GIFF JOHNSON Food, vehicle fuel, transportation costs for imported goods, and taxi prices are up dramatically compared to a year ago.But a lesser appreciated price increase will have a similarly big impact on people in the Marshall Islands. This is the cost of building materials.The International Monetary Fund said inflation is expected to be six […]
GIFF JOHNSON Testing of Marshall Islanders in managed quarantine Friday April 15 saw the largest number test positive for Covid since managed repatriation started nearly two years ago. Seven out of a repatriation group of 72 people tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a government announcement issued late Friday night. All seven are in […]
It took Air Marshall Islands an impressive 15 minutes to service Majkin, Namu Tuesday afternoon this week following a smooth landing by the Dornier — ample time for half of the village, a local agent and two village dogs to see off their loved ones heading to Majuro. Unlike Majuro and Kwajalein airports, and airports […]
GIFF JOHNSON New Year’s fireworks will happen this weekend at the US Army base at Kwajalein after the RMI’s National Disaster Committee waived quarantine requirements for a technical team that arrived Tuesday this week to set up and operate the display. The Army asked for and was granted an exemption from the one-week Hawaii quarantine […]
GIFF JOHNSON Ocean and lagoon water flooded the lowest lying areas for three straight days throughout the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia this past weekend and Monday, causing sparse damage but requiring big cleanups in their wake. The road by Amata Kabua International Airport in Majuro was halted periodically by incoming waves […]
GIFF JOHNSON The first repatriation group with people who quarantined for only seven days in Hawaii was released from quarantine at Kwajalein and Majuro Wednesday this week, following multiple negative Covid tests, including a final test conducted Tuesday this week prior to release. There will be one more repatriation group after the one that was […]
In what would be surprising to a person familiar only with the 1960s and 1970s dynamic between American Kwajalein and Marshallese Ebeye, the Kwajalein Jr/Sr High School is today represented by an all-Marshallese girls basketball team. In another milestone, this is the first Lady Spartans team to play in competition on Ebeye Island as girls […]
Ebeye took a giant leap for women’s empowerment last week following the first-ever basketball competition for women between Father Hacker High School and Kwajalein Atoll High School at the Jabro Sports Complex. Strict dress code enforced by traditional leaders prevented women from participating in the popular sport in the past — that changed when Iroojlaplap and […]
GIFF JOHNSON A medical evacuation by Army helicopter of two pregnant women, an elderly man and a child from Lib Island this past Sunday was hailed as “extraordinary” by a Kwajalein member of Nitijela. “On a moment notice, a humanitarian and selfless act by Colonel Jeremy Bartel and his team saved six lives by dispatching […]
GIFF JOHNSONIn the consultant-dependent world of the Marshall Islands, the Waan Aelon in Majel (Canoes of the Marshall Islands) program stands out.“Everyone who works at WAM is Marshallese,” said Director Alson Kelen in a recent interview. “WAM is about training,” he said. “It’s what we do.” While the program has relied in the past on […]
