Articles Search

Majuro Mayor says ‘deportation’ is ‘old policy being resurrected’

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, Jan. 4, 2013) – In the Marshall Islands, a 25 year-old Marshallese man has been sent to a remote outer island after repeated instances of robbing local residences in the capital.

Majuro’s mayor, Mudge Samuel, says dispatching non-Majuro islanders to the outer islands for bad behavior is an old policy which has been resurrected.

He said he ordered the "deportation" of Fred Bilene to Ailinglaplap Atoll in response to his repeated break-ins at the homes of Majuro residents.

Bilene was escorted to Ailinglaplap, where he was turned over to the Chief of Police, who Bilene is to stay with.

He has been banned from returning to Majuro for five years.

Mayor Samuel says there are others who may follow Bilene in being sent to the outer islands for repeatedly causing trouble in Majuro.

Pacific Islands Development Program, East-West Center With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawai‘i

Editorial

Solomon Star

HONIARA, Solomon Islands (Jan. 4, 2013) – You may have heard of the thugs who shamelessly tried to extort thousands of dollars from the Solomon Star newspaper on Friday and yesterday.

These so-called strong men arrived at our office and immediately intimidated our news staff and threaten the newspaper’s management.

This was over the front page news article that appeared in the Solomon Star on Friday.

Most of you have read it. And you know what that piece was about.

Two different groups were involved.

The first knocked on our office door hours after the paper hit the streets on Friday morning.

They argued the news article, which was about Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo’s lawyer warning the media not to publish allegations of...

Government audit reveals multitude of personnel issues

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, Jan. 7, 2013) – The Chairperson of the Public Service Commission in the Marshall Islands says there is a need for reform in government ministries.

Marie Maddison says a personnel audit of most ministries is nearly done, showing the same findings as the 2009 pilot personnel audit.

She says concerns are positions with no job descriptions, job titles that do not match with what an employee is supposed to be doing, outdated organizational charts, and wrong classification of workers resulting in incorrect pay levels for some employees.

While the PSC is working through these many hurdles to improving public service, Ms. Maddison says she has been talking with Cabinet-level leaders about the lack of a national development plan.

She says generally the health and education needs of the country are known, but economically, there is no direction...

Faculty members say investigation ‘lacked depth’

By Moneth Deposa

SAIPAN, CNMI (Saipan Tribune, Jan. 8, 2013) – The Board of Regents ruled yesterday that the allegations of mismanagement and abuse of power leveled against Northern Marianas College (NMC) president Sharon Y. Hart, Ph.D., are unsubstantiated and will not be acted on.

In a special meeting, the board presented an eight-page report of its committee that held a two-day review of documents submitted as evidence by both faculty members and Hart. The committee found the faculty allegation unsupported. The board adopted its recommendation by a 5-0 vote, with regent Frank Rabauliman not present.

Hart was accused of fiscal mismanagement and abuse of power, including alleged spending of over $200,000 for off-island travels.

"While both the concerned faculty members and the president submitted documentation showing actual travel...