Government Briefs
Government Briefs
Pacific
The Australian government has committed A$10 million to the South Pacific Sea Level and Climate Monitoring (SPSLC) project to support the group’s five-year plan of reducing green house emissions
and minimizing sea level changes for Forum
member countries.
American Samoa
Earlier this year the territorial government threatened to pull the tax exemption and tax-free status of the American Samoa PX unless measures were implemented to prevent abuse. The government found that some members were buying high-tax items such as cigarettes and beer from the PX and reselling them to local stores.
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Part Two of the American Samoa Government’s multi-million dollar lawsuit against Affiliated FM will be heard in a Los Angeles, Calif. court on Oct. 15 after mediation failed. The insurance company was sued nine years ago for failing to honor its policy after Hurricane Val. While Part One of the lawsuit was settled early this year for $48 million the second part for punitive damage remains. That claim with interest now stands at $93 million.
The U.S. Congress is threatening to withhold more than $1 million in annual funding for American Samoa if the territorial government does not implement new financial reforms by October 1. Congressman Faleomavaega Eni said the failure by the local government to meet targets contained in the reform plans at any time during the next fiscal year could trigger additional withholding of federal funds.
The U.S. Army and the American Samoa Government have signed a lease agreement paving the way for the building of a U.S. Army Reserve complex in American Samoa. The center will take-up about 6.5 acres of government land alongside the Pago Pago International Airport runway. The U.S. Congress has already appropriated more than $20 million for construction of the project and land lease.
Guam
The Guam National Guard dedicated its new $8.2 million Readiness Center on July 13. Of the 54 National Guard units of the United States and it territories, Guam, with its 600 Army and Air Force members, had been the only one without a readiness center. Through the efforts of Guam Congressman Robert Underwood, Governor Carl T.C. Gutierrez and Major General Benny Paulino, Congress appropriated $100 million in Military Construction for Guam for FY 2000.
Guam’s harbor has better security than many other American ports, a recent U.S. Coast Guard study boasted. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency recently completed a vulnerability assessment on Guam’s port, reporting that Guam is better prepared to battle hackers than some mainland ports. Recent port visits by the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk and its 5,000 crew members and other surface warfare ships has many government and business leaders hoping that a carrier battle group will be home-ported in Guam within five years.
Palau
After three weeks of steady rain undermined Palau’s roads and filled up its streams, Tropical Storm Utor came calling on the first weekend of July, bringing “Utor chaos” to the island group. The Koror-Babeldaob floating bridge was almost swamped, but was saved by an emergency pumping operation. As much as 30 inches of rain fell in one week. For three days flights from Guam were forced to turn back because the international airport’s runway was flooded. Landslides damaged some buildings. At one point all of Palau was without power, telephones, the Internet and water. On July 3 President Remengesau declared a national state of emergency, and appropriated $4 million for the repair of infrastructure.
Having declared Camsek Chin ineligible to enter the Senate, the Senate requested the Election Commission to stage a special election to fill the vacant seat. Six candidates came forward, including five failed candidates from the last election. Not so fast, said Associate Justice Barrie Michelsen of the Supreme Court Trial Division in response to Chin’s late June suit against the Senate. Originally scheduled for July 16, and then moved to July 31, the election was stayed through a preliminary injunction. The court found that Chin’s case was strong enough to postpone any election until his suit against the Senate, asking that he be recognized as eligible to serve, is resolved.
N. Mariana Islands
Law enforcement agents swooped down in July on a Saipan pot plantation and seized close to 500 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of $750,000. A team of agents from the CNMI Division of Customs, U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and the Guam National Guard spotted the marijuana plantation during an aerial inspection.
