Three of the four newly appointed Cabinet ministers were sworn in during a ceremony at the ICC Tuesday morning. Chief Justice of the High Court Carl Ingram with Clerk of Courts Ingrid Kabua officiated at the swearing in. This followed a blessing and then brief remarks from President David Kabua. The President described the Cabinet […]
GIFF JOHNSON At a time when most people’s focus has turned to jeptas, holiday parties, shopping and family gatherings, this December has featured an usual development. Nitijela and the Cabinet are in a dust up over several public hearings scheduled by chairmen last week, one of which the Cabinet cut off from V7AB radio broadcast […]
Prior to Nitijela recessing August 28, Enewetak Member of Parliament Jack Ading asked for an update on the new Majuro jail project. Ading noted that a groundbreaking ceremony had been held for the over $1 million jail improvement project late last year. “It’s been almost a year (since the groundbreaking) and nothing has happened,” he […]
Finance Minister Alfred Alfred, Jr. introduced a $257.7 million FY2021 budget to Nitijela last Thursday. It is nearly $40 million above the $219 million budget for FY2020. The Nitijela Appropriations Committed launched daily hearings on the budget Monday this week. The budget includes money for a new Ministry of Environment, $8.8 million for state owned […]
GIFF JOHNSON The big news coming from several hours of meetings on Pohnpei Monday between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and President Hilda Heine and leaders of the FSM and Palau is Pompeo’s announcement that negotiations to extend Compact funding agreements have begun. The post-2023 period, when US grant funding for RMI and FSM […]
HILDA HEINE President It is with great sadness and a very heavy heart that I announce that the Marshall Islands lost a national hero Tuesday with the passing of our Climate Ambassador and former Minister Tony deBrum. Tony passed away peacefully in Majuro, surrounded by his proud father, as well as his wife and […]
HILARY HOSIA Here are a few highlights from this week’s Committee of the Whole session from the ongoing Constitutional Convention at the International Conference Center. • Majuro Delegate Yolanda Lodge-Ned wants to prevent candidates with felony charges in their history from running for Nitijela, adding that the current law allows felons who did time to […]
GIFF JOHNSON “Grief, terror and righteous anger” has not faded for Marshall Islanders despite the passage of 71 years since the first nuclear weapons test at Bikini Atoll, President Hilda Heine told the Nuclear Victims Remembrance Day ceremony Wednesday in Majuro. The event, that included a parade, ringing of a bell 71 times to mark […]
A Philippines fishing vessel with 79 crew members was confined and prevented from entry to the Marshall Islands Thursday after arriving in the country without a fishing license or any advance communication with authorities. “It was a surprise to me to hear this vessel arrived,” said Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority Director Glen Joseph speaking […]
An angry letter from Enewetak Iroij Mores Abraham that caused cancellation of a US government-chartered AMI flight Friday sparked a strongly worded protest from Enewetak elected leaders Monday this week. Abraham, who represents Enewetak on the Council of Iroij, wrote new US Ambassador Karen Stewart last Thursday that the Department of Energy “is conducting a […]