Journal 11/13/1987
P1 Ebeye surgeon honored
Ebeye’s chief surgeon Dr. Serano Salvador received the highest honor bestowed upon surgeons by being awarded a fellowship by the American College of Surgeons.
P7 Marshallese inducted into services
Late last month, a group of 40 young people from the Marshalls and Federated States of Micronesia were sworn in at a ceremony at Camp Smith, the headquarters for the Commander-in-Chief Pacific. CINCPAC Admiral Ronald Hays personally administered the oath and welcomed each recruit. The six Marshallese who are the first to enter the US Armed Services under the Compact of Free Association are Earl Ray Alfred, Mackbi Bwijko, Roland Zedkaia, Willa Ysawa, Erlain Milne and Carney Terry.
Journal 11/12/1999
P1 Banner week for MEC
One of the two generators at the new Majuro power plant was tested on Tuesday and ran at design speed for the first time. MEC general manager Billy Roberts said that with engine testing going on now, the new power plant’s start-up of service for Majuro is “imminent.” MEC earned a net profit of more than $550,000 in fiscal year 1998, according to the latest RMI Auditor General’s report, which made it the only RMI agency that earned a net profit last year.
P4 Political message
The RMI election campaign features many signs around Majuro — mostly advertising individual candidates. But some question things like the government’s accountability for Social Security, passport sales and other issues.
P4 ADB report: RMI reform progress slow
The Asian Development Bank last month released an Assessment of its Assistance for Reform Programs in the Pacific, 1995-98. The Marshall Islands reform program focused substantially on fiscal reform. A 33 percent downsizing of the public services has been achieved with the number of ministries down from 10 to eight. Other fiscal measures taken included a three-year wage freeze, and elimination of subsidies to some public enterprises…Updates on downsizing show there were 1,607 government employees at December 4, 1998 compared to 2,303 on October 27, 1995. Although progress has been made, the reforms have been slower in coming than originally expected, and the reform process has now lost momentum.
P7 US unenthusiastic as status talks start
The RMI’s demand for action by the US on five unmet Compact obligations received a details — and largely negative — response from the US at the recent one-day initial negotiating round on Kauai.
P8 Thank you
The Japanese government deserves a big cheer and a round of applause for funding the virtually completed $13 million Majuro road projects. PII has done an excellent job on the road. The improvement is, well, fantastic.
Journal 11/12/2010
P1 Warning for 2024: No more US $
The United States and the Marshall Islands urgently need to address problems with the Compact Trust Fund to avoid an economic shock in the RMI in 2024, said a US government economic report on the RMI. “If the returns in a post-2024 year are insufficient…the RMI would suffer a severe fiscal shock,” the report said. “Zero funds would be made available for budgetary or investment support.” The US government has stated repeatedly that the Compact makes no promises that the Trust Fund will provide for similar levels of funding as US grants in 2023. US government officials have stated that the Compact does not promise that the Trust Fund will replace US grant funding after 2023. “US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Eric Watnik told the Journal that “the US viewpoint has been stated and there is no change in status.”
P3 Engine number 6 still sick
Hopes to get Majuro power plant engine number six — one of the two big generators — up and running this week have been dashed after a disappointing setback forced engineers to shut down the engine five minutes into its test run late last week. Meanwhile, engine number seven — the other big one — ran into its own problems that caused an outage that lasted all day and well into the night on Tuesday this week.