(11 Sept. 86) Radrick Anej is my constable for the day. A lot of activity is taking place on island as workers make preparations for a MET weather rocket launch. A Marshallese maintenance crew cut all the grass and trimmed the trees. Omelek is looking a lot nicer but the best thing is I don’t have to walk through tall wet grass now.
1027 – An army inspection team landed by helicopter and the officers walked around for twenty minutes, took some notes and left for the next island on their tour.
1450 – The maintenance crew finished their work and after loading their equipment on an LCU, departed for Kwaj in a light rain. One of the workers gave Radrick a green parrot fish weighing about a pound. He wanted to cook it in the oven without gutting it but we had no pans, something I’m grateful for.
Radrick said that the Marshallese landowners want a raise in rent payments from the U.S. to nine million dollars a year. This is to cover all the evacuated islands in the central two-thirds of the lagoon and all islands used for tracking incoming warheads.
They also want the Kwajalein Atoll Corporation (KAC) to distribute the payments to the islanders. This had been the past system but now, since the lease agreement expired, the Marshallese government has taken over that responsibility. As a result, Radrick said that many islanders have been receiving quarterly payments of only eleven dollars each.
The Marshallese government, he added, has been using the money for construction and other projects. In addition, some government officials on Majuro (the capital) are leading the good life with some of the money.
President Amata Kabua’s brother is in Washington, discussing the problem now. The two are at odds on how the money is being spent. The brother, a senator in the Nitijela, is said to be taking the side of the landowners at Kwajalein Atoll.
If the people don’t start receiving proper payments for their land, Radrick said, then the islands in question, including Kwajalein, must be returned. The Americans would have to leave. (Of course, that will never happen.)
Later in the day we talked about the missile testing being done at the atoll. Radrick believes that the testing is polluting the environment.
Spokesmen for the army have stated that the warheads do carry depleted uranium in order to provide realistic tracking targets. They have also stated that warheads break apart upon impact with the water and the uranium is scattered over the lagoon bottom. And not all of the radioactive material is recovered.
A note:
I discovered why Jobtak was so excited about the giant turtle he captured last week. These creatures are the main course at celebrations; birthdays, for example. The fat inside the shell is considered a delicacy by the Marshallese. The fat is called wiwi (pronounced we we). Giant turtles don’t have a long life expectancy once they show up on an island. When Marshallese do extended work on the outer islands, the turtle and bird population drops drastically. Marshallese are deadly with the coral rock.
2000 – Radrick finally decided to “cook” the fish. He took it out of the freezer and put the whole thing in the microwave for five minutes. I watched as he cut slices off the side. It was still frozen. He said it was delicious and offered me some but I declined.
Filed under: Almost Paradise Volume 1
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