers from Kwajalein Atoll Joint Utilities Resources (KAJUR) and Majuro Water and Sewer Company (MWSC) were trying to fix the island’s water pressure. While fixing the water system with equipment acquired from Kwajalein, work crews discovered that the underground fresh water pipes, which have been dormant for over five years, were heavily contaminated with E. Coli. This is a bacteria from human and animal fecal matter that causes severe food poisoning in older people and young children. Marshalls Energy Company general manager Billy Roberts, who is overseeing and assisting the operations of KAJUR and MWSC, told
Billy Roberts
the Journal that cross-contamination has occurred because of illegal connections. The outfall pipes from toilets of some residents have been illegally connected directly into the island’s fresh water system. This cross-connection between fresh water and sewer pipes is not a problem KAJUR can easily fix, he said. Poor planning, lack of law enforcement and no building codes coupled with the fact the Ebeye has three different sewage and water systems magnifies the problem, making it much more difficult for KAJUR and MWSC to fix the island’s water and sewage system as well as eliminate the E. Coli contamination.
US to prohibit our 'scam' coins
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Marshall Islands commemorative coins are again in the news — being called “scam” coins and are the subject of draft legislation in the US state of Michigan that aims to set consumer protection standards for companies and foreign governments that advertise coins as “legal tender” when those items aren’t US coins currently in circulation. “If something is called a ‘coin,’ it has face value or denomination, and there’s the assumption you can use it as money in the country of origin or redeem it at the exchange rate,” Michigan state legislature Rep. Steve Bieda said. “Sometimes you can’t use them as money even in the entity that produced them.” The article, published this week in the online Capital News Service issued by the Michigan State University School of Journalism, highlights the problem with both RMI and Northern Mariana Islands commemorative coins. Not all that glitters is gold, and not every shiny new coin is a wise investment — not even, say, a $5 Elvis Presley commemorative coin issued by the Marshall Islands, the story said. Bieda’s new proposal would require mints, issuers or foreign governments that advertise in Michigan to “clearly and conspicuously disclose” that such coins “cannot be exchanged or redeemed at face value for U.S. currency in the United States.”
Bishop supports MICS
US Ambassador Clyde Bishop on Wednesday presented a check for $94,270 to the Marshall Islands Conservation Society (MICS). According to a statement from the US Embassy, the presentation was part of a $161,000 grant addressing the issue of solid waste disposal on Majuro in three areas: “Firstly, the project aims to increase public awareness of the issue and ways to improve waste disposal and recycling practices. Secondly, it aims to promote and support recycling efforts in Majuro. Thirdly, it supports research into new ways to recycle or re-use materials such as plastics to avoid dumping.”
The stories shown here are just a sample from this week's paper.