GIFF JOHNSON The big news coming from several hours of meetings on Pohnpei Monday between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and President Hilda Heine and leaders of the FSM and Palau is Pompeo’s announcement that negotiations to extend Compact funding agreements have begun. The post-2023 period, when US grant funding for RMI and FSM […]
Representatives of the COFA Alliance National Network (CANN) met with President Hilda Heine late last month during a visit to Majuro to participate in the Association of Pacific Island Legislatures (APIL) meeting. Project Coordinator David Anitok and Board Member Loyd Henion, both of whom were founders of the organization, met with the President. Heine conveyed […]
FLOYD K. TAKEUCHI Majuro Atoll in the late 1950s defined a quiet, slightly shabby backwater Pacific port town. There were still many reminders of the war, which had ended only about 15 years earlier. Among the obvious reminders were Quonset huts, pre-fabricated half-moon structures whose skin was corrugated metal, which were commonplace. Two of the […]
Marshall Islands weightlifter Mattie Sasser, now competing for Team USA, has done it again. Earlier this week at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru she set three new American weightlifting records for her 64kg (141 pounds) weight category on her way to winning a silver medal. She came in second in a field of […]
The Association of Pacific Island Legislatures met last week in Majuro, adopting a series of resolutions many of them focused on environment and renewable energy-related actions APIL wants to encourage. APIL’s membership is made up of US-affiliated islands in the north Pacific, including Hawaii, and Nauru and Kiribati. APIL expressed its support and encouragement for: […]
GIFF JOHNSON From a modest start as a retail facility for fresh fish and handicrafts, the Misco Market in Majuro continues to expand, adding a wholesale operation, food processing, local produce, and soon a sizable walk-in freezer and cold storage facility to store fish for both local and export markets. The Misco Market is a […]
GIFF JOHNSON The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) confirmed this week what it and numerous others have reported earlier: Both the Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia trust funds are likely to have years when there is no money to distribute after Compact grant funding ends in 2023. A new report released Tuesday this […]
KELLY LORENNIJ Canvasback’s Opthalmology and Retinal Mission has seen over 250 patients since it opened clinic July 15. The eye team has successfully conducted over 60 eye surgeries. Patients are given primary and routine eye care, which means that while the team diagnoses and treats patients they also see to prescriptions for people who just […]
GIFF JOHNSON “Cancer risk and non-cancer hazard are unacceptable for adult and child Marshallese residents under numerous evaluated fish consumption scenarios,” says a new 276-page report on the contamination of reef fish at Kwajalein and nearby islands of the US Army Garrison — Kwajalein Atoll. The latest US Army report confirms that fish in many […]
KELLY LORENNIJ The first-ever National Export Strategy for the RMI underwent final validation late last month for finalization before informing and seeking endorsement from Cabinet. The strategy is a long-term plan that has, after intense consultation with government and private sector, identified five major sectors, which include fisheries, tourism, pandanus, coconut and handicrafts in the […]
