GIFF JOHNSON President David Kabua and his party of six became the first people in 15 months to get off a United Airlines flight in Majuro and go into quarantine at the Arrak facility when they did so this past Tuesday.The last group to come in by a United flight was Xavier High School students […]
GIFF JOHNSONThe low-lying Marshall Islands are consumed by climate change. Increasing ocean inundations from rising sea levels and the specter that this atoll nation could be underwater later this century has pushed Marshall Islands leaders and young people to the forefront of the global climate movement calling for action to curtail a problem they had […]
GIFF JOHNSON The Marshall Islands launched Covid-19 vaccinations for commercial fishermen temporarily in port Majuro this past week — possibly the first Pacific island to vaccinate fishermen. With the country vaccination program nearing 80 percent completion for the two urban centers, and public health teams now conducting vaccinations for remote outer islands, the Ministry of Health […]
Journal 5/23/1986 P1 Judge to police: Clean up your act The High Court put the police department on notice that it better get its act together or face severe penalties. Chief Justice AD Tennekone’s sharp criticism was triggered by what he said has been a consistent pattern of police being unable to get prisoners to […]
GIFF JOHNSON The powerful Pacific island fisheries bloc PNA opened a multi-million dollar, four-story headquarters in Majuro May 6. The Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA), which controls waters where half of the world’s skipjack tuna is caught, held a “soft” opening for the recently completed headquarters building. It was built by local contractor Pacific […]
MIMRA sponsored an interesting and entertaining World Tuna Day event last Saturday in the covered parking lot area under its four-story headquarters in Delap. Recognizing the significance of tuna to the world, five years ago the United Nations established May 2 as World Tuna Day. The move to establish a day to celebrate tuna was […]
GIFF JOHNSON After two record-setting years of copra production, the level of “production” collapsed from January to March this year despite the still high 60 cent per pound price. The culprit in the collapse? Lack of ships to collect copra. In contrast to the previous quarter when 2,102.59 tons were brought in from the outer […]
GIFF JOHNSON Air Marshall Islands Dash-8 was grounded again April 11 and will remain in the AMI hangar until it can get the required inspection by certified engineers. A plan is in the works for bringing in certified aircraft engineers who can accomplish the inspections so that the Dash-8 can get back in the air, […]
GIFF JOHNSON I was minding my own business (for once), heading out of town Saturday afternoon.My phone “bings.” “A helicopter crashed into the lagoon by the airport,” says the message. That item took me out of my reverie and I drove with more focus to the airport, asking my informant some questions as I went […]
GIFF JOHNSON Important developments on the Marshallese repatriation program include a shortening of the quarantine time and increased numbers of people returning. At last Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, RMI leaders endorsed a Ministry of Health and Human Services/National Disaster Committee recommendation to reduce the quarantine time at Kwajalein from three to two weeks. Coupled with the […]
