Journal 1/19/1982
P6 Rep Seiberling hopes for Compact in ’83 US Representative John Seiberling told the welcoming crowd at the Majuro airport that 1982 is too early for completion of a Compact of Free Association. He added that he hoped the matter would be placed on the 1983 congressional agenda. Seiberling is chairman of the House Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands which has responsibility for the Trust Territory.
P6 Predicts Bikini solution Representative Don Marriott (Utah) predicted there would be a legislative solution for Marshallese exposed to radiation. In a conversation at a Lanai restaurant reception for the visiting US Congressional delegation, Marriott said he thought the case for compensation was better here than in his home state.
P7 Kendall: Marshall Islands fully capable of self-government Acting President Wilfred Kendall told the visiting US Congressmen the Marshalls “hopes you will carry back the message that we in the Marshall Islands are fully capable of self-government in the great ideals of the American Constitution which are embodied in our own national Constitution, and we hope that what you have sen here today in your brief visit will convince you that we do not want to be the economic dependents of any nation. We want to stand on our own two feet.”
Journal 1/21/1994
P3 Copra production plunges Copra production in 1993 took a sharp turn downward after a bumper crop in 1992, according to statistics released by the Tobolar Copra Processing Authority. Despite the continuing high government subsidy for copra, production in 1993 plummeted to 4,551 tons compared to a six-year high in 1992 of 6,044 tons. Tobolar management blamed the long-term effects of the 1992 drought and typhoons for the poor 1993 numbers.
P11 Ship’s captain flees from grounded ship A Japanese longline fishing vessel loaded with tuna and fuel of fuel ran aground on a reef inside Majuro’s lagoon late Sunday afternoon. There were no injuries and the cause of the accident was the subject of a good deal of speculation by local officials. Shortly after it ran aground, the captain of the ship was seen swimming along the reef away from the ship.
P17 Marshalls not very happy with USA Top Marshall Islands government officials are expressing anger over what they believe is the failure of the United States to release information about the effects of its nuclear weapons test program in the Marshall Islands — a failure that they believe resulted in inadequate compensation being paid to Marshall Islanders. Foreign Minister Tom Kijiner criticized the US during last Friday’s session of Nitijela. His comments follow a recent medical study confirming that the Marshalls has a rate of thyroid tumors dramatically higher than anywhere else in the world — a health problem not confined to islanders from Rongelap, Utrik, Bikini and Enewetak that the United States claims are the only radiation-exposed areas. During the early 1980s, Marshall Islands negotiators sought detailed information from the US about the 66 announced nuclear tests, Kijiner said. “But US officials told us there was no further information to provide to us,” Kijiner said to the Journal, adding that these statements had been shown to be false.
Journal 1/21/2005
P4 Finding a way to hook up Last weekend’s four-day communications blackout took the Marshall Islands back more than 30 years, to a time when getting an international telephone line in or out of the country sometimes took days to accomplish, and ham radio operators were the ones truly connected to the world. The Intelsat’s IS-804 satellite that the National Telecommunication Authority uses for all communication — Internet, phone and fax — experienced “a sudden and unexpected power system failure, crippling Pacific-based communications.”