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Inside Stories
Friday, March 26, 2010
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56 Roi-NoMore
Ni hao Ma
Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou on Monday recognized a team of Taiwan medical doctors for restoring eyesight to nearly 40 Marshall Islanders, saying this was “a good way to provide for the desperate need for medical care of the people of the Marshall Islands.” “To see the patients’ faces after surgery encourages our people to do more (for the Marshall Islands),” he said at a gathering with doctors and 38 patients who have received cataract surgery over the past week in Majuro.
WASC praises Majuro Coop
Both Majuro Cooperative School and Assumption Schools underwent their own WASC visits and received stellar reviews. The visiting WASC team led by chairman John Keegan spent the early part of last week reviewing, observing and validating Coop School’s self study report. The visit culminated with a Wednesday afternoon verbal report to the Coop School community filled with praise, songs and gifts. During a special assembly on Friday, WASC officials reported that they were “awestruck” by their visit and they see Assumption Schools as very strong.
Hospital healing machine
Much excitement is coming from Majuro Hospital as they save diabetics from losing a foot or leg by using the fully operational hyperbaric chamber — a new lease on life free from amputation. “I could not feel anything in my foot,” said Jiblok Lang of his severely infected foot last month. But after two weeks of treatment in the chamber, “I can feel my foot again.”
Hawaii sets big day for students
A celebration of the Marshall Islands and education will be the focus of a big event being held in Honolulu next month.
The third annual “Marshallese Education Day” is set for April 17 at McCoy Pavilion in Ala Moana Park. It’s a celebration featuring recognition of Marshallese honor students, talks and appearances by Marshall Islands, state and US government leaders, Marshallese music and dancing, booths from various service providers and college student clubs — and, best of all, a free lunch for participants.
Making Friends
RMI President Jurelang Zedkaia with Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou in the
President’s conference
room on Monday.

Photo:
Douglas
Henry
Post office service provided by the US military for Marshallese base workers living on Santo (Third) Island in Kwajalein Atoll is being cut off after July 1, according to an announcement from the US Army Kwajalein Atoll. This Army action has raised concern of a Kwajalein elected leader, who has also called for the RMI government and its postal service to respond to the impending termination of mail service for the Roi Namur workers who live on Santo Island. “Per instruction from the Military Postal Service Agency, all postal services for PO Box 56, APO AP 96557 will cease, effective 1 July, 2010,” USAKA Major Christopher D. Mills advised RMI Representative to USAKA Jelton Anjain last week. “As of 2 July 2010, users of PO Box 56 must now access their post office services through the Ebeye Post Office. “All mail received at PO Box 56 after the 1 July 2010 deadline will be returned to sender.” Kwajalein Senator Tony deBrum said “Box 56” at Kwajalein has been used by Santo Islanders who work at Roi-Namur to get mail for countless years. “This is the only US Postal Service inlet for the
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Passport numbers high
An average of more than 30 people are gaining their citizenship every year through Constitutionally-allowed provisions, according to government statistics. While the government shut down passport sales in 1996, there has been a steady flow of people gaining citizenship through the relatively easy provisions prescribed by the RMI Constitution and Nitijela laws. Non-Marshallese are able to obtain citizenship through the High Court, through the Cabinet’s “public benefit” authority, and through the Attorney General’s office’s “naturalization” authority. The High Court’s authority is provided through the Constitution, while the Cabinet and AG’s office receive their authority to issue citizenships by Nitijela law. The Constitution specifies how a non-citizen can qualify for citizenship through the High Court, but does not limit the number the High Court can approve in any year. That is an average of 22 people per year receiving citizenship through the courts — or about three fourths of the average 30 who apply each year. The rest of the cases are pending. The Attorney General’s office on February 16 this year reported that 82 foreigners have received RMI citizenship from 2000 — an average of over eight per year.
Marshallese living in Santo who depend on Roi-Namur for everything,” he said. “They are workers on the base and have enjoyed this service since time immemorial.” DeBrum said he spoke with US Postal Service manager for the Micronesia area Leo Tudela “about this when I met with him in Saipan and was under the impression the USPS was ok with it.” DeBrum says he is concerned that this is another in a series of recent negative developments from the military that are causing problems for Marshallese workers at the base. “If the military has a problem with it (use of Box 56), the problem had to start somewhere,” deBrum said. “We have got to find this demon thinking up all these stupid things to irritate Marshallese workers.” Meanwhile, Mills told Anjain last weekend by email that he was providing a heads up on the Box 56 closure “to ensure that there is no surprise (regarding) the Box 56 closure. “I wanted to ensure that Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the RMI government is aware of this announcement prior to it going public.”
An amendment to the Citizenship Act during the just concluded Nitijela session seeks to make it more difficult for people to qualify for citizenship through AG’s office “naturalization” procedure. The law increases the number of years of residency required to qualify for RMI citizenship from seven to 10, and also limits to 10 the number of citizenships that can be approved in any year. But since the Attorney General’s office reported to the Nitijela last month that it has averaged about eight citizenships per year between 2000-2009, the limit of 10 is not likely to have a major impact in reducing the number of passports issued annually, and it also specifically exempts all applications filed prior to the bill being approved in March from the 10-year residency required. Of the 82 citizenships approved by the AG’s office since 2000, 41 — half — were for people from Taiwan and China. The next largest group was Filipinos (16), followed by South Koreans (11). Eight people from Kiribati were naturalized, as were three, two and one from Ethiopia, Japan and Nigeria, respectively. For 37 High Court citizenship cases filed in 2009, the highest number is from I-Kiribati (16), while Chinese account for 12 or about one-third of those applying. The rest are a small number of people from the Philippines and other Pacific islands. By law, the Cabinet is limited to five and the AG’s office to 10 in any calendar year. In the five years from 2005 to 2009, 115 cases were filed in the High Court seeking citizenship for 150 individuals. Only three petitions involving four people were rejected, while 85 cases for 111 people were approved for citizenship, High Court records show.
Bye-bye to RMI friend
Japan Charge Dr. Kazuyuki Ohdaira was farewelled in style last Friday at the Long Island Restaurant. This team of youngsters from the Baptist School in Rita sang the national anthem to kick off the event. Ohdaira was scheduled to depart Majuro on Thursday this week after three years as head of the Japan Embassy. Photo: Suzanne Chutaro.
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Journal 3/27/1971
P10 A visit to Majuro last Sunday by Ambassador at large David Kennedy failed to impress at least one member of the Congress of Micronesia. Calling the Ambassador’s three-hour call in Majuro a waste of time, Representative Ekpap Silk said that when he and other members of Congress went to the Distad’s house for a meeting with Kennedy they were curtly informed that the Ambassador could only grant them a half hour.
“It was annoying to be told that the Ambassador could spend only 30 minutes with us after Isaac Lanwi and I had gone down to the airport at 1:30. No one told us that the plane was going to be delayed.”
The young Marshalls Congressman said that the meeting was pointless and certainly gave the Ambassador no insight into the Marshalls, no matter how superficial a report is to be made to President Nixon. An informal poll of people standing around the airport at the time of the arrival of the Ambassador turned up an even more startling fact: of the 62 people asked who the guy was that got off the plane, 47 had no idea or else thought it was John, Edward, or Bob Kennedy.

Journal 3/29/1985
By Bill Graham: Another historical Pacific retail landmark passed into history, the victim of a devastating fire. Like MIECO here in Mauuro, whose collapsed roof several years ago led to its eventual razing, like the Truk Trading Company in Moen and the Western Carolines Trading Company in Koror, both of which burned down, the old KITCO Commissary is no more. The building, which until Monday this week housed the two dual outlets of G&L Enterprises’ Midtown Mini-Store and Video Rental Shop, and Lloyd and Pat Muno’s Seven Degrees North and Cooler, was totally decimated by a roaring blaze which broke out just after closing of the two late night operations purveying TV tapes and ice cream to a regular and steady crowd. Once the important headquarters of the Kwajalein Import and Trading Company’s burgeoning empire, the building had a long and glorious history since its construction in the 1950s.
For many years, KITCO Store was THE PLACE to shop in Majuro, offering a wide variety of dry goods and food items. Together with MIECO, it “bookended” downtown Majuro. It was the first store to have a regular supply of frozen meat and the first to market fresh produce from Laura. Over the years, several tenants occupied various parts of the building, adding to its attraction. The Bank of America branch first opened in the northwest section, later taken over by Seven Degrees North, and expanded into the cashier’s section at KITCO before relocating to the RRE Building.
Time and RRE eventually threatened to bypass the old Commissary and some rough times ensued. In the early 1970s, the Blue Shirts took over, creating TASC, the apt acronym for the ill-fated Trans-Atoll Service Corporation. The infamous Ray
Quackenbush and his grandly planned Specialties, Inc. was there, and also several different snack bar operations in the southwest corner, dispensing fast food for a takeout type counter window. Former Minister of Internal Affairs Wilfred Kendall was one of those involved with the snack bar in the late 1960s. For a while it looked like the place would survive quite nicely until the bottom fell out for the Blues and Quack.
Recently, however, the building’s fortunes had taken a distinct turn for the better. Grant and Louise Labaun opened Midtown Mini in 1983 and immediately served notice that a properly run small local business could not only survive, but could grow prosperous as well. Minister of Justice Ruben Zackhras brought some life to the area for a while with his video game arcade, soon replaced by the Cooler, Majuro’s first and only ice cream parlor. Grant ultimately completed the facelift in late 1984 by moving his video rental operation out of his house in back and into the double-doored main entrance area of the old commissary. Again, the building was a vibrant and attractive member of the community. Now, though, she is gone and in the middle of a dark night, with the new moon already set, she is a bleak and smoldering shell of what she was.
No matter what takes its place, the Commissary will continue to live in the hearts and minds of the many who enjoyed it in an earlier, simpler age when it was the pearl of a laid back country town destined for bigger things.