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Friday, October 10, 2008
| Getting tough on debt Marshalls Energy Company General Manager Billy Roberts said this week that the company is working with Attorney General Filimon Manoni to get tough on more than $900,000 owed to the electric company. Demand letters are expected to be issued shortly to debtors in an effort to begin collecting overdue accounts. $124M budget Speaker Jurelang Zedkaia last week signed into law the fiscal year 2009 national budget. It calls for spending $124.5 million from October 1 to September 20, 2009. US Compact and federal grants are providing $79.2 million and Taiwan funding another $9.2 million, accounting for 71 percent of the total revenue in this year’s budget. MISC ready for fishing launch The Marshall Islands Service Corporation (MISC) is gearing to launch a Marshallese-owned and run fishing business. Bank of Marshall Islands President and MISC President and CEO Patrick Chen told the Journal that following endorsement of the fishing proposal by the Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority, MISC is now aiming to raise $3 million in capital to launch fishing activities with two purse seiners. Copper thieves targeted A bill to help law enforcement officers identify people stealing electrical wire, copper parts and historical artifacts was introduced into Nitijela last week by Justice Minister David Kramer. Bill 29 would require scrap dealers and recyclers to keep a record of all sales and purchases of scrap metal, and prior to exporting scrap metal, the records would be inspected by law enforcement personnel. Krock says RMI must think big for OTEC The Marshall Islands could become the Saudi Arabia of the Pacific in energy production, a leading proponent of the alternative energy system known as “OTEC” told Marshall Islands leaders last week. “The equatorial zone is like an OTEC oil field,” said. Dr. Hans Krock of Energy Harvesting Systems (EHS). “By putting OTEC plants along the equatorial belt, you can produce all the world’s energy needs.” |
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E-mail: |
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Phone: |
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Fax:
(692) 625-3136 |
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Mail:
PO Box 14 Majuro, MH 96960 Marshall Islands |
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In Person:
On the ocean road behind Formosa in Uliga, Majuro |
A visiting US State Department official told the Journal Friday that there is no question that a law passed by the Nitijela earlier this year conflicts with US requirements that government funding cannot be used for private benefit. The issue, said Alcy Frelick, is how to resolve the conflict between the new law that makes any “reclaimed” or newly created land the property of adjacent landowners and US requirements that public money cannot be used for the benefit of private individuals. Frelick is the new Director of the State Department’s Office for Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Island Affairs. The conflict could disrupt the ongoing $16 million airport improvement project, funded by the US Federal Aviation Administration, which involves significant landfill work, she said. Foreign Minister Tony deBrum said he believes the issue is resolvable, but says the US government has yet to spell out the exact nature of the conflict. “This is something that the US tried to bring up at the (August) JEMFAC (Joint Economic Management and Financial Accountability Committee) meeting,” deBrum said. “We have requested that they identify for us the conflicting laws they refer to when they claim there is a conflict and are still awaiting that response.” “US funding cannot be used to create a private asset,” Frelick said. “Public money is for the public good.” “It’s not just the airport, but all future projects will be affected unless it is resolved,” US Ambassador Clyde Bishop said.
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The RMI Banking Commissioner ordered all local banks to reduce consumer loan interest rates to a maximum of 15 percent — a move that will have the most impact on Bank of Marshall Islands, which currently uses a 17 percent maximum rate for most consumer (personal) loans. Banking Commissioner Ann Marie Muller issued the order September 30, more than six weeks after getting Cabinet approval of the measure, and ordered that the banks implement the change on Monday this week (October 6). BOMI President Patrick Chen said the reduction in interest will reduce bank earnings by $1.5 million a year. He said the bank is now gearing to reduce hours of operations and of staff, and possibly cut back on various other services, including community donations, to reduce its costs to the mitigate losses. Muller said the “new lower rate is to assist the Republic of the Marshall Islands’ citizens to cope with the higher cost of living as a result of increases in the price of fuel, foods and other commodities.” The directive to the banks to reduce their unsecured consumer loan interest rates to 15 percent follows an unsuccessful effort earlier this year by some Nitijela members to pass legislation reducing the current interest rates allowed by the “usury” law of 24 percent. Chen expressed surprise that there was no prior consultation with the bank, since the provisions of the RMI banking law — which give the commissioner the power to issue orders setting maximum interest rates — requires consultation with local banks. Chen indicated that in discussions with Muller after receiving the letter, she has given the banks additional time to implement the new directive.
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P3 (Interior Plumbing and Aeronautics) Hey, did you happen to read the editorial on page 8 of this edition (“Pulling the country together”)? Evidently someone on our staff thinks that this is an example of what a good editorial ought to be. What a ridiculous idea! How are you to expect Congressmen to go and campaign in other districts where they (probably) do not speak the language? You don’t change your life and your values simply by changing districts. The way the Congress (of Micronesia) is set up now is adequate to deal with the problem of unity without getting too sticky about it. The editorial demands too much. I hope we come up with better material in the future.
P1 If you have trouble reading this then you had better go see the optometrist at the SDA school. Dr. Pete Heinrich will be here until Sunday. The prescriptions he makes will be taken back to the states to be filled.
P1 It’s supposed to be off-peak season for the airlines, but virtually no mail is being flown into Majuro this month by Continental Micronesia because of heavy cargo and passenger loads — forcing first class mail to be shipped on Matson’s barge. No mail has arrived in Majuro since the end of September, a week ago Tuesday.