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Friday, January 16, 2009

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(692) 625-8143
(692) 625-8146
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(692) 625-3136
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PO Box 14 Majuro, MH 96960 Marshall Islands
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On the ocean road behind Formosa in Uliga, Majuro
Note steps up push for election
Former Kili/Bikini/Ejit Mayor Eldon Note (pictured) has stepped up his push for a special election to fill the Mayoral vacancy created when Mayor Kataejar Jibas died last year.
In court papers filed Friday by his attorney Gordon Benjamin, Note amended his earlier petition to the High Court seeking a special election. Attorney David Strauss has been named by the Attorney General’s office to represent the KBE Local Government and has until January 26 to respond to Note’s arguments.
Plane crashes on the ground
Failure to follow established procedures resulted in a mishap with Air Marshall Islands Dash-8 plane last week, grounding the only operable plane for more than a week. While being towed from the refueling area to its hangar, the Dash-8 wing tip hit the Federal Aviation Administration’s vertical antenna tower next to the apron, cutting into the wing tip, according to officials at AMI and the Directorate of Civil Aviation.
Assuming arrival of parts by Tuesday, “the plane will be back in operation by Friday (this week),” Capelle told the Journal.
AMI leases plane from Oz
Air Marshall Islands expects to have a Dornier-228 flying to the outer islands before the end of January — the first time in more than 17 months that a Dornier has been operating in the RMI. The plane is expected to arrive Friday or Saturday this week
No plans for future loans to the RMI
The economic outlook for the Marshall Islands is not hopeful in the short-term, according to a report just issued by the Asian Development Bank. The RMI “inflation rate is estimated to be the highest among the 14 Pacific developing member countries (of ADB), reaching 12.5 percent in 2009,” ADB’s Country Operations Business Plan said. It was released last week.
In addition, while growth in 2007 was estimated at 3.5 percent, that dropped to 1.3 percent last year, “one of only two (ADB member countries in the Pacific) with a negative growth outlook,” the report said.
BOMI drops rates
Bank of Marshall Islands lowered the interest rates on consumer loans to 15 percent earlier this month. This represents about a 16 percent drop in rates from the previous 17.5 percent charged through the end of last year.
Boys with the beat
By DOUGLAS HENRY
Keeping a secret on a small island is impossible. Eventually, it will reveal itself one way or another — even through Bluetoothing from a cell phone. Allow me to articulate how it eventuated. But first, if you’re wondering what is Bluetooth — Bluetooth on a cell phone allows two cell phone users to transfer data like wallpapers, videos, and music
wirelessly. To trick-out or pimp-out their cell phones. Mike Momotaro, Aubrey Capelle, Gyrus Padre, Jessie Capelle, Ben Wakefield, and Witner Loling Morris — AKA “Money Less” — are lyrical song writers/rhythm producers self-made or I’ll say home made artists. These innovators go by the name of “Unkownz-L-Soljahz” and started creating rhythms and rhymes on a ukulele during their high school years. “It’s a way to get ourselves busy,” says the crew. They upgraded on moving into the electronic age by producing beats on a keyboard and recording and combining rhythms and lyrics by using software called Crystal. “We wrote and produced about 60 songs with different genres of hip-hop, reggae, rock, R&B, Jawaiian (combination of Jamaican and Hawaiian style music) and some mixture of reggae-hip-hop. And most of them are incomplete,” said Capelle. “We can produce any sort of music…if you want country style, then so be it, ha-ha,” Momotaro says. Out of the 60 songs, one called “Every Time I See U,” was the first single that they Bluetoothed to each of the crew’s cell phones, the crew explained to the Journal. The crew agreed not to publicize it until an album could be set forth for a public release. But that did not last a kilobyte long. A friend asked to borrow one of the crew’s phones. Next thing, this single was bluetoothed to the moon and back. From the cre.w’s cell phones transferred wirelessly to friends’ cell phones and from friends’ cell phones to individual computers in Majuro — from computers to a blank disc. You probably already know what happens next. Hint: Counter clockwise. Welcome to the Bluetooth world of wireless. According to Wakefield, he asked Momotaro’s older brother who spent some time on Ebeye and Kwajalein, if he wanted to hear their new song, “Every Time I See U”? Momotaro’s brother replied, “that’s not new, that’s played-out — I heard that track on Ebeye with a guy who is selling it on the streets with five other songs you guys created.” The crew was stunned after hearing the news from Momotaro’s older brother about the song debuting without the Unkownz-L-Soljahz consensus in Ebeye and Kwajalein. Momotaro told the Journal that according to his source up in the US, the Marshallese there are also listening to some of their unreleased tracks. That’s life in a Bluetooth world.
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UES heading to bowling alley
By SUZANNE CHUTARO
The plight of Uliga Elementary School students may soon be over. Before departing Monday night, RMI’s Ambassador to the United Nations Phillip Muller told the Journal that his family business — Krystal Enterprises — has been in discussions with the
Muller family okays move
government and they have agreed in principle to convert the Majuro bowling alley building into Uliga Elementary School. “It’ll be a win-win situation for the government and the students,” said Muller. Negotiations are still ongoing but he expects that by the 2009-2010 school year, the UES students will have a new home opposite EZ Price Mart. He said they are now finalizing terms for the purchase with the Minister of Education, Internal Affairs and the Marshall Islands Development Bank — which will front the funds to allow the government to buy the facilities. Danny Wase, who operates Awa Zero night club at the bowling alley, said he has been advised of the possible use of the facility for a new UES school and added: "Obviously we'll have to move." But he said he has been given no date to vacate. In the meantime, he has
already started looking at other options for housing the popular nightspot. He said the loss of the bowling alley if the new plan goes through is unfortunate because it is a unique recreation option on Majuro. “All ages can play (bowl) at the same time,” he said. “You can’t play basketball with your daughter, but you can bowl with her, and she might beat you,” he said. Wase said the original plan for a replacement school for UES located next to Assumption was excellent in part because of the significant recreation facilities it included. “A lot of good things would happen if UES was constructed at that location,” he said.
Journal 1/19/1968
Journal 1/17/1975
P1 In what could be a highly controversial election, last month Wilfred Kendall (Iroaki) was elected Magistrate of Laura. He received 69 votes. Former Magistrate Shem was the second highest vote getter with 56 tallies.
P1 The District Administration has confirmed that there will be a plane next week, but that it will be delayed 24 hours. The following week the plane should return to the regular schedule.
P1 The new Nauru government has extended an invitation to
P1 A story slugged “Copra Price Dropped” and a headline in the Tonga Chronicle of December 24 tells the story: “Big Fall In Copra Payments.” In the Trust Territory, the Copra Stabilization Board announced a cut of $125 a ton from the recent high of $425 a ton (21 cents/pound). The news is so bad,
especially in the Marshalls where over 50 percent of the total crop of the TT is produced. It is expected that an additional cut of $100 will be necessary by March. The only good news to report in the copra situation is that the Copra Stabilization Board has set aside $1 million of its reserves to purchase an oil extracting plant in the TT.
P2 After sitting in the shadow of French nuclear tests in Polynesia as a protest to continued testing, what else are you expected to do? The answer, according to members of the crew of the Yacht Fri (this week’s cover), is to carry messages of peace to all the major powers of the world, messages of love and friendship garnered from individuals throughout the globe. The present voyage of the Fri, as insignificant or futile as it may appear, may very well be one of the most effective and compelling statements being made at present…After Rongelap and Bikini, the Fri will go directly to Tinian. They hope to make it to Japan by March 1 to participate in the memorial service for Japanese exposed on the Lucky Dragon to the Bikini fallout. They are young people with a simple message everyone has already heard. They just happen to have a strong commitment to underline the word.
P7 The first phase of a new marina for the Marshalls is about 50 percent completed, according to Kirt Pinho of Island Construction Company. The marina will be the first of its kind in the TT with a capability of handling up to six yachts and numerous small boats. The facility is located on the lagoon side.
District Administrator Dwight Heine and Congress of Microneia Senator Amata Kabua and their wives to attend Independence Day ceremonies on January 31. A trip to Nauru would involve a flight from here to Saipan, then to Brisbane, Australia via Manila. A MIECO vessel could be chartered for around a thousand dollars for the trip, which would take about one week.
P5 The High Commissioner has declined for the moment to invite the Daiwa Shipping Line, a Japanese company, to include Majuro as a port of call. High Commissioner W. R. Norwood said he would prefer to continue efforts in the direction of improving the service provided by the Micronesian Line before determining whether to invite Daiwa in. A Congress of Micronesia Joint Resolution outlined the ways in which the service provided by the Micronesian Line has been unsatisfactory to the Marshalls.
P5 Six Majuro residents received 10 percent dividend checks from their Mobil Oil Micronesia stock this week. Those receiving the dividends were: Walkup Silk, Leon Lomack, Mrs. Simeon, Ribe Jarom, Monna Labunitok and Article Kiess.
various schools because their homes were damaged. Some 27 families have been staying in the MIHS classrooms, so the high school has not yet gotten back into operation. Some of the families have a strange way of showing appreciation to the government and the school for providing free housing. Teachers have spent a good deal of time cleaning up after the kids who have been using the stairways as their bathrooms despite school bathrooms that are open to the families.
P16 Government workers went nearly three weeks between paychecks this month, after an error by computer operators and the typhoon clean up delayed normal production of the checks by the Ministry of Finance.
P22 The government radio station has changed its call sign from WSZO to V7AB. According to Manager Sam Jordan, the International Telecommunications Union gave the new call sign to Radio Marshalls. It is not just a call sign but actually a code name to identify the V7AB around the world.
P23 A crew of six Marshallese is busy rebuilding an outrigger — tipnol — canoe in Majuro, which will be used as a training canoe for the men who will sail the Marshalls’ larger voyaging canoe in the Cook Islands later this year. Under the supervision of Dennis Alessio, who directs the Alele Museum’s Waan Aelon Kein project, the canoe rebuilding is expected to be finished by the end of January. Work on the 30-40 foot voyaging canoe will have to begin almost immediately when the tipnol is completed in order to have it ready for the South Pacific Festival of Arts in the Cook Islands in October, he said.
Journal 1/17/1992
P1 There will be no new members of Cabinet, but seven of the 10 ministers have been given new portfolios, as President Amata Kabua announced his new Cabinet this week. Minsiter of Foreign Affairs Tom Kijiner, Minister of Transportation and Communications Kunio Lemari and Minister of Education Phillip Muller will continue with the ministries they directed over the last four years. The new portfolios are noted below with the old assignments in parenthesis: Finance, Ruben Zackhras (Health); R&D, Amsa
Jonathan (Public Works); Social Services, Christopher Loeak (Justice); Public Works, Antonio Eliu (Social Services); Health, Henchi Balos (Finance); Justice, Luckner Abner (Internal Affairs); Internal Affairs, Brenson Wase (R&D). This marks the first portfolio change since the Cabinet formed after the 1987 election.
P2 Nine new Nitijela members have taken office: Nidel Lorak (Arno), Alik Alik (Jaluit), Alvin Jacklick (Kwajalein), Rellong Lemari (Lae), Jorelik Tibon (Majuro), Jurelang Zedkaia (Majuro), Kejjo Bien (Mili), Patrick Langmoir (Namdrik), and Kaiboke Kabua (Namu).
P4 (Around Town) They are going to have a hard time flying into Jaliut for the next few months as the airport was wiped out by the waves from the typhoon…Many Majuro residents are still stashed at