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Opinion

Some State Police Officers say ignorance made their jobs tougher

Some members of the Pohnpei State Police department have said that the law passed by the State Legislature to partially lift the ban on alcohol sales during the holidays has made their job tougher.

While interviewing two police officers about the facts of the two murders that occurred over the holiday season I asked if they had noticed any difference between the rate of this year’s holiday alcohol related violence and that of last year’s when there was an alcohol sales ban over the holidays. Their reaction was emphatic. “Definitely, this year is much worse,” said Officer Kasner Aldens. “You’re right. This is Pohnpei not New York City. We don’t have murders here but there were two this month.”

Captain Cerley Araceley, Pohnpei State Police’s Captain of the Detectives didn’t show for a 9:00 in the morning appointment with The Kaselehlie Press to discuss those murders. I was told that he had worked extremely late the night before and was asked to come back in an hour. When Captain Araceley did arrive he told me that he had been at the hospital with a stabbing victim the night before. Yet another alcohol related violent act. It was certainly an excellent excuse for missing the earlier appointment and I bore him no ill will.

On New Year’s Day the day shift commander of the Pohnpei State Police said that overnight there had been a number of incidents of alcohol related fighting and drunken disorderly conduct. And yes, he agreed, it was probably tougher this year than last.

Three days before deadline I asked the Director of the Department of Public Safety if he could provide statistics on the crime rate during Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year as compared to last year. He either forgot or was diverted by other more urgent matters and those statistics never arrived.

Anecdotally however, all of the officers I spoke to agreed that part of the problem was a misunderstanding of the new law by business people in Pohnpei. Several store owners on island apparently thought that the ban on alcohol sales had been lifted entirely when in fact there was still an island wide ban on the sale of alcohol for off premises consumption. Even some store owners who previously would never have considered selling alcohol before 10:00 in the morning which, until the law was amended they were prohibited from doing, sold alcohol on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. At least some of those store owners apparently now know what the law says and put signs up in their stores saying that carryout sales of alcohol are prohibited on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

But other store owners still hadn’t gotten the message. Maybe it was because they didn’t know what the new law said or they simply chose to ignore it.

While driving past one major grocery store on that day I saw three people loading three separate cases of beer into three separate vehicles. It was the second time I had passed the store on that day but the first time I only saw one man loading a case of beer into a taxi and another walking out the door with a six pack.

While it was true that the Legislature did pass the law quite late in the year it also seems that very little was done to educate the business owners about what their amendments meant to the conduct of their holiday business.

However, The Kaselehlie Press ran a page two article about the law in the December 9, 2009 issue but apparently even some of the store owners who sell the newspaper sold alcohol on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The headline was in no way misleading. It said, “Pohnpei lawmakers PARTIALLY lift holiday ban on alcohol sales.” It then went on to list the details of the law which were really not that hard to understand.

In a nut shell, no one anywhere on the island was authorized on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, or New Year ’s Day to sell alcohol to anyone for the purposes of carry out consumption.

The law had several other provisions and changes that my article also discussed which might have been a bit harder to understand but the basic fact of the ban of alcohol sales for off premises consumption on holiday ban days was pretty stinkin’ clear.

See, this is where I get to say that I personally think that if alcohol is legal to sell on one day of the year it should probably be available for sale on all days of the year including the days that people most want to make merry. Of course, that thinking is a bit flawed because while some people do in fact get merry after a few drinks some of them turn into raging lunatics.

I know that the ban this New Year caused me personally to buy more than I ever do at one time just in case; actually, two cases if the truth be known. I may have been alone in that reaction but I somehow seriously doubt it. I know that many people in Pohnpei don’t plan ahead in that way so perhaps my reaction was not a system wide reaction and therefore probably doesn’t serve as a good example of why I think the law is basically flawed and actually encourages over consumption.

BUT, it doesn’t matter what I think. The Pohnpei Legislature amended the alcohol law. We ran a prominent story about it even if it did take two weeks to get the Legislature to give us a copy of it so that we could do so. Information was out there even if it was scant and unless I’ve missed my guess, ignorance of the law is not allowable as a defense. I mean you can’t say, “Honestly, officer I didn’t know that it was illegal to smack John Doe over the head with a bat.” Would we really expect the law enforcement community to say, “Oh you didn’t? Well that’s just fine then. Now you know. Don’t do it again.”

Civil disobedience by ignoring the law and doing whatever we darn well please is still punishable under the law and actually is usually the point of civil disobedience

I asked the Pohnpei Detectives if they knew what kind of alcohol Mariano John and Brian Edwin who are charged with the Christmas murder of Erlino Remei were drinking. They didn’t know. I asked them if they had discovered which store sold them the alcohol and when they had purchased it. They didn’t know that either.

I’m only guessing based on nine years of living here but I would almost bet that they bought the alcohol during the alcohol sale ban days because that’s often the way it goes here. I can’t help but wonder then if the store owner who made that sale, if in fact it was illegal, feels any sense of remorse whatsoever. I also wonder if the store owner should be held culpable for selling the alcohol that seems to have led to murder; if not criminally so perhaps at least civilly.

We should all be responsible for acts; responsible to ourselves and also responsible to each other.

Well enough of that. Happy New Year to you all! I truly hope that yours is a good year!

Bill Jaynes
Managing Editor

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Governor Ehsa signs unique contract with Chinese company

Written by Bill Jaynes
Governor Ehsa signs unique contract with Chinese company for operation of the Nan Pil Power Plant Pohnpei, FSM - In the 30’s, the Japanese built the Nan Pil Hydro Electric Power Plant during the time of Japanese occupation of what was then called Ponape. Later the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers rehabilitated the plant and put it to use. A New Zealand company was hired by Pohnpei Utilities Corporation to study what it would cost to put the plant back on line. Now a Chinese corporation will take its turn to put the 80 year old plant through its paces. On Friday, January 8, Pohnpei’s Governor John Ehsa signed a unique contract with the Universal Power Alliance Company, Limited, a company from Beijing, China represented on that day by its General Manager, William Lin. UPAC has agreed to rehabilitate the generators at the Nan Pil Hydro Electric Plant and to operate the plant fifteen years. UPAC’s initial investment will be repaid over the course of the contract. In the mean time UPAC will sell the power they produce to Pohnpei Utilities Corporation. A representative of the Pohnpei State Attorney General’s office intimately familiar with the details of the contract said that for the first five years UPAC will sell the power they produce at the set price of 26 cents per kilowatt hour. During years 6-15 they will sell generated power to PUC at the set price of 22 cents per kilowatt hour. PUC currently charges its customers 34 cents per kilowatt hour a price that fluctuates based on the price of diesel. Mr. Lin said that the plant should begin producing power by this time next year.
Read more...

New technical secondary school to open on property of the former PATS campus

Written by Bill Jaynes
Pohnpei, FSM – “This is not a smart business investment at all,” said Dr. Ei-ho Kim on Friday afternoon, January 15, in the boardroom of the former Pohnpei Agricultural and Trade School. Dr. Kim went on to explain what he meant. “I know that missionary work is not by our own power but through the blessing of God!” Dr. Kim, whose organization, Pacific Resource Development Company made a proposal in August of last year to open a new agricultural and technical school on the former PATS campus, gave a passionate speech in front of a small group of local participants that included the Nahnmwarki of Madolenihmw, His Majesty Kerpet Ehpel and his wife. Dr. Kim was on island to sign a lease in order to open a new technical secondary school on the former PATS campus. Estephan Santiago, a member of the Task Force to Revive PATS and an alumnus of the former school said that when he asked Father Graigorio, the director of PATS why they were closing the school, the director said, “Products of PATS (PATS educated students) are no longer needed.” Since that time, the Task Force to Revive PATS on which Santiago serves has been actively working to revive the school in Madolenihmw where several of the FSM’s highest achievers attended during the 40 years that it was open. What with FSM infrastructure projects in progress, and the United States Government announcing their intentions to move a major military base from Okinawa to Guam, the timing of the closure of PATS couldn’t have been much worse.
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Hospital Medical Libraries Populate the Micronesian Region

Written by Arlene Cohen
by: Arlene Cohen, Pacific Islands Library Consultant Pohnpei State Department of Health Services celebrates the grand opening of the first Pohnpei State Medical Library on November 20, 2009 located at the public health facility in Nett. Dignitaries present were, Congressman Hon. Dohsis Halbert, Senator PSL, Fernando Scaliem, representing Ayuda Foundation, Acting Director of Health Services, Dr. Johnny Hedson, Chief of Primary Care Services, Dr. Rally Jim, several members of Pacific Island Archives and Libraries Association as well as several health services staff. Mrs. Arlene Cohen, a library consultant and the main person responsible for making this project possible was there saying, “This is a developmental milestone for health in the State of Pohnpei. This project promotes an environment of updated learning, research, as well as providing staff and clients with reliable medical information.”
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Policy on passport validity requirement for FSM Citizens to travel to the United States

Written by FSM Information Services

Palikir, Pohnpei – January 13, 2010 - According to the website of the Department of Homeland Security on US Citizenship and Immigration, citizens of the FSM by birth and those citizens of the former TTPI who acquired FSM citizenship in 1986 are entitled under the Compact to travel and apply for admission to the United States as non-immigrants without visas. However, admission is not guaranteed. Most grounds of inadmissibility under U.S. immigration laws, such as criminal convictions, are applicable.

If determined admissible under the Compact, an FSM citizen may live, study and work in the United States. The United States has the right to set terms and conditions on the non-immigrant stay of FSM citizens. At the present time, they are granted an unlimited length of stay, and their I-94 noted as “CFA/FSM” (Compact of Free Association/Federated States of Micronesia).

In order to seek admission to the United States under the amended Compact, a citizen of the FSM must possess an unexpired FSM passport that has at least 6 months validity. This is a new requirement, which did not apply under the original Compact. An FSM citizen applying for admission under the Compact does not need a U.S. visa, or any other travel documentation.

This requirement is also enforced by Continental Micronesia when they screen travel documents at the airport, so it is important for FSM citizens to make sure their FSM passport is valid for at least 6 months before they plan on travelling to the United States. Continental Micronesia will not let anyone with a non-US passport travel to the United States unless they meet this requirement.

First Pohnpei campus graduate of revived Agriculture and Food Technology

Written by College of Micronesia

Chipen is first Pohnpei campus graduate of revived Agriculture and Food Technology Certificate Programme

Valentine Chipen became the first graduate from the revamped Agriculture and Food Technology Certificate of Achievement program since it started in the fall 2008 in Pohnpei. Valentine is the son of Michael and Micheala Satowan of Chuuk State.

During the fall semester 2008, the College reestablished the agriculture certificate program and started offering it at Pohnpei campus in addition to Kosrae campus. According to the college, lack of interest in the program contributed to the low enrollment and eventually to the discontinuation of the offering of the program at Pohnpei campus.

In fall 2008 a total of 10 students from Pohnpei Campus enrolled in the Agriculture and Food Technology Certificate of Achievement Program. In 2009 the number increased to 34 fulltime students. Valentine is the first of the 2008 cohort to graduate.

The agriculture and food technology certificate of achievement program is operated through assistance from the FSM office of Economic Affairs; Pohnpei State Department of Agriculture; and the College’s Cooperative Research and Extension (CRE) Program, which provides much of the teaching needed and external funding through the CariPac program. The CariPac program is received by the College through the United States Department of Agriculture Farm Bill.

The CariPac fund is for educational programs in Agriculture and Natural Sciences and Food related sciences. The acronym refers to the US affiliated areas in the Caribbean and the Pacific regions. The institutions involved are: University of the Virgin Islands; University of Puerto Rico; University of Guam; American Samoa Community College; Northern Marianas College; Palau Community College; and College of the Marshall Islands and College of Micronesia - FSM.

Welcome to Kaselehlie Press

Written by Bill Jaynes

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