BOMI’s best year ever

TW-pic-4-8Journal 4/11/1975

P13 Ponape Legislature approves salaries Ponape District Legislature passed a bill last week setting salaries for the lawmakers annually at $6,000 and $7,000 for the speaker. While legislature observers feel the bill has a good chance of being accepted by Distad Leo Falcam, Falcam’s number two man Bermin Weilbacher said the chances of the bill being inked were not good. Although Weilbacher wouldn’t offer specific reason, presumably the administration considers the salary figures too high.

Journal 4/12/1991

P5 Close Up For the first time in the Marshall Islands, high school students from Majuro, Ebeye and Jaluit will be participating in a Local Close Up program on April 10-11. More than 100 students all gather for an intensive look at the actual functioning of the RMI government in its three major branches. Under the coordination of Marshall Islands High School principal Troy Barker, the event is sponsored by the Close Up Foundation in Washington, DC.

P21 TT leaving Saipan headquarters The sun is about to set on the last vestige of the historical Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands’ presence in Saipan. The US Interior Department will move the dwindling headquarters’ functions to Palau, the world’s only United Nations trusteeship, possibly by October 1. “It is the last act,” said Sam McPetres, coordinator of archives and international organizations for the Trust Territory transition office. “We’re fading into the night.”

Journal 4/14/2000

P1 Arms (not nuclear) on hospital’s agenda Majuro hospital is setting in motion actions to deal with problem areas in an effort to improve services to the public, said acting hospital administrator Sandy Alfred. The hospital has been without the services of a prothesis-making staff for more than four years, and this need tops the priority list because of the large number of individuals who need artificial arms and legs construction to improve their disability situation, he said.

P3 Future Nitijela members? Assumption students Penny Kabua, Neri Wase and Veronica Silk were at the capital building recently getting a taste for the seat of power in RMI, and from the looks of things, they liked what they saw. So stay tuned for election 2007.

P4 Chen: Bank plans to expand after top year Bank of Marshall Islands had its best year ever in 1999, with a record-breaking 45 percent growth in loans and 26 percent jump in deposits. BOMI President Patrick Chen said the key to the bank’s success is its experience in the local market and its management.

P6 Passport trivia Want to know how many RMI passports were sold to foreigners during the hey-day of passport sales — from June 1993 to August 1996? We saw the list of sales and the total was 1,764 sold.

P7 Older, better Matt Holly thinks he’s due a little recognition after demolishing all-comers, including a number of teenagers, in CMI’s 6.5K run last Saturday. Hey, he says, I’m a 196 lb., 45-year-old guy and I beat a bunch of high school students.

P9 Incident sparks interest in CPR The near-drowning in Majuro last weekend of a nine-year-old girl — prevented by the timely use of CPR — has triggered a strong push to get emergency safety trainings started. Bill Weza, Outrigger’s food and beverage manager, with the help of Co-Op teacher Erica Martin, saved the life of a young girl on Saturday who was swimming at the hotel pool. “I’m just glad I work for a company that required CPR training,” Weza said.