yapstategov.org View this email in your browser BRIEFS October 6, 2014 Public Announcement On September 30, 2014, The Governor of the State of Yap sent out an Executive Directive to all department, office and agency heads to lend assistance to the public education campaign on Resolution No. 8-102 through provision of resources and personnel as the need arises and required by the Governors Office. The Resolution is proposing an amendment to Article XIV of the Constitution of the Sate of Yap, by adding a new Section 12 thereto, to prohibit all forms of wagering, gambling and games of chance conducted with the object of commercial gain, benefit or advantage, whether open to the general public or conducted in private. As the Resolution calls for an amendment to the Constitution, it is imperative that the voting public is made aware of the content of the proposed amendment so as to be able to cast informed and educated votes during the State General Elections on November 4, 2014. As much as possible, the Government must safeguard against arbitrary changes to the Constitution; thus, a public education/awareness campaign must be had. Therefore; teams are being drafted to conduct public education/awareness campaign in the State of Yap. Proposed Site visit on Yap Proper is as follows; On Saturday, October 11, Team A will visit Rumung Community School at 10:00AM and Maap Community School at 2:00PM in the afternoon; Team B will be at Gagil Community School at 10:00AM then on to Amun, Gagil at 2:00PM, Team C is scheduled to visit Okaw, Weloy at 10:00AM and Nimar, Weloy at 2:00PM, and Team D will visit Tamor, Tomil at 3:00PM on the same day as well. On Sunday, October 12, Team A will visit North Fanif Community School at 10:00AM and Fanif Community School at 2:00PM. Team C will visit Balebat, Rull at 10:00AM and Milew, Rull at 2:00PM in the afternoon. On Saturday, October 18, Team A will visit Dalipebinaw Community School at 10:00AM. Team B will visit Kanifay Community School at 10:00AM. Team C will visit Likaychog, Rull at 10:00AM On Sunday, October 19, Team C will visit Gilman Community School at 12:00PM. For the neighboring island communities residing on Yap proper the following team schedule is as follows; note: although the OI teams are classified under ABCD likewise the teams for Yap proper, members of these teams may be different. On October 11 at 10:00AM, Team A, B, C, D, will be in Gargey. By 1:30PM the same day Team A will be in Ruu, Team B will be in Daboch, Team C will be in Taneyboch, and Team D will be in Gitam. On October 12 at 10:00AM, Team A will be at the community center and Team B will be at Madrich. At 1:30PM on the same day Team A will be in Daboch, Team B will be at the Community Center, Team C and D will be in Gargey. On October 18 at 10:00AM, Team B will be at Gargey and Team D will be at the Community Center. By 1:30PM on the same day Team C will be at the Community Center and Team A will be in Gargey. Updates to this announcement will be made available as they are confirmed. Thank you and if there are any questions on the site visit schedule you may contact your Village/Municipal Chief or the Department of Youth and Civic Affairs at 350-2168 during regular government working hours. Thank you. YES! Opens Account With BFSM PALIKIR, FSM (COM-FSM News, Oct. 03, 2014) — The Young Executives Society, Inc. (YES!) opened a checking with the Bank of the Federated States of Micronesia on Thursday, October 2, 2014. YES! president Ioakim Loney, Jr. and treasurer Ernest Phillip transacted with the bank as officers and authorized signatories for the student association. They were accompanied by advisors and co-signatories, Rafael Pulmano and Timothy Mamangon. Mr. Pulmano teaches accounting courses at the College of Micronesia-FSM, while Mr. Mamangon instructs economics, finance and other business courses. With the opening of a bank account under its corporate name as a non-profit organization, YES! is now in better position to engage in school and community-related services and run its operations as a functioning business. By participating in such out-of-the-classroom activities that are relevant to their academic courses, students have greater opportunities to bridge the gap between theory and practice; effectively meeting their programs learning outcomes, and are better prepared for w employment after college. Congress Approves IDA Grant Of $14.4 Million For FSM Energy Sector PALIKIR, FSM (FSMIS, Oct. 03, 2014) — On September 29, 2014, the Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia accepted the grant of $14,400,000 to fund the implementation of the FSM Energy Sector Development Project. The grant was approved by the executive directors of the International Development Authority (IDA) on May 29th with three main funding components: 1.$9.27 million will be used to improve efficiency and increase generation capacity in the state power utilities. 2.$3.40 million will be used to progress on improving energy planning amongst the national and state entities to achieve a cohesive approach. 3.$1.50 will be used to procure technical assistance and enhance project management. Under the first component, the state utilities will have the capacity to obtain new generators and other apparatus to address immediate power generation challenges while working on longer-term cost-effective measures. COLA, Not This Time For FSM National Government Employees PALIKIR, FSM (FSMIS, Oct. 06, 2014) — The Federated States of Micronesia Congress passed a bill on July 12, 2014, to allow for a Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) for employees covered under the FSM National Public Service System Act whose annual base salary is $15,000 or less. The COLA would add a non-taxable $40.00 per 80 hours for eligible employees to compensate for loss of purchasing power due to inflation, the bill indicates. President Manny Mori vetoed the proposed legislation on July 25th on the basis that there was a lack of clarity as to the rational for limiting the allowance to only the employees with $15, 000 or less annual earning when the fact is that inflation affects all employees. The bill in its current form appears to discriminate against other employees under the Public Service System Act, for instance those earning $15, 500 or above, whose purchasing power are also affected due to inflation. Congress entertained the interest to override the veto during its Fifth Regular Session, which concluded on October 3, 2014. However, the session ended without Congress voting on the override of the COLA Act veto. Palau Receives New Patrol Boat From Japanese Foundation NGIWAL, Palau (Island Times/PIR, Oct. 03, 2014) — With the aim of promoting maritime development and to help Palau in protecting its maritime resources from illegal poachers, the Nippon Foundation handed over a new patrol boat to the Republic of Palau. The ceremony was held last October 1, in the celebration of Palau’s 20th Independence Day. The hand over was held at the Imekang Dock in Ngiwal State. The event was attended by The Nippon Foundation executive director Mitsuyuki Unno, President Tommy Remengesau Jr., Vice President Antonio Bells, members of the cabinet, ministers, members of the House of Delegates, members of the Senate led by Senate Vice President Phillip Reklai, traditional leaders of Ngiwal State, Japan Ambassador Kazuhiro Tajiri and members of the Bureau of Public Safety led by its director Ismael Aguon. In past Palau has suffered from increased incidents of foreign fishing vessels illegally operating in the area to poach precious marine. Domestically, the dumping of household garbage and illegal disposal of waste from vessels has also polluted the beautiful oceans. With the efforts of the government of Palau and the patrol boat, measures to deal with these issues have seen to progress. As the Nippon Foundation’s continuous cooperation with Palau, it is my pleasure to announce that we are providing a second small patrol craft called ‘Bul’ to protect the ocean. I think the name reflects President Remengesau’s warm consideration for the people of Palau and its ocean, said The Nippon Foundation executive director Mitsuyuki Unno. He added that small patrol boat Bul together with the first small craft patrol boat donated by The Nippon Foundation Kabekel M’tal will further strengthen Palau’s conservation efforts and response to emergencies and natural disaster such as like of Typhoon Haiyan. It will be a vital help for managing the impact of natural disasters; human rescue operations will be increasing with the rise of tourist divers and it can be useful for Palau’s proactive stance and action for ocean conservation. I also strongly expect that Palau will further promote its partnership with the two other Micronesian countries to establish wider and more comprehensive ocean security and safety, Unno stressed. On the other hand, President Tommy Remengesau Jr. thank The Nippon Foundation for their donation and assured them that the small patrol boats will be of big help especially as Palau is planning to close its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) from commercial fishing . He stressed that with the new patrol boat, Palau will be able to protect its resources, borders and people not only for Palauans today but also for the future generations to come. The Nippon Foundation is a private, non-profit foundation established in 1962 for the purpose of carrying out philanthropic activities, using revenue from motorboat racing. The foundation’s overall objectives include assistance for humanitarian activities and global maritime development. Its philanthropic ideals embraces social development and self-sufficiency, and it pursues these principles by working to improve public health, education, alleviate poverty, eliminate hunger and help the disabled. About 70% Of Rota, CNMI Without Power After Typhoon ROTA, CNMI (Pacific Daily News/PIR, Oct. 06, 2014) — About 70 percent of Rota’s residents don’t have power this morning in the aftermath of Typhoon Vongfong, but the island survived without reported injuries, island officials said. It’s a blessing we have no injury, but there were minor structural damage, Rota Mayor Melchor Mendiola said by phone. The structural damage include tin roof sheets that were blown off garages, said Sgt. Peter Manglona, with Rotas Department of Public Safety. Fallen trees were blocking some of the island’s roads, and a public works crew has been dispatched to begin clearing, Mendiola and Manglona said. Rota felt the typhoon at its strongest around 3 a.m. today, when winds were about 70 to 80 mph, Mendiola and Manglona said. [PIR editor’s note: Pacific Daily News reported that ‘Chip Guard of the National Weather Service said Guam didn’t experience typhoon conditions, but tropical storm conditions were felt on the north end of the island with winds as high as 70 mph.’] The damage to structures was minimal because most Rota homes and buildings are concrete, the mayor said. The island’s power crews are also starting to address the cause of the outage, which included downed power lines and blown out transformers. The last devastating storm to hit Rota and Guam was Supertyphoon Pongsona more than a decade ago. We in the Marianas are fortunate, Rota’s mayor said. He said since Pongsona, most of the storms in recent years passed through the Marianas as they were just developing, and by the time they gained destructive strength, they’d moved well past the Marianas. Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meet With UN Secretary General UN HQ, New York City (Island Times/PIR, Oct. 03, 2014) — Pacific Islands Forum Leaders met with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 26 September in the margins of the sixty-ninth session on the UN General Assembly’s general debate. The United Nations is a critical partner for the region, stressed the President of Palau, Hon. Tommy Remengesau Jr., who is also the current Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum. The UN Secretary-General recalled his recent visit to the Pacific region for the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in Apia, Samoa. The SIDS 2014 conference showed the whole power of member states coming together, that are all committed to work for the benefit of SIDS, Ban Ki-moon said. The SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (Samoa Pathway) should be high on the agenda of the General Assembly, ECOSOC and the High-Level Political Forum. UN regional commissions are fully engaged in carrying out its provisions. He reassured Forum Leaders that the UN system would work as one team to engage in the implementation of the Samoa Pathway. Forum Leaders welcomed Ban Ki-moon’s message of partnerships with SIDS and congratulated him on his leadership at the Climate Summit earlier in the week. We are committed to building on the momentum from SIDS 2014 and the Climate Summit as we work towards a meaningful, legal and binding climate agreement in Paris next year, Hon. Enele Sopoaga, the Prime Minister of Tuvalu stated. We encourage UN support for recognition of the synergies between climate change, disaster risk reduction and renewable energy. Forum countries will participate in the upcoming 20th session of the Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP) and the 10th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol in Peru, Lima in 2014 as well as the COP in Paris, France in 2015. Forum Leaders welcomed the UN General Assembly’s adoption of the report of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals. We note with appreciation the inclusion of the important stand-alone goals on Oceans and Seas, Sustainable Energy and Climate Change, stated Hon. Minister Rimbik Pato of Papua New Guinea. The President of Palau and Forum Chair further advised that, the Pacific Countries recognize the importance and need for broad partnerships, both public and private, to achieve our Pacific goal of a sustainable Pacific future. The Majuro Declaration for Climate Leadership and the Palau Declaration on The Ocean: Life and Future – Charting a Course to Sustainability provide clear direction on this. The Secretary-General applauded Leaders’ commitment to gender equality through the Pacific Leaders Gender Equality Declaration and the Pacific Regional Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security. Ban Ki-moon also applauded Tuiloma Neroni Slade for his years of leadership as the Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General. A joint statement by the Pacific Islands Forum and the United Nations is expected to be issued soon, building upon the 2011 and 2012 statements between the two organizations. -END- COMMUNITY MESSAGE: Unlike some other communities, ours is a “we”, not an “I”, even though the trend is the “I route. The “we” puts other people first and you last whether at the family, village, municipal or governmental level. People are important and it reflects good cultural norms and values that people before us valued greatly. The “I”, the trend, makes you feel you are first and foremost. You are more important than others around you and you have all the right to dictate or tell others what to do, i.e., the what, why, how, when, etc. on an issue or project does not begin with a “we” and end with a “we”, but with an “I” and ends with an “I”. No “puruy” by those who are affected. It is possible that “puruy” has no place in our time.
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 08:39:53 +0000
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