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Friday, May 15, 2009
This Week's
Inside Stories
Tomeing heads
to Japan talks
President Litokwa Tomeing will head to the Pacific Area Leaders Meeting (PALM) in Japan next week. The every three-year summit brings Pacific heads of state together with Japan Prime Minister Taro Aso. Foreign Minister John Silk is expected to accompany the President.
Lorak: UES will have new home this year
Come school year 2009-2010 Uliga Elementary School will be housed in a new school, albeit temporary. Education Minister Nidel Lorak said Wednesday at Nitijela the government has decided that for now a temporary UES will be established on leased land. Although the minister didn’t identify the land in question, he said it would be a 25-year land lease.
Kwaj escrow over $23m
Rent for Kwajalein Atoll accumulating in an escrow account is now over $23 million, according to the Ministry of Finance. The funds being held by the Bank of Guam now amount to $23,365,984 as of the end of April, according to Finance.
Review not 'a renegotiation'
An upcoming Compact review is not an opportunity for renegotiation of the treaty between the United States and the Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia, US Ambassador Clyde Bishop told the Journal before departing RMI late last month. “There appears to be some misunderstanding about this five-year review,” Bishop said. “It is not a renegotiation of the Compact.” He said the Compact requires the US executive branch to give a report to the Congress on the first five years of the relationship with the RMI and FSM.
Banny heads back
to Washington?
Former RMI Ambassador to Washington Banny deBrum is scheduled to return to the post later this year, according to Foreign Minister John Silk. Silk told the Journal Friday that he was waiting for feedback on the nomination from the US government, after which a resolution would immediately be introduced to the Nitijela to confirm deBrum to fill the vacancy in the DC Embassy. If the US ‘okay’ was not forthcoming quickly, then the appointment will wait until the August session of the Nitijela, he said.
Copra loss of $1.2m in 2009?
Tobolar is on track to lose $1.2 million for the year. “It’s a huge issue,” new R&D Minister Mattlan Zackhras (pictured) told the Journal this week. He said Tobolar has been losing $100,000 a month because of the gap between the world market price and the high price paid to RMI copra makers. After peaking in June 2008, world market prices for coconut oil dived and have stayed far below last year’s peak. Zackhras said the Cabinet has been discussing the problem, following meetings with Tobolar management. He said the Cabinet has identified possible sources of funding to help Tobolar maintain the price at current levels. “There are some funding sources we’re looking at,” he said. “It’s a matter of the Cabinet approving it.”
Speaker angered by senators' no show
By GIFF JOHNSON
Nitijela’s longest-running January session may finally end this week. But thanks first to government’s request to call off Monday’s meeting after roll call because of the many activities that day related to the Taiwan navy visit, and Tuesday’s surprising lack of a quorum, the session just kept getting longer.
With nearly 20 bills and a dozen resolutions pending, the expected “last day” of the session has stretched for more than a week. Last week, the legislators repeatedly became mired in debate during the “question and answer” period — on land lease payments, court cases and swine flu — and moved slowly on pending legislation. Speaker Jurelang Zedkaia (pictured) was unhappy with senators for their late arrival or no show Tuesday that caused the first lack of quorum since he became speaker nearly a year and a half ago. In comments to the Journal, he criticized the Cabinet for having so many of its members traveling off-island when “must-pass” Cabinet-introduced bills are pending. Five of 10 Cabinet members are off-island this week. “The reason we’re still in session is because the President and Cabinet said there is legislation that could not wait until August,” Zedkaia said, referring in particular to pending banking and anti-money laundering bills. When the Speaker held roll
call Tuesday at 10:30am — 30 minutes later than normal start time — only 15 members (including the Speaker and the President) were present. Nitijela could have had a quorum Tuesday but two government side senators were late to arrive, and all opposition senators — some of whom were present prior to roll call — left the Nitijela before the Speaker called the meeting to order. “Public servants have to clock in to their offices at 8am,” Zedkaia said. “Why can’t we make it by 10am?” He said senators not showing up by 10am set a poor
example for the nation. Zedkaia said Tuesday’s no quorum situation was only the second time in his 20 years in parliament that this had happened. Wednesday the Nitijela fared better, with enough senators present and accounted for so the meeting moved forward. They spent most of the morning on Cabinet ministers’ reports and the question and answer period. Nitijela broke for lunch, with plans to come back in the afternoon as the Journal was going to press. Zedkaia told the Journal Wednesday morning he hoped this would be the last meeting day of the current session, with the Nitijela recessing until early August.
This Journal file photo shows the Nitijela chamber.

Journal 5/16/1972

Journal 5/14/1976
P1 Congress of Micronesia Representative Ataji Balos has attempted to halt the May 17 inspection trip to Eniwetok Atoll by various members of the Trust Territory Headquarter’s staff and representatives from Ujelang. It was Balos’ intent to postpone the trip until he returned from the United Nations where he will be testifying before the UN Trusteeship Council. A cable sent to the Marshalls congressman by Deputy High Commissioner Peter T. Coleman
P1 News of a serious setback relating to US Congressional funding of the $1.8 million Marshalls Human Development Project (MHDP) reached here last week. The US House of Representatives failed to approve the funding and the question now rests with the US Senate.
P6 By Stony Having coffee
by Tibrikrik Restaurant, with Wally, and I saw some guys working on the warehouse, so I told Wally, Hey! I wonder what they’re building over there, so Wally told me, why don’t you go find out from Tibrik? So I told him, good idea, I better go talk to him while he’s there, so I walked up to him and asked, hey Tibrik what are you building now, it’s just an extension for the store, he said. What you trying to do, compete with Kitco or Mieco? I asked. He say, no Stoney, it’s just because of spending more money on the small store, but the big store, it’s gonna be a self-service, and one girl at the cashier, which is easier for the customer, and the cashier, cause right now a customer have to come and tell the girl what he need, then the cashier will get it for him, but with the bygone, you can just go ahead and help yourself, and the cashier will just sit by the door, and it’s cheaper to operate that way. I asked him, what is that new building you’re building by the road to High School? Oh that’s another store, it’s gonna be another self-service store. Hey! That’s really good, Majuro is really coming up now, for all the new stores. What you think readers, Majuro should be Capital for Micronesia? See you next week.
indicated that in view of the fact several key persons from headquarters were prepared to go to Eniwetok on the 17th the trip would not be cancelled.
P1 A federal grant of more than $92,000 has been awarded the Marshall Islands District Museum Library Association. The funds will be used to construct a building to house the district museum and library.
P2 The notice below (advice concerning a rocket launch at Kwajalein) appeared recently in the Trust Territory’s only daily newspaper, the Hourglass. Notices such as this are characteristic of some of the curiosities of life found in Micronesia. The section of islands located north of the range area are called the Mid-Corridor islands. These islands are in the impact area for missiles sent from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Because of the potential danger to life, the original Marshallese inhabitants of the Mid-Corridor islands were moved to Ebeye. The Marshallese people take the comings and goings of missiles as a regular event. Besides making minimum US wages while working on Kwajalein, many islanders have found close friends among the missile site workers. Although Kwajalein is in fact an Army base, there are actually very few military personnel who live or work on Kwajalein. In all, Kwajalein makes the Marshalls (and Micronesia) one of the most technologically advanced areas in the Pacific — a hard to believe but true fact!

Journal 5/15/1992
P1 Tobolar’s new soap factory began producing its first bars of coconut oil soap earlier this month in Majuro and is getting ready to market the new soap locally. Majuro residents received free samples of the new product during Constitution Festivities as Tobolar workers handed out bars from their float in the parade.
P1 High-level Marshall Islands government officials have been subpoenaed to bring documents and testify in the passport-fraud case this Friday, but the government responded by filing a motion asking the High Court to reject the subpoenas. The five officials subpoenaed by Australian Greg Symons are Minister of Transportation Kunio Lemari, Minister of Internal Affairs Brenson Wase, Foreign Secretary Jiba Kabua, United Nations Ambassador Carl Heine and MIDA manager Howard Zeder. The subpoenas were filed with the High Court by Symons’ attorney David Strauss.
P4 Last week, Ambassador Bodde presented the Meritorious Service Award to his number
two at the embassy, Barbara Ash. After shaking her hand and congratulating her, he rounded the ceremony off by giving her a gentlemanly kiss. Which, he said, reminded him of a story involving Adm. Elmo Zumwalt. It seems that Zumwalt was in charge of the ceremony at which the first female naval officer was being promoted to the rank of admiral. After presenting her with her new rank, he reached over and pecked her on the cheek. Well, that rash move brought a landslide of negative press, accusing him of being a sexist chauvinist, fill in the blank. Zumwalt, never at a loss for words, remarked that he didn’t know what all the fuss was about: he’d kissed a lot of admirals to get where he was.
P4 Our friend LaBwera (aka Victor Milne) was in the other day getting a letterhead printed, and that’s a sure sign of business. He runs Marshalls Broadcasting Company and the rumor (which will shortly turn into fact) has it that he will soon be opening back up with a — get this — 13 channel cable network, offering live CNN, HBO, TBS, sports channels, etc. The whole nine yards, in other words.
P17 MIHS senior Yolanda Lodge took first place in a speech contest held last week as part of national Education Week. Students from MIHS, Assumption and Seventh Day Adventist high schools competed in the event held at the College of the Marshall Islands. The six speakers were rated by judges Rev. Enja Enos, Jeremy Adlam of CMI, and Timoci Serevi of Education.