Photo: Sherman Hogue, USAG-KA Public Affairs Officer.
GIFF JOHNSON
President Hilda Heine on Tuesday this week signed an executive order declaring a “state of emergency for Ebeye,” enabling a fast track RMI government response to last Saturday’s devastating fire on Ebeye.
The fire left over 100 homeless and destroyed two major businesses on the island.
As it did in the wake of fire destroying the Nitijela last August, the RMI government’s Cabinet moved quickly this week to declare the emergency, paving the way for access to assistance for those who lost their homes as well as the businesses that were destroyed.
Finance Minister David Paul, who is one of three Kwajalein representatives in Nitijela, told the Journal Sunday that the national government is committed to acting quickly and working with the Kwajalein Atoll Local Government to respond to the disaster.
One of the first orders of business, Paul said, will be to clear the debris from the fire so that the area can be rebuilt.
In comments to the Journal, he indicated contractors who are already mobilized on Ebeye, including Hall and Pacific International Inc., will be engaged by the RMI government to use their heavy equipment to clear the fire site.
“It’s important to demonstrate to the public that the government will make a fast response to mobilize and rebuild,” he said. “President Heine is 100 percent committed to rebuilding Ebeye.”
The fire is estimated to have destroyed at least 10 homes, displacing at least 100 people who are now staying temporarily with other family members or at the public elementary school. It also burned down the large warehouse and all the inventory of Lucky Star store and razed the Anrohasa Ebeye Hotel, the largest and one of the oldest hotels on Ebeye.
Heine’s executive order issued Tuesday followed a Cabinet decision Monday to issue the emergency declaration for Ebeye. The executive order is effective for 90 days unless it is extended.
Among other actions:
- The executive order allows the government to suspend procedures, rules and regulations that might otherwise delay action needed for the emergency response for Ebeye.
- It directs the National Disaster Council to conduct regular meetings and to monitor progress and operations recopy with the Kwajalein Atoll Local Government and the Kwajalein Atoll Disaster Committee.
- It also directs the Ministry of Finance to establish a memorandum of understanding with KALGov related to emergency response funding.
In a social media post Sunday, Minister Paul said that the national government would be working together with KALGov to respond quickly to Ebeye needs in the wake of the fire disaster.
He emphasized that the entirety of Ebeye’s leadership — the four irooj, Mayor Kabua and the KALGov Council, all three Nitijela Members including Drile Kili Kabua and Kitlang Kabua, and the Kwajalein Atoll Development Authority — will be working together to ensure recovery from the fire.