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Friday, August 8, 2008
| Change of command at Kwajalein Col. Stevenson Reed received a warm send off from US and RMI officials, while incoming Kwajalein Commander Col. Frederick Clarke was welcomed to the job at last Thursday’s change of command ceremony at the US Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA). President Litokwa Tomeing, US Ambassador Clyde Bishop and Lt. General Kevin Campbell, who heads the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command, headlined a group of VIPs who turned out for the well-attended event. Tony pushes US on Ben's DC job Foreign Minister Tony deBrum has asked top US State Department officials to formally address the RMI’s nomination of Ben Graham as its Ambassador to Washington — an appointment that, nearly four months after it was made, remains up in the air. “Until we receive a formal written rejection of Ben, the issue is still alive,” deBrum told the Journal this week. Lights go off in Ebeye At 5 pm Tuesday, Ebeye’s only working engine suffered a main bearing failure and the island is expected to suffer at least 48-hours with no power until KAJUR can repair the problem. According to the Marshalls Energy Company Manager Steve Wakefield, the main stores, NTA, and Ebeye hospital are running on back up generators. |
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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 |
Photo Giff Johnson
There has been a change of management at Air Marshall Islands. Bill Capelle, who managed the airline from 1982 to 1992, is back as acting General Manager of the national airline. He replaces Dan Fitzpatrick, who had managed the airline since May 2004. Fitzpatrick is to move back to his previous position as chief inspector in the Division of Quality Assurance for AMI, Capelle told the Journal Wednesday. He confirmed that the AMI board had asked him to take over as acting GM. He also said that the Dornier, which has been grounded since last August, is expected to be flown to Taiwan for a major overhaul later this month. This could take from three-to-six months, Capelle said.
The Marshall Islands government is making headway to get both landowner and US agreement for long-term use of Kwajalein — but Foreign Minister Tony deBrum said there is no question that to get a new land use agreement (LUA) signed by the landowners, the military use and operating rights agreements (MUORA) in the Compact will have to be changed. DeBrum, in an exclusive interview with the Journal, said numerous proposals are being discussed by the landowners “to break the logjam,” though he acknowledged there is much to do before a new LUA is a possibility. The landowners are currently facing a December 18 deadline to sign a new LUA or risk losing $20 million in rental payments that have accumulated in an escrow account. DeBrum said he is hopeful that the LUA issue can be resolved by then or in the alternative that if substantive progress toward a resolution is demonstrated the deadline can be removed by the US. DeBrum, who is one of three senators representing Kwajalein Atoll, said that the “landowners are not attracted by the $20 million, they are insulted by it. “Al Staymen (a key staff person with the US Senate Energy Committee) put (the December 18 deadline) in the original act (law) and he can remove it more simply than we can change the MOURA,” deBrum said. “We’ve been very forthcoming with the US about working to get agreement with the landowners.”
Kwajalein people are not against long-term use by the US, but they are not prepared to accept an agreement that perpetuates the current situation at Ebeye, deBrum said. DeBrum sees a proposal for inexpensive power as “an imaginative way to try to break the impasse (over the LUA).” He is pushing a plan for an Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) power system for Ebeye and Kwajalein. “This would add a $200 million asset to the landowners' portfolio and provide virtually free power and water (for the atoll),” he said.
Kwajalein people are not against long-term use by the US, but they are not prepared to accept an agreement that perpetuates the current situation at Ebeye, deBrum said. DeBrum sees a proposal for inexpensive power as “an imaginative way to try to break the impasse (over the LUA).” He is pushing a plan for an Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) power system for Ebeye and Kwajalein. “This would add a $200 million asset to the landowners' portfolio and provide virtually free power and water (for the atoll),” he said.
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