GIFF JOHNSON For the past two weeks, a lot of the debate at Nitijela has centered on hardships on the outer islands because of shipping woes. Transportation Minister Hilton Kendall acknowledged that of the four operational RMI Shipping Corporation vessels, two needed dry docking and one needed decommissioning — meaning it was ready for retirement. […]
Transportation and shipping limitations continue to disrupt essential services for many outer islands, affecting power restoration and copra collection. This issue has swirled in debates at Nitijela since the resumption of the session late last month. Numerous Nitijela Members have called out the government for the lack of critically needed shipping services to remote islands. […]
Majuro Nitijela Member Stephen Philip raised concern about the threat that vessels grounded or otherwise disabled in Majuro lagoon present to the people and environment of the capital. He sent an email in late September to Transportation Minister Hilton Kendall and all members of the Majuro Nitijela delegation, including Speaker Brenson Wase, titled “sea vessels […]
Journal 9/20/1983 P1 Nitijela passes resolution that approves CompactNitijela voted September 20 by a vote of 21 for and five against Resolution No. 27 to approve entry into the Compact of Free Association. Coalition Party members objected to the resolution for not waiting for certification of the results by the Chief Electoral Officer. P1 FSM […]
Journal 9/13/1983 P1 Less than 40% left to countAs of early Monday morning, approval of the Compact was leading y 58 percent. So far 3,278 ballots were cast in favor of the Compact, while 2,389 ballots were cast against. Roughly 60 percent of the total vote has been counted. P1 Coalition meets to discuss optionsCoalition […]
GIFF JOHNSON People who attend opening ceremonies of Nitijela are used to listening to presidents deliver what might be called a “laundry list” of accomplishments and plans. Sometimes the speeches talk about plans; other times, there are a variety of completed activities to announce. Our observation as one of the people who regularly sit through […]
President Hilda Heine, Cabinet members and diplomats took a tour of the Nitijela’s new but still under construction building Tuesday afternoon with Jerry Kramer and Pacific International Inc. officials. The occasion marked completion of installation of the roof over the building, which will now allow PII to step-up its work operations to complete the interior […]
The roof support structure has been going up on the Nitijela building since last week. The prefabricated roof, which arrived from the US by ship earlier this month, will be installed by the PII construction crews as soon as the roof support beams are all in place. Construction is under immense time constraints with Pacific […]
After going through multiple laws that never properly regulated the importation of betel nut into RMI, Nitijela has redone the law once again — but this time making it legal to import the nuts and establishing a system for taxing these imports. The Betelnut Amendment Act of 2025, endorsed earlier this month by Nitijela, states […]
Long-term Nitijela Member David Kabua was sworn in as President in early January 2020 at one of the most consequential moments in Marshall Islands history: The intersection of a massive disease spread and the specter of a new, unknown virus threat coupled with the huge challenge of navigating negotiations with the United States for a […]
