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Friday, October 26, 2007
Mote's denial
In a letter to the Journal, Detective Langidrik Mote (right) denied that he had anything to do with breaking up billboards set up to coincide with the arrival of the ROC President. His letter was in response to a civil suit being filed in the High Court, charging him with the act. At the time Mote was on official duty as the driver for the President of Nauru.
Family relief on return of boy

E-mail:
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Phone:
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Fax:
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Mail:
   PO Box 14
   Majuro, MH 96960
   Marshall Islands

In Person:
   On the ocean road
   behind Formosa
   in Uliga, Majuro
Fiber optic cable? Forget it
Despite a US Army official stating recently that NTA can start talking with an Army contractor about the upcoming fiber optic telecommunications cable, NTA chief Tony Muller said this is not the case.
As of Tuesday this week, Muller was advised by the Army contractor TKC that it is, in fact, not ready to discuss the project.
Ching Fu,
EPA agree
The Taiwan company Ching Fu has approved an RMI EPA-drafted marine environmental management plan, moving the long-proposed dry-dock plan a step closer to reality.
Following Ching Fu’s recent acceptance of the plan, it now needs EPA board approval, which is largely a formality.
Brush with death
Several Marshall Islands residents missed disaster by minutes or hours last Friday in Manila.
That’s when a powerful bomb blast ripped into a Manila shopping mall, killing at least 10 people and injuring more than 150. Entertainment Center’s Mike Slinger had passed by the area where the bomb went off several times just before noon on Friday. The bomb exploded at about 1:15 pm.
A long-standing child custody dispute boiled over into an international incident last week, involving the RMI courts and the Attorney General, US Homeland Security and Immigration, and a four-year-old Marshallese boy. When Majuro resident and RMI citizen Riyad Mistry took his four-year-old son on last week Monday’s Continental flight to Honolulu in violation of a court order, RMI law enforcement moved with unprecedented speed to get the child back to Majuro. AG Posesi Bloomfield faxed US Homeland Security that Mistry, who has both an RMI and an Indian passport, had illegally obtained a passport for his son and taken him out of the country. This violated a court order that governs when Mistry can see the boy. The AG asked Homeland Security to detain the two on arrival Monday night and return the son on the next available flight. But that was easier said than done. First, there were the logistics of getting documents to Honolulu officials well after normal business hours that involved the US Embassy, Continental Airlines, and US Immigration. And second, there were multiple legal hurdles, including that US Immigration could not detain Mistry because he holds a US “green card” that allows his entrance to the US.
Express mail 'banned'
Despite the availability of express mail delivery service to the Marshall Islands, RMI election law makes it illegal for a ballot to be sent to Majuro using this expedited mailing service provided by the US Postal Service.
The issue relates to the election law requiring that “the covering reply envelope must be placed in the mail and be postmarked on or before the date of the election.” The express mail service requires using a USPS-provided envelope, which prevents a postmark from being put on the covering reply envelope.
Some local voters have complained about not being able to use express mail, which generally improves delivery time of mail from the US to Majuro.
The RMI Attorney General told the Journal this week that the Electoral Administration has no leeway in handling this matter.
• Information and applications can be obtained from the Electoral Administration, or for those who are Internet inclined, check www.rmigovernment.org/alt_content.jsp for downloadable .pdf application forms and other election information.
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