Journal 12/9/1977
P7 Interior Plumbing & Aeronautics by Joe Murphy Recently a special Committee on Resources and Development appointed by HiCom Adrian Winkel came to Majuro to meet with local authorities and business people to find out what could be learned about the development desires of the Marshallese people. As Kozo Yamada, chief of Land and Surveys and chairman of the special committee, said in introductory remarks to the business community: “We have come to see how we can help if possible.”
Such, of course, is the frame of mind one always comes to the district with. People leave Saipan and come to the districts to “help” the districts. Included in Yamada’s introductory remarks was mention of a mysterious district plan for the Marshalls that the special committee people had been promised a copy of but which had not yet been made available.
Ron Levy of RRE said he did not see how he could talk about development since the committee didn’t have the plan and the local authorities did not make the plan available to the local business people. By way of explanation, though not necessarily by way of clarification, Economic Development advisor Howard Ladd said that the nature of the plan and the time and so on and so forth, was, as you can imagine, well…critical not to be dripped in small insignificant pieces, but save, stored, not made public, until, we suppose, it biomes forgotten about or replaced by a less significant plan that can be made public. Howard didn’t exactly use these words, but any deviation between what is implied here and what Howard said will be forthcoming in an additional interpretation supplied by Howard himself.
So, what do you do in a meeting when around 30 business people sit and hear that the plan they have come to discuss is not available either to the guys conducting the meeting or to the attendees?
Journal 12/14/1990
P10 Jepta practice A Long Island jepta is really in step and practicing every night under the direction of Jack Ading. Meantime, a jepta in Jenrok is made up of many small children who dance with a lot of energy.
P19 Delap school opening Marie Maddison was invited to open the new school buildings recently constructed. When it came time to cut the ribbon, there were no scissors, so she untied it.
P28 Seaweed potential money-maker for outer islands Seaweed planted near Kalalen Island and on Mili and Likiep atolls is growing well, increasing its potential as a way for outer islanders to earn money. Dr. Richard Zingmark, a marine biologist who used to teach at the College of Micronesia, returned to Majuro last week to check the experimental seaweed projects he started earlier in 1990 and was pleased with what he found.
Journal 12/10/1999
P1 UDP press official promises: No more $ sucking The opposition United Democratic Party — which is expected to throw off the “opposition” monicker by forming the government in the Marshalls in early January — campaigned on an anti-corruption, reform-oriented platform. UDP spokesman Alvin Jacklick says it’s now time to make words a reality. In a country where politicians have become used to special privilege and conflict of interest, his words may come as a shock. “We asked the people to vote for us,” he said. “Now that they’ve done that, we have to fulfill our obligation. If we don’t deliver, it will be a big fiascos for our organization.”