HILARY HOSIA
The long-awaited “Enra Bwe Jen Lale Rara” universal payment update was shared by President Hilda Heine during the opening of Nitijela Monday.
The universal compensation scheme would provide money to Marshallese individuals as announced by President Hilda and her Cabinet early this year. The “Enra” plan, which is know internationally as a universal basic income system, was first supported by Nitijela late last year in a resolution introduced by Kwajalein Nitijela Member David Paul, now the Finance Minister.
The first Enra distribution is slatted to take place in December, President Hilda said in her speech. The Task Force created to develop the Enra plan will be presenting recommendations to the President and her Cabinet in the next few days.
The President also announced the issuance of a document that would provide the breakdown of activities and development done by the Cabinet since January. This involves the new Compact funding for RMI.
The breakdown will include the inclusion of two new vessels added to the RMI ocean fleet: MV Ailinglaplap and SV Juren Ae. President Hilda praised Juren Ae as an exemplary vessel that would set a precedent for other countries under the Low Carbon Sea Transport scheme.
Financial reform via digital transactions will also be shared by the Finance ministry in the following weeks, as well as the intention to ultimately spike the minimum wage to $5.25 over the next several years.
The President, however, warned Majuro to expect a continuation of power outages until power plant receives new engines to replace the old engines. These are not expected to arrive in Majuro for two years, President Hilda said based on advice from Marshalls Energy Company and the World Bank.
Also in her remarks, the President highlighted the government’s priority in the fight against illegal drugs, where she said enforcement must improve.