March 31, 2012, Washington, DC- A delegation from Bikini Atoll of the Marshall Islands was in Washington, DC for 4 days this past week to meet with various US government officials regarding resettlement and financial issues related to Bikini Atoll. The delegation, led by Bikini Mayor Nishma Jamore and Bikini Senator Tomaki Juda and also included Trust Liaison Jack Niedenthal, met with US Senator Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, who is the Chairman of the powerful Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee , and US Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who is the ranking Republican of the same committee, to discuss the status of the resettlement of the people of Bikini. Read More
A case against the Electoral Administration’s handling of postal absentee ballots is now waiting on lawyers to advise the High Court when they are prepared to meet to move the case forward. Attorney Gerald Zackios filed a complaint at the end of December on behalf of himself, Utrik’s Amenta Matthew and Kili/Bikini/Ejit’s Eldon Note claiming that Electoral broke the law by accepting postal ballots without legally required notarization of affidavits. Zackios is reported to be communicating with Attorney General Filimon Manoni, who was off-island until recently, about moving the case forward. Read More
Bikini Islander Johnny Johnson joined the 2012 Hapcheon Anti-Nuclear and Peace Festival in S. Korea last month, speaking about the Bikinians’ situation today. Hapcheon is home to people who were in Hiroshima at the end of World War II when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city. Many were exposed to radiation from the blast. They were sent home soon after the war, and did not receive medical follow up as a result of their exposure. In early 2010, the Hapcheon Peace House was established in Hapcheon, the “Hiroshima of Korea,” to aid and support the offspring of nuclear victims. Johnson was one of many international speakers at the gathering in Hapcheon. Read More
An elderly woman visiting Kili Island slipped and fell, injuring her hips and legs the first week of March. In great pain, she was flown in on AMI and taken to Majuro Hospital emergency room. There she waited for many hours. Finally, someone informed her that the x-ray machine was not working so they could not do anything for her. So her family took her back to Ejit. Five weeks later, she’s still there, undiagnosed and untreated, and in pain.
A complaint about the 2011 national election is moving forward in the High Court, following Judge James Plasman’s order Tuesday setting a time schedule for the attorneys involved. Former Nitijela members Amenta Matthew and Gerald Zackios and Kili/Bikini/ Ejit Mayoral candidate Eldon Note filed a joint complaint at the end of December over the allowance of postal absentee ballots that were not notarized. Read More
More than 50 years after the United States ended nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands, test-affected islanders “feel like nomads in their own country”, a UN special rapporteur said Friday. Calin Georgescu said the governments of both the Marshall Islands and the United States “bear the responsibility to find effective redress” for islanders affected by Cold War period weapons testing. The United States tested 67 nuclear weapons at Bikini and Enewetak from 1946-1958. Georgescu, who has been on a four-day fact-finding mission to the Marshall Islands, will file a report to the UN Human Rights Council in September. The US ambassador to the Marshall Islands, Martha Campbell, said earlier this month a $150 million nuclear test compensation agreement approved in the 1980s was “full and final” compensation. Read More
This is in response to inquiries pertaining to New Payment. For future reference, Please be advised that I barely have FREE time to write comments on Facebook or other social network. Ne ewor Kajitok ellab tok nan na im office an Mayor, Ilo etta wot, ij kajitok jouij ko ami woj im melel ko ami ne kom maron call tok office en an Mayor or email tok nan kbemayor@ntamar.net or nrjkbe@yahoo.com. Bwe en maron tobrak jerbal kein ad woj rellok jouij!!! I wrote a letter on behalf of the Kili/Bikini/Ejit Local Government Council and the Kili/Bikini/Ejit Local Distribution Authority to ask the Marshall Islands Government to propose to the U.S. Government that the two governments make an agenda item at the next meeting of the US-RMI Join Economic Management and Fiscal Accountability Committee (JEMFAC) the establishment of a legal entity that can assert jurisdiction over Bikini and Resettlements trust funds established under the Compact Section 177 Agreement in order to perform the tasks previously performed by the Nuclear Claims Tribunal.
