JULY 9, 2010
Father's Day testing gives shocking results
A second Father’s Day for 75 Majuro men proved to be a wake-up call. The Ministry of Health sponsored its fourth Father’s Day Health Workshop at the ICC on June 30 — and screening conducted of the participants showed the severity of preventable health problems affecting Marshall Islanders. Health screening, lectures, and a healthy breakfast and lunch were included in this event to promote health and disease prevention. Of the 75 men screened, only 19 had normal (healthy level) blood sugar counts, and only 11 had normal blood pressure. A total of 67, or 90 percent, of the 75 were either overweight or obese.
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some pix from the past
The University of Hawaii’s Pacific Collection has just completed its latest online digital photo collection, according to Stu Dawrs, a Pacific specialist librarian at the Collection. Titled “Nuclear Diaspora: Bikini and Enewetak,” the collection consists of 878 images shot by Dr. Leonard Mason and Dr. Robert Kiste at varying times between 1948 and 1988, while documenting the lives of Bikini and Enewetak islanders in the wake of US nuclear testing. You can find the collection at: http://digicoll.manoa.hawaii.
edu/kiste/index.php
Two pounds takes it!
Just two pounds made the difference between being a glorious winner and a depressed runner-up! On Friday, Team Kirtake, skippered by Cap’n Ronnie Reimers, weighed in a 335-pound marlin with the crew grinning and feeling that fame would be theirs as they posed for photos. The grins vanished on Saturday, however, when the Kirtake Kids heard that Team Miss Krista, skippered by Nicky deBrum, had weighed in a 337-pounder. Forty-two boats — 23 trolling teams and 19 bottom fishing teams — took part in the two-day 28th Annual Fisherman’s Day Tournament, which was run by the Marshalls Billfish Club.
Marshalls Billfish Club founding member Wally Milne won the 2009-2010 President’s Cup with a score 3,169 points, over 1,000 points ahead of the next contender, which was Ben Reimers who ended the year with 2,105 points.
Aliven trained to catch illegals
Nine fisheries and compliance officers from six islands, including the Marshall Islands, completed a course on monitoring, control and surveillance of illegal fishing on Friday, reported the Forum Fisheries Agency. RMI Sea Patrol’s Kyle Aliven represented the Marshall Islands at the course.
GIFF JOHNSON
A major overhaul of the Marshall Islands tax system is planned, with the aim of cutting taxes for low-income earners, changing business taxes, and eliminating import taxes in favor of a new sales tax.
The proposals are contained in a report to Cabinet from the Tax and Revenue Reform and
Modernization Commission appointed by
Minister Jack Ading nearly two years ago.
Cabinet endorsed the plan last month.
“Now the real work begins,” said Finance
Assistant Secretary Bruce Bilimon in
reference to working on the policy
recommendations, public awareness
and training. The aim, according to
Finance officials, is for the new tax
plan to be implemented in 2012. “We are
not rushing it because it’s a big step,”
said Finance Minister Jack Ading of the
new tax plan. The plan needs to be
approved by Nitijela, the Ministry of
Finance’s tax collection staff has to
be trained, and public awareness
raised, Ading said. “It will take a while,” he said.
The Tax Commission said the plan is not to create tax increases to existing taxpayers as a group. Key points for the new tax structure:
• Income tax: People earning below $4,160 a year ($2/hour) will see all their income become tax-free. Taxes on $4,161-$10,400 will stay the same at eight percent. But the current 12 percent tax will be
Yolani Matthew, a guard for the RMI women’s team, works out against Nathaniel ‘Baby’ Lometo, a national men’s team forward, during daily practices at ECC gym. The basketball teams, along with other athletes, are intensifying their workouts for the Micronesian Games. This Friday at 7pm, Mili and Kabin Meto face off for a May Day rematch at ECC to help basketball raise funds for Palau.
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limited to people earning between $10,401 and $20,800. Any income over this amount will be taxed at 16 percent.
• Business net profit (income) tax: Gross revenue tax (GRT) will be replaced by an income tax for businesses with revenues above $100,000 a year or for professionals grossing less than $100,000 annually. The tax rate is estimated to be 20 percent. Businesses with gross revenue under $10,000 a year will pay a flat rate tax (now $80, but subject to increase), while those in the $10,000 to $100,000 range will see two tax rates: three percent for trading companies, six percent for business providing services.
• Consumption tax: standard import duties, local government sales tax, hotel and resort tax will be replaced with a “consumption tax” of 10 percent that will be collected at the first point of sale.
• Excise taxes: The existing import duties on alcohol, tobacco, motor vehicles and fuels will be replaced with excise taxes. “Increase the existing low rates on alcohol, and decrease the existing high rates on beer to more nearly equalize taxation based on alcohol content.”
TRC finally back in action
At the conclusion of last week’s swearing in ceremony, TRC judges and their spouses posed with High Court Chief Justice Carl Ingram. From left: Mitha Elbon, Walter Elbon, Nora Loeak, Ingram, Botlong Loeak, Tommy Leban, Grace Leban. Photo: Giff Johnson.
Majuro, Ebeye prices edge up
After a year of price drops, the first and second quarters of the current fiscal year (October 2009-March 2010) produced a more than five percent increase in costs for both Majuro and Ebeye residents. The RMI government’s Economic Policy, Planning and Statistics Office (EPPSO) issued its first and second quarter consumer price index for the two urban centers. It shows that Ebeye’s consumer price index jumped 4.14 percent in the first quarter (October-December 2009) and continued to rise, though less dramatically, in the second quarter (January-March 2010) by 1.35 percent. Majuro prices increased 2.29 percent and 3.06 percent over the same periods.
Mejrirok Elementary School head teacher Walton Ruma.
SUZANNE CHUTARO
The remote island of Mejrirok has big pointers to offer schools around the country. You may be thinking, why Mejrirok? The pioneering public elementary school on this tiny island in Jaluit Atoll has blazed a path showing how to integrate culture and environment into school programs for educational success. With the Ministry of Education now beginning efforts to “Majolize” the nation’s school curriculum, it has an example of how it can work in Mejrirok Elementary School. Yet the story of Mejrirok Elementary School is beyond your average success story. The holistic approach to education didn’t only touch the lives of the students in the classroom, it brought the school to the community and the community to the school. But it wasn’t always this way for head teacher Walton Ruma, who runs this 30-student, three-teacher school on an island with a population of 120. "I would ring the school bell and look		 on as parents would take their children and go fishing for the day,” explains Ruma of the frustrations he faced before a UNESCO-funded pilot project began. “Now, after school, I have to tell the students: ‘school’s finished, go home.’ “But they tell me, ‘oh teacher we know, we’re just working on our own project and preparing these materials to make jakaro (coconut juice from the sap of the tree).’” Through a $15,000 grant from UNESCO, Pacific Resources for Education and Learning’s (PREL’s) Evelyn Joseph and Dr. Hilda Heine and Ministry of Education teacher trainer Hanna Lafita and Ruma partnered with Women United Together Marshall Islands and the Ministry of Resources and Development to work with the community of Mejrirok to connect student learning to their environment, culture and community. The project faced many challenges but the main hurdle was the community itself, which Joseph said “was split apart over differences that took hours of meeting and airing of grievances to overcome.
“Making peace (within the community) was our first task,” said Joseph. “The next challenge was the pigs” — which were wreaking havoc on the community gardening projects. Once the community was on board, the project began its real work and the goals of improving student literacy and connecting learning with everyday life began to fall in place.
“Local experts from the community were identified to teach and transfer life and traditional skills,” said Joseph. These practical exercises help students build their vocabulary as they learned words and phrases related to skills such as weaving and making ekkwal (sennit/coconut string). Meanwhile, through gardening projects the school was able to link math and science subjects — assessing the rate of plant growth, the elements needed for a plant to grow, and making hypotheses as to why plants died in certain areas and flourished in others. According to Joseph, a survey of plants taught the students lessons in math and helped them gain local knowledge of the different watos (parcels of land) on Mejrirok and the different names and varieties of breadfruit, pandanus, banana and coconuts. “(The pilot project) connected learning to their environment,” explains Heine. “It covered literacy, sustainable livelihood skills on an outer island and it empowered community members to participate in their children’s education.”

Journal 7/5/1985

Journal 7/3/1971
P1 (Editorial: Eniwetokese hopes bombed by Air Force intent to keep their atoll) Very funny gentlemen, very funny indeed. You humor is appreciated. Especially your tag-line at the end of the June 23 government news release: “The Air Force now only has a caretaker staff stationed on (Eniwetok) atoll. But military officials have indicated to the Trust Territory that they still have a need for the atoll, and that Eniwetok is not being abandoned as had been speculated in some recently published P1 The President of the Republic of Palau was shot and killed by an unknown assailant after returning to the vicinity of his residence at 12:30 am June 30. President Haruo Remeliik was shot three times in the head and throat area. Police as yet have identified no suspects and report only they are working on several possible leads. He was 52.
P1 The new Marshall Islands’ milk factory is scheduled to leave Denmark September 27 and should be in operation in Majuro by year’s end, according to Erik Brondum, regional sales manager of 3DC, the company providing the factory.
P15 Notice: Now Available! Lawn mower for rent from 6am-6pm. $10. Contact Laura Yokwe Yuk Club.
P16 Unak in Bako beat the Rita Cyclers in the second quarter, scoring 21 points and not allowing the Cyclers to score one point. At the end of the first quarter, Bako led 12-11. Hackney shot in eight and Rick four for Bako. The Cycler’s Brad hit for six, Buckle and Tadashi put in two each and Bermy sank a foul shot. The second quarter was a total loss for the Cyclers as Bako’s Hackney put in another eight, Denny seven, Rick four and Doug 2. Third quarter Cyclers tried to come back from 33-11 down. They closed to 43-32. But in the fourth, even with Brad’s 10 rebounds and Kejon’s six, Bako held on. Cycler’s Bermy, who scored seven in the third, scored eight of his team’s 14 in the quarter. But Bako were not easily discouraged as Hackney calmly put away all hopes the Cyclers had for the championship as he hit the boards for six more points, to give him 26 for the game. Rick sank three free throws, for a game total of 13. Final score, Bako 52, Cyclers 46. Refereeing were Rayner and Hemli, scorers: David and Bolal. Timer: Charles. Thanks guys.
reports.” But who’s kidding who? There haven’t been any “published reports” speculating that Eniwetok was being abandoned: this is just the way you like to talk about it, ignoring the fact that the real story here is that the people of Eniwetok want to return to their island, which you have deprived them of for the last 25 years.
P1 An anti-independence group, calling itself the Anti-Independence Party and composed of government officials, legislators and local businessmen, has been formed in Truk. According to Nick Bossy, Personnel Administrator for Truk and a self-claimed member of the new group, it was formed because some of Truk’s leaders believe that independence for Micronesia is impossible now and would be impossible 10 or 20 years from now.
P11 Notice: Eastern Gateway Hotel announces Buffet Dinners…Only $2.70. Sunday, July 4. Delicious Chinese style.

Journal 7/2/1993
P1 The first of 50 long line fishing vessels from China could begin arriving in the Marshall Islands next year if a preliminary agreement signed last week in Majuro pans out. “The deal with the Chinese looks good,” said Justin deBrum, the General Manager of the Marshall Islands Development Authority.
P2 With the purse seine fishing business in the throes of an extended slump, the Marshall Islands government has put its two seiners up for sale. The board of directors of the Marshall Islands Development Authority has given “the green light to sell both boats,” said MIDA GM Justin deBrum. The Korale and the Bold Fleet were joint ventures with American tuna fishermen. The Marshalls bought the fishing vessels in the late 1980s with financial assistance from the American
fisheries program. But neither are making money.
P4 Think about this stat. In just seven short days during the week of June, 24 pregnant women went into the delivery room and came out holding babies. There are 52 weeks in a year and if people here were really taking this baby-making business seriously, we could be harvesting a baby crop at least 50 percent higher than at present. The first week of June showed the production capabilities of this city. Why then have we tailed off to just one or two babies born every other day the rest of June. Let’s analyze what was happening in late August/early September that caused this escalation in babies in early June and keep up the pace. More is better, right?