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Mail:
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Majuro, MH 96960
Marshall Islands
In Person:
On the ocean road
behind Formosa
in Uliga, Majuro
tuna deal
Pacific countries, including the Marshall Islands, went to the annual Tuna Commission meeting last week in Guam with high expectations that agreement would be reached to reduce yellowfin and bigeye tuna catches. But they left empty handed after a few Asian fishing nations refused to back plans to cut back on catches for the two threatened tuna species.
Marshallese 'time bomb' in Arkansas
Marshall Islanders are among the unhealthiest people in the world, yet the large Marshallese immigrant population in Northwest Arkansas is not eligible for most federally-funded health care programs, state officials told a legislative panel earlier this week in the Arkansas capital of Little Rock.
AMI expected to be down for a while
Anyone thinking about flying to an outer island anytime in the near future had better make alternative plans. AMI’s Dornier has been grounded since August 18 — that’s four months as of next week — and the Dash-8 has been out of service since October 10 — two months and counting.
Gasoline breaks
the $5 barrier
Gas prices broke the $5 per gallon for the first time ever in Majuro last Friday. Local gas stations, responding to the latest Mobil price hike raised their prices, with the high being at $5.09. This sparked discussion among local taxi drivers about increasing taxi fairs in the downtown area from the current .75 cents to $1.
Cops slow
National police have yet to send evidence for off-island DNA testing from an assault that happened nearly three months ago in Majuro. Police Commissioner George Lanwi told the Journal that blood-soaked clothing found at the scene of a brutal house invasion and attack on Bank of Marshall Islands president Patrick Chen is to be sent to a Guam crime lab “later this week or next week.”
Election protest
A small AKA-sponsored demonstration was held in front of the Electoral Administration on Tuesday charging that the Majuro portion of the election was illegal because it violated the constitution by being held on Monday and Tuesday.
Five confined voters lodged a complaint with the Journal this week saying they were denied their right to vote in this year’s national election by the Electoral Administration despite properly requesting confined voter status.
Anikeo Mojilong, a Rongelap voter who’s an amputee, told the Journal on Tuesday that he did all his paperwork on time and on election day he made repeated follow up phone calls to Electoral officials who kept telling him “we’re coming” but never did. Rumlus Edgar, also a Rongelap voter and pole watcher for Rongelap’s Nitijela candidate Atbi Riklon, says he too made repeated phone calls for other confined Rongelap voters who waited for Electoral officials who never showed up. Riklon lost by 13 votes to Kenneth Kedi.
These five confined voters included Billiet Edmond, who lives in Rairok, Tanida Jorju from Teroñ, Joni Joel who also resides in Rairok and Maxson Jobtak who lives just past the airport in the Rongelap houses at Andrew Bing’s place.
He said he firmly believes that many of the independent senators-elect are “UDP-leaning” and that UDP members have not jumped ship to the opposition, as the AKA has claimed. The Taiwan-China issue is at the top of Alik’s mind, and he said as a representative of Majuro voters, he strongly objects to the AKA leaders saying that if they get control of the government, they will drop relations with Taiwan in favor of China. “What about the farmers (that Taiwan helps)?” he asked. “What about the micro loans, the solar power, the construction projects?”
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