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Friday, November 21, 2008
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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
Wanted: Marshallese hotel workers
EU grants for
RMI going up next year
European Union funding for the RMI and the Pacific is going up over the next five years, the EU’s Ambassador to the region said in Majuro last week. EU Ambassador Wiepke van der Goot made his first visit to the RMI to represent his diplomatic credentials to President Litokwa Tomeing, and to review projects and future funding to the RMI. Funding for the Pacific is more than doubling in the new five-year EU funding cycle, 2008-2012, going from $39 million during the last five-year cycle to $95 million, van der Goot said. The RMI also stands to get a larger slice of the pie, going from $4.6 million Euros ($5.8 million) to $5.8 million Euros ($7.3 million) over the next five years.
Mona is the new prez for WUTMI
The national women’s organization elected a new slate of officers at the end of last week’s conference, naming Ramona Levy-Strauss as its new President. She replaces Carmen Bigler, who has held the top spot for Women United Together Marshall Islands for the past four years.
Litokwa Tomeing stays at home
President Litokwa Tomeing did not attend this week’s freely associated states Presidents’ Summit in Pohnpei in order to focus all of his attention on RMI-US relations. According to deputy chief secretary Fred Pedro, the President chose to remain at home to focus in on relations with the US, including the Kwajalein land use agreement issue that is facing a December 17 deadline for completion.
Canvasback boat approved by MOH
The Ministry of Health has approved a plan for Canvasback Missions to build and operate a vessel to provide health services to remote outer islands in the RMI. Canvasback President Jamie Spence made the announcement at last Friday’s Chamber of Commerce meeting at Marshall Islands Resort. “Canvasback will raise the money and build it,” Spence said. The plan is to build a 100-foot narrow steel vessel that can carry Ministry of Health and Canvasback health staff to the outer islands, he said.
By GIFF JOHNSON
Encouraged by a first group of Marshallese workers doing well, American labor recruiters are back in Majuro looking to recruit another 60-to-80 Marshallese for hotel jobs in the US. Practical Employee Solutions Director of Operations Veronica Strickland and a team of officials representing her company and Starwood Hotels is currently in town to interview and select a
second “pilot group” of Marshallese workers who will be flown to jobs in the US from January. Marshall Islands workers remain “an unproven option” for US hotels so future jobs depend totally on how well the current Marshallese group works out, Strickland said. For US employers, the fact that Marshallese don’t need visas to get into the US is a big advantage to hiring people from the RMI. But the current program also requires hotels to make a big upfront payment for one-way airfares that cost at least $1,500, which is then deducted from the workers’ salaries. For the first group, it cost more than $75,000 in airfares. “That’s a huge investment on a pilot program,” Strickland said. “I hope it will develop,” she said, adding that there is a big need for foreign workers in the US. “It all depends on the success of the people who go. If just one or two don’t work out, it’ll be a problem.” Despite some initial teething problems with the first group, things have gone well, she said. The aim for this second group is to send some to the US in January, and the second batch in June. Strickland said they are hoping to meet with bank officials while on island to discuss opportunities for loans for airfares to support recruitment of workers locally.
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Gas price still high in RMI
Local business, consumers and elected leaders are raising increasing concern over high gas prices that consumers in Majuro are forced to pay. World market fuel prices have fallen 60 percent from July to this week, but retail prices at Majuro gas stations have dropped only 16 percent during the same period. Local gas stations say they follow Mobil on gas price increases or decreases, while officially Mobil doesn’t say anything about its prices. Mobil officially says only that it has provided “a significant amount of savings” to Majuro gas stations since July and that local dealers are independent and set their own prices.
As of its last 30-cent price reduction on November 8, Mobil retails gas to the four Majuro stations for $4.47 per gallon, with the four percent MALGov tax adding 18 cents to the price to local stations, bringing the total cost to $4.65 per gallon to the stations. The stations are currently selling gas from $5.79 to $5.85 per gallon. But the Majuro price at the pump is nearly four dollars higher than in the US (which is now about $2 per gallon) and $2.70 per gallon higher than American Samoa, where gas is price controlled by the government, and is now selling at about $3.12 per gallon at the pump, with the wholesale price set at $2.65 by the government. “Gas in the United States is now averaging $2.20 a gallon throughout the USA,” said Chamber of Commerce Public Affairs Committee chairman Sam Smith to government and business leaders last week. “Seems like they must be paying air freight prices to get fuel to the Marshall Islands.” “Gasoline prices at the pump are a real big worry,” RMI Energy Task Force member Ben Graham said in response to Smith. “Oil prices have fallen by about 60 percent since they peaked in July of this year. Technically, you should see a commensurate fall in prices at the pump — with some time lag — but this isn’t happening.” Graham and others have encouraged the RMI’s Price Monitoring Board to investigate fuel pricing in the RMI. But Internal Affairs Secretary Wilbur Heine, who chairs the board, says the board has been focusing on prices in the outer islands because it believes that is the limit of its legal mandate. “We’re mindful of the fuel issue,” Heine told the Journal. “We’re getting the Attorney General’s interpretation (of the board’s mandate) for our meeting next week.”
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Journal 11/73
Journal 11/83
P1 In a rally held at the Palau Legislature Building on November 2, Senator Roman Tmetuchl spoke before over 100 high school students on the upcoming status negotiations in Washington and the future of Palau. “God did not create us (Palauans) to be under some other people and our
P1 Today is the day after the second constitutional Nitijela election, but ballot boxes for the most part remain sealed, awaiting the 24-hour delay in voting at Kwajalein. This delay is caused by the fact that Kwajalein follows US dates, necessary to coordinate missile activities. The key race would have to be the one run by foreign secretary Tony deBrum for a Majuro seat. Not only did this bid generate more than the average amount of activity, it also generated the largest amount of speculation. DeBrum’s bid was
ancestors were servants of the Spanish, Germans, Japanese and the Americans,” said Tmetuchl. “Now we have the opportunity to liberate ourselves and you must do it…In this world you have to struggle to survive and unless we fight we will be overwhelmed by selfish foreigners.” The pro-independence senator charged the young people with the “responsibility to control the destiny of Palau. This land is y ours and you must own it, and if someday you will be colonized like our ancestors and us today, it will be by choice because you have the chance now to be free and rule your country.”
P2 The Trust Territory government is gathering ammunition with the intention soon of doing something about the alcohol abuse problem, which is prevalent throughout the district centers of Micronesia. TT Mental Health Division Director Dr. Bob Fisher said he was very surprised to learn that the Marshalls district alone takes in over 39,000 cases of beer annually. “I can’t imagine where all the beer goes,” he said.		 against a fairly well entrenched slate of incumbents, numbering two ministers and a former minister in their ranks (Toke Sawej, Jina Lavin and Henry Samuel). The fourth incumbent was Hemos Jack. There was never any talk that deBrum was running in opposition to the fifth incumbent from Majuro: Amata Kabua. The Majuro race boiled down to a game of musical chairs: every major contender could be considered a possibly electable entity. But there were only four seats (not counting Kabua’s). The tactic by different candidates was to appear to be part of a special slate, such as Ailin Ken Ad or some such especially designated by the President. The notion of endorsement ran heavily throughout the race. In the final days, Kabua came forth with the statement that he had actually not endorsed any special slate and that all candidates were running on their own merit.
P2 (letter) After reading those letters from that group of clowns that have dared to challenge me in arm wrestling at the Lanai on November 25, I can only conclude that their muscles aren’t in their arms, but their mouths. They should have signed their name as “Muscle Mouth.” (Signed) Ironarm
Journal 11/98
P1 The Marshall Islands has the lowest percentage of local doctors practicing when compared to the Federated State of Micronesia and Palau. Statistics show that in FSM, 88 percent of all doctors are Micronesian, while in Palau 81 percent are Micronesian. In contrast, just 38 percent of the doctors working in Majuro and Ebeye are Marshallese or Micronesian.
P3 NTA has doubled the number of Internet modems from 16 to 32, ending the repeated busy signals that customers were getting previously. NTA deputy general manager Tommy deBrum told the Chamber of Commerce that so far during the first week of testing, the maximum number of Internet callers at one time was 26.
P4 Majuro Atoll Local Government plans to implement its new tax plan with the start of the new year. Since the ordinance was not rejected (by the Ministry of Internal Affairs) within 20 days, it now becomes law. The tax will place a four percent tax on the “first sales.”