GIFF JOHNSON
As the first Extraordinary Needs Distribution payment for 11 atolls and islands looms next month, Nitijela is considering legislation that would make all 24 local government jurisdictions eligible for END payments.
Bill No. 56 is titled the “Ejjelok Ad Act 2025” and aims to expand the definition of the END program under the Compact. The US and RMI trust fund committee recently approved distribution starting October 1 under the END program of nearly $20 million for 11 atolls and islands named in the Compact trust fund agreement.
“The purpose of this Act is to recognize that all atolls and islands across the Republic of the Marshall Islands face persistent and exceptional hardships due to the nuclear legacy, geographic isolation, limited arable land, housing inadequacies, and constrained local economies,” says Bill No. 56.
“This Act affirms the Republic’s intention to invoke the full scope of Article 18 of the Compact Trust Fund Agreement to ensure all Marshallese communities are included under the definition of Extraordinary Needs (END) and are eligible for corresponding compensation, assistance and development planning.”
The lead introducer of the bill is Majuro Nitijela Member David Kramer. He was joined by Vice Speaker Isaac Zackhras, Ministers Wisely Zackhras, Tony Muller and Bremity Lakjohn, Speaker Brenson Wase, and Nitijela Members Daisy Alik-Momotaro, Wilbur Heine and Bruce Bilimon.
“The phrase ‘Ejjelok Ad’ — ‘We have nothing’ — captures the voice of communities who feel excluded from systems of justice, compensation and restoration.”
Bill No. 56 says that both as “a matter of national unity and moral imperative” the RMI government needs “to formally seek and secure mutual agreement with the United States Government to expand the END designation to all Marshallese atolls and islands.”