JULY 23, 2010
RMI shocked over revision
of cancers
Some Marshall Islands officials expressed surprise at the huge reduction in the estimate of cancers caused by 67 US nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands by a US National Cancer Institute study released last week.
But they also said the issue that is most important is to fully address the impact of US nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands. “Until I have the benefit of review by qualified scientists with unquestionable credentials, I shall maintain only that whether it be 530 or 170, excess is excess,” Kwajalein Senator Tony deBrum told the Journal. “We should expend resources on solving the problem rather than on redefining its parameters.”
Jurelang to attend talks
in Palau, Vanuatu
President Jurelang Zedkaia will head to a Micronesian President’s Summit in Palau at the end of this month — which coincides with the kickoff for the Micronesian Games on August 1 — and then will head to Vanuatu for the annual Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting.
The President will join with FSM President Manny Mori and Palau President Johnson Toribiong in launching the “Green Energy Micronesia” initiative during the Forum meeting in Vanuatu, Foreign Minister John Silk told the Journal.
Leprosy on
the rise in RMI
The RMI Ministry of Health’s goal of reducing leprosy to fewer than two cases per 10,000 people was dashed with the discovery of 33 new cases on the outer islands and Ebeye. With the explosion of new cases on outer islands — 28 new cases identified from January to March — health officials running leprosy prevention programs called on outer islands health assistants to get more engaged in dealing with the problem instead of waiting for visits by Majuro or Ebeye health teams.
EPPSO makes sure we count
The first national census in 12 years is planned for April of next year, with a small “practice” survey to be conducted in September. Originally planned for last year, the population count was postponed for lack of funding.
CMI accreditation good for five years
While the College of the Marshall Islands had its latest accreditation report accepted by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, four of the six Pacific colleges were hit with sanctions by WASC.
“The significance of the ‘acceptance’ is reaffirmation that CMI continues to meet the standards for accreditation of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges of WASC,” said CMI President Dr. Kenneth Woodbury, Jr.
Bon voyage to navigator Mau Piailug
GIFF JOHNSON
The famed Satawal navigator Mau Piailug, who stimulated a revival of the art of traditional navigation among Hawaiians, died last week on his home atoll in the Federated States of Micronesia. He was 78. Piailug also navigated the Hawaiian canoe Makali’i from Hawaii to Majuro and then to Satawal in 1999. Mau, as the navigator was known around the region, guided the Hawaiian voyaging canoe Hokule’a on its 2,500-mile voyage to Tahiti in 1976, and trained a generation of Hawaiian navigators. Waan Aelon in Majel Program Manager Alson Kelen sailed with Mau on the Makali’i voyage in 1999 and recalled the fanfare that surrounded the arrival of the double hulled canoe in Majuro. “The date of our departure (from Hawaii) is still in my mind and heart,” Kelen said. “It was the same date my wife gave birth to our daughter, Makali’i, on February 7, 1999. Then, 21 days later, we arrived in Majuro. We were greeted by many people and boats at the pass, Kirt Pinho’s landing craft, the Lomor, and other boats were there waiting for us. When we got to Enemanit, I remember Tony deBrum, Ramsey Reimers, and the Youth to Youth in Health were there ready with our BBQ chicken and nice cold drinks.
Navigator Mau Piailug, pictured on board the Hawaiian canoe Makali’i at Uliga Dock in 1999.
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Farewell to master navigator Mau Piailug
(Continued from the home page) When we got to Uliga Dock, former President Imata Kabua and his whole Cabinet, Alele, Council of Iroij, Majuro elementary schools, and many, many people were there to greet us. It was a very touching moment, and I was specially greeted by my new born daughter.” Kelen said he will always remember Mau’s visit to the Marshalls: “Because of this visit, it opened a lot of eyes here in Micronesia. Cultural preservation became an important thing to do. For us in the Marshall Islands, the question was, ‘why aren’t we sharing the little navigational knowledge that we still have?’” The voyage and Mau’s presence helped to change people’s attitudes about sharing knowledge, Kelen said. “The elders started to be more open, not just for canoe building but for navigation and other knowledge. Mau’s work throughout the Pacific and the world has proven that our navigational knowledge that we said is of the past is actually of the future. It’s not technological, but magical and it is from the heart. Mau has shown us that the ocean doesn’t separate us, it connects us.” Dennis Alessio, who started the original Waan Aelon Kein project at Alele Museum in the late 1980s, said he met Mau in Honolulu in early 1992 “when we brought our crew to sail on Hokule’a and to meet the Hawaiian crew who we would be meeting up with on Aitutaki in the Cook Islands (at the Pacific Festival of Arts). Mau was excited about our canoe program and even more that there would be a Micronesian outrigger at the Festival of Arts.” Alessio, who now lives on the Big Island of Hawaii, said Mau “was one of those people who knew the importance of keeping traditional knowledge and skills alive and was a great inspiration for the work that we were doing in the Marshall Islands. “We would see each other at canoe get-togethers over the next few years and always it was good to see him and talk story.” When Mau was in Majuro with the Makali’i, Alessio’s family made him a copra sack full of “kwonjin ma” (breadfruit baked on a fire) for the trip to Satawal. “He really liked that and said he felt he was home,” Alessio said. “He had told me that he wanted to make the RMI his first stop (on his way) home as this was a place where we were taking care of our canoe culture. “The last time I visited Mau was a couple of years ago at Kawaihai where Makali’i was docked. He had just gotten out of the hospital with a very serious case of gout and was convalescing in the canoe house there. His spirits were good and he just wanted to go home.”
The Saipan Tribune reported this week that one of his sons, Henry Yarofalpiy, who lives on Saipan, said that to observe the death of a navigator like his father, sailing between islands is banned until the family of the deceased opens up the seas by initiating sea voyaging once again.
“We won’t hold it for long. We understand that people need to travel to other islands for food. We plan to open sail nine days after his death,” said Yarofalpiy.
GIFF JOHNSON
“Ebeye’s critical utility infrastructure is deteriorated and is unable to sustain the current population.” That is the summation of an 85-page report prepared by the US Army Corps of Engineers on Ebeye Island and released to the Journal last week. Despite the bad state of Ebeye’s basic community support systems, Kwajalein and RMI government leaders are in agreement: This is a helpful report that can help trigger improvements on the overcrowded island. Only Ebeye’s electrical system was rated in “good condition.” But, said the Army Corps, “other systems were unable to support the existing population, presented a health risk or were non-functioning.” Kwajalein Senator Tony deBrum hailed the report as a “roadmap that we can use as the basis for fixing Ebeye.” DeBrum said it is “a very timely report and says what we have been saying for the past five years.” Foreign Minister John Silk also said it is a “very helpful report”		 week for durations of 45 minutes. There is a lack of spare parts, pumps, and one of three reverse osmosis (water making) filtration units is non-operational.”
• Electricity: “The electrical generation and distribution system are in overall good condition. Ebeye has made recent improvements to the system and it is safe, reliable and has the capacity to serve the population. However, there is a lack of redundancy (back up) for generator maintenance.”
• Trash: “The solid waste management system on Ebeye poses a health concern because they do not have a sustainable means of disposing trash. Trash is collected and deposited into an unsecure open dump, prior to being burned for volumetric reduction. The burning is often inadequate leaving a source for bacterial growth and promotion of vectors (insects/parasites). There is a risk of toxic material contamination to adjacent and underground waters. Additionally, there are health risks to residents bordering the dump site.”
that lists numerous projects for improving the living situation on Ebeye that can be proposed to the US government for consideration. DeBrum and Silk confirmed that a meeting of RMI officials and Kwajalein leaders will happen later this week to discuss the report and land use agreement issues. “We will try to develop one voice for dealing with the United States,” deBrum said, adding that he will join with RMI government leaders for talks with the US officials during “Post-Forum Dialogue” meetings in Vanuatu in early August. Both Silk and deBrum expressed optimism about the discussions this week. “I’m feeling positive,” Silk said. “We’re moving in the right direction. It’s a matter of the RMI and Kwajalein getting together to discuss priorities.” The Army assessment of Ebeye’s infrastructure was requested by recently departed US Army Kwajalein Atoll Commander Colonel Frederick Clark last September. The US Army Corps of Engineers focused on sewer, water, electricity and trash, recommending 24 projects to improve the situation on Ebeye, which the Army said is home to an estimated 15,000 people. Highlights of the report include:
• Sewer: “The sanitary sewer treatment plant has not operated in five years,” the report said. “Raw sewage is released directly to the ocean approximately 500 feet offshore. Sanitary sewer equipment is inadequately sized and dilapidated from lack of maintenance and spare parts.”
• Water: “The water distribution and production system do not have enough capacity nor pressure to support the population,” the report said. “Water is rationed and is currently being distributed twice a
Mayors’ Association President Jeimata Kabua (Namu Mayor), President Jurelang Zedkaia, Wotho Mayor Melvin Majmeto, Maloelap Mayor Hemely Benjamin, and Namdrik Mayor Clarence Luther at the Executive Leadership Meeting this week.