Thank you, Mr. Speaker for according me this opportunity to share, this time not so much on accomplishments as we are just getting started but to give noteworthy accounts of what happened within the few weeks on the job that will require our collective attention and dialog. In addition, to acknowledge headways in our deliberate efforts to organize our new administration so we can get on with our primary purpose: To serve our People to the best of our collective abilities for the next 4 years and beyond, for the better, given the good fortune of increased financial resources and opportunities available to us as leaders to manage and invest to improve the lives of people going forward.
Video Link: https://fb.watch/qKl7jD3-Da/
At the outset, even before all of us were sworn-in to take on our individual and collective roles and duties as leaders of our State, a full-blown natural crisis was already in effect, yet unbeknownst to most, if not all of us. Far from being physically, albeit mentally, settled into a make-shift shelter still undergoing renovation on January 09, 2024 as the Governor’s Office, the impact of the crisis was already a threat.
On January 10, 2024, the first order of business for this administration was already ripe waiting for Governor’s immediate review and appropriate action. A very dry weather condition from lack of rainfall for several months prior due to 2023-2024 El Nino’ had caused a severe drought that affected the main island of Pohnpei, the lagoon islets, and all of the outer-island to an extent where potable water for “drinking and cooking”, especially on the islands and in remote communities not connected to the central water system, were either lacking or critically low in supply therefore effecting normal livelihood of a significant portion of our population. The matter was immediately brought to the attention of the responsible government stakeholders to canvass the situation and prescribe immediate measures to address/remedy it, as the impact at the outlying community households, schools, health clinics, private operations and others were acutely disconcerting. While the matter was being addressed, the Pohnpei Utilities Corporation reported that the main water supply for the central water system was drying up and it had affected every customer, home, government operations and private businesses connected to it. The crisis then became statewide in scope.
On January 12, 2024 with the veracity of information available to me and with recommendations provided by the appropriate authorities, I declared a State of Emergency for Pohnpei State through Emergency Declaration 2024-01. While preparation to address the crisis was just beginning to get underway, as if what was already on our hands was not serious and grave enough, a fire was reported from the dumpsite in Dekehtik in the early afternoon of that day that turned into a raging blaze in the evening and a threatening inferno throughout the night that impacted the entire seaport and airport operations that lasted more than a week. It was not a coincidence; it is a well-established risk expected during drought situations.
As more dreadful and disturbing information were revealed afterwards about the storage contents of the warehouses located nearby that conflagration, we realized that a major catastrophe was unwittingly averted if it was not for the heroic efforts of those workers from PPA, PTA, PUC, DPS, private volunteers and many others who joined in to work all night incessantly to contain that raging fire. I want Pohnpei State Leaders to join Lt. Governor and I to thank these brave souls/people for their life-saving effort/work without which catastrophic and serious damages could have resulted that fateful night. To add to the extent of the crisis, risks caused by the drought, on the subsequent days, brush fires were reported for various parts of the main island that were also threatening to the nearby homes and the surrounding environments.
While the effect of El Nino’ was still seething, on January 23, 2024, Sea Level Rise, a Climate Change phenomenon, wreaked havoc on the coastal regions of Pohnpei and all the outer-islands. High surfs and waves from the king tides were reported to have affected the northern side of Pohnpei including most of the outer-islands where some of them, especially the island of Nukuoro, sustained damages to their taro patches and other crops from inundation of salt water for the waves. This occurrence further compounded the crisis on hand. Assistance from many benevolent organizations, programs, individuals, businesses, and offices were swift to come to the aid of those affected communities. Relief supplies and potable water were donated and were able to be shipped out to all the outer islands to assist those affected people in need through transportation assistance from the US, Australia, FSM, and NFC.
I want to take this opportunity to them including organizations, NGOs, private businesses, individuals, and others who helped out on the need during this crisis such as IOM, DECEM, various Private businesses, individuals and organizations. A list of more than 30 donors and supporters will be verified and properly recognized asap for this purpose.
While placating the crisis was at the fore, the normal business of governing continued unhindered to ensure priority matters were attended to accordingly to enable our new administration to secure the key positions/cabinets needed to get on with our primary business of serving the People. Between Lt. Governor and I, we consult to identify individuals we believe in their abilities, commitments, and trust to carry out the important leadership responsibilities of overseeing the services of programs and sectors under this new administration. We have 6 department directors and 6 office administrators/executive directors to appoint, subject to the 11th Pohnpei Legislatures’ consent. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank you and your colleagues/ our representatives, for confirming the cabinet nominations for the Department of Education, Department of Land, the Attorney General, and the Administrator of the Office T&I. Pending before the Legislature now, are the remaining nominees for the Departments of Heath, Finance, R&D and Public Safety and the Office of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Housing Authority, PTA and Election Commission. I am desperate, and so is our government, to get the right people, Lt. Governor Ioanis and I trust and had appointed, to carry out the mandate of our mission going forward. Mr. Speaker, I beg the indulgence of this august body to support the remaining nominees. The sooner the better, so collectively, we can all move forward together with ease and confidence that our mandate to serve the public are well attended to and in good hands. Thank you.
In like manner, we are also screening potential nominees to constitute members of the Boards. On the books now we have nearly 20 Boards to reconstitute their membership. In my scant review of the matter, I recommend we reassess some of them to validate their purpose and intentions before we can fill them. For those Boards that are critical to public services such as PPA, PUC, Land, PTA, EPA, etc., in the same spirit, may I plead for your august body’s blessing to help us reconstitute these Boards to ensure they are fully operational and functional sooner rather than later.
Mr. Speaker, I will be submitting a compiled written reports of the FY2023 performances and accomplishments from the departments and offices for the 11th Pohnpei Legislature’s record and reference. There is important information that can be gleaned from those reports to help us understand the history, background, and purposes of activities and programs in each of the departments and offices that can serve as useful references to help give context and guidance in strategizing plans and objectives for our aspirations going forward. I will not attempt to interpret them here because I may misrepresent the contents as they were from another time. These will be treated as reference materials.
Before I touch upon a subject, I am sure all of us are interested in, the Financial Outlook for the State, I want to pause here and reflect on something I want the Leadership and the People of Pohnpei State to grasp as to the time we are in now in context to the history of Pohnpei as a State in this self-proclaimed independent country called the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). If 1979 was the year this nation and therefore Pohnpei State Government was born (baby), I want to believe that 2024 is the year that Pohnpei State Government becomes a grown-up (young adult) that is mature, responsible and conscientious with foresight, determination and resolve to do the best for the people of Pohnpei.
For the past nearly 45 years, Pohnpei State, like all of its sister/brother states, was struggling to keep up with its mandated responsibilities to serve its people and to develop its infrastructures, resources, and capacities to become a self-sufficient state/entity like states of independent nations. In fact, that was the predicate aspiration upon which this nation was founded. At this juncture, with the benefit of hindsight, I can safely say that the financial resources available to Pohnpei State from 1979 to 2023 were grossly insufficient to fulfill even the basic mandated responsibilities expected from the government, let alone achieving the lofty aspiration of being self-sufficient. Those who preceded us did their best to make do with limited means. Starting FY2024 that backdrop or setting substantively transformed.
As history will attest, in 2023 two major developments/achievements took place that transformed the paradigm of how the state governments are to be supported financially beginning FY2024 going forward. One was the successful renegotiation of the financial provision of the Compact of Free Association with the US. The other was the successful passage of amendments to the FSM Constitution thru a public national referendum. For the former, the financial provision of Compact III extended certain sectors assistance for another 20 years with an increase of about $60 million annually (FSM total) as compared to Compact II funding level. That amount is subject to annual inflation adjustment. For the latter, the FSM Constitution mandated, effective July 04, 2023, that 50% of all revenues collected from Fishing Fees by the National Oceanic Resource Management Authority (NORMA) shall be deposited into the treasuries of the State Governments based on a stipulated formula. The projected amount for Pohnpei State annually, based on the previous years’ average collection, is about $9 million. In short, the financial resources from the Compact source increased nearly 75% and from the fishing fees it is 100% new money. What this all means in the simplest of terms, Pohnpei State had a total budget of about $40 million in 2023 and in 2024 its budget was projected to exceed $60 million annually. The increase is unprecedented and so as our responsibility to maximize the benefits that we can reap from these new funds.
When these resources were first confirmed, the Legislature was swift to increase salaries of all government employees by 45% of the base across the board. That was enormously generous, to say the least. Whether that action was evaluated properly or carefully vetted strategically is irrelevant at this point. What is important to emphasize regarding this once-in-a-lifetime windfall, the people of Pohnpei State will expect all the State Government employees to improve their service and attitude toward their responsibilities seriously and their on-the-job performance to improve exponentially. You owe the people -quality service. You owe the government-unwavering commitment never seen before. Monitoring and evaluation of performance will be sanctioned judiciously as this increase in salary is considered an investment of people’s new money where interest and dividends will be measured in how good, effective, and efficient we perform our duties. Where much is given, as much and more is expected in return.
As for our financial outlook for the current fiscal year, we are projected to realize a total sum of nearly $62 million to fund the needs of our great state per the Budget Ceiling Resolution that was recently passed by this august body. Of this total, 46% is expected to be sourced from local revenues inclusive of fishing fees; while 53% by the compact sector; and 1% from special funds created by law for specific use and purposes. While the total sum reported may appear to be more than adequate to fund our needs inclusive of compact sector infrastructure projects, the salary increases in the sector-funded departments and offices are expected to materially overdraw the current level of sector funding in the current fiscal year, should the amended compact not be passed by the U.S. Congress. It is estimated that the expected shortfall may amount to about $4 million for the sector-funded cost units. Should this be the case, we will have no choice but to augment the salary increase with local revenues. It is my hope, however, that the amended compact will materialize this fiscal year, although it is not certain if JEMCO will be amenable to salary increases that have already been committed and obligated.
Unequivocally, I consider those additional financial resources god-send blessings. There were extraordinary commitments and efforts expended with serious thoughts, studies, deliberations, and analysis in the processes of the Compact renegotiation and the Amendment of the FSM Constitution that availed these staggering amounts of money. They were available for very important and absolutely necessary purposes. For Pohnpei, I am sure like all other states, these funds are made available: 1) to improve and strengthen Pohnpei State public services and programs and 2) to bolster Pohnpei State’s capacities to develop necessary infrastructures, frameworks, and means to advance our social and economic aspirations. I am confident that if we are prudent and transparent in aligning and allocating our newly found resources to fulfill these necessary purposes, it will be possible to realize those aspirations under our watch if we are deliberative and transparent in our collective efforts as leaders of our People.
To help articulate the general outlook of where we go from here forward, the relevant point of departure will be to revisit the Pohnpei State Strategic Development Plan (SDP) currently on the books, to assess its relevance and revise where needed and improve where productive sectors are a concern, i.e. Agriculture, Fisheries, Tourism, etc. and certainly, the service sectors i.e. Education and Healthcare and including Infrastructure program and planning. A timely comprehensive review and revaluation of the SDP with emphasis on all the above and others should take precedence against the backdrop of the existential threat of Climate Change.
My administration is elevating Food Security as one of the top priorities because I see it as a subject all of us should be concerned with. After all, food security per se is a human and societal imperative. Together we can affect policies that can strengthen our local food production through appropriate and sustainable agriculture means and practices. Additionally, reassesses the potential productive and sustainable opportunities that are available through our fisheries sector both for the pelagic (open ocean) and artisanal (in-shore) industries and programs. Food security policy helps us in many positive ways not immediately discernable to all of us in the short term but in due time the impact, if we do things right, will be monumental and strategic economically, socially, and very importantly medically/health-wise. Food security will make Pohnpei self-sufficient to a degree that can make a huge difference economically through import substitute and export potentials of our local products and produces.
In addition to producing our own locally grown food for consumption to reduce importation of certain types of food, especially vegetables, there is potential to spur an increase in consumption of locally produced and grown food. That in itself is a major medical treatment many of us are completely ignorant about. Relying on our own locally-produced food will be the most effective mitigation measure to combat the most serious and chronic epidemic of NCD (Non-Communicable Disease). That medical problem has been one of the leading causes of hospitalization, off-island referral, and deaths since this country came into being and the trend remains on a trajectory skyward with no sign of waning anytime soon. NCD is a plague that is unnecessarily costing Pohnpei, FSM, and this region money and resources we do not have and valuable lives we sorely need. It is robbing and looting our economy passively and killing our loved ones mercilessly. The simple treatment of eating our own locally grown food, (not imported), and fish, (not canned meat), is the best treatment there is and we are not seriously making that happen. We are abandoning our basic way of life- eating our own food. If we can only solve the problem of NCD I was informed that 60-75 (%) percent of our hospital and dispensary problems will be easily solved. Overall, it will be very healthy for our economy, many lives will be saved and millions of dollars saved can be allocated for other important public needs- a win-win-win situation. That is remarkable. With such a prospect, I do not know of any better time than now to make Food Security a priority objective for our government to pursue seriously, deliberately, and passionately.
Briefly on Education, since 1994, when the State created its Educational Act which mandated how our system of Education should work, we have not had a comprehensive and collective effort to review and evaluate the effectiveness of our system, and whether it upholds the expectations as intended. Thus, we will be working with our Department of Education to create a forum whereby we can address these concerns and create a better and more conducive path forward. This will be organized in the form of an Educational Summit before the end of the school year to engage all educational stakeholders, including State, FSM, COM-FSM, UNICEF, Donor Partners, Local Governments, NGOs, and other relevant agencies. The development of our most important resource (human) deserves serious attention in all aspects of its operations and endeavors.
Review and evaluation of other services continue to be addressed but without the department/agency heads comprehensive oversight will be difficult.
In order to effectively carry out these good plans to manifest, needed and right Infrastructure must be in place including necessary public infrastructures to support transportation, communication, and services that cater to the needs, safety, protection, growth, and well-being of our people.
In government, like in life, what is necessary is usually given, however, what is possible requires collaboration and a meeting of minds. I have heard “politics” expressed and defined in so many iterations but the one that resonates with me in this context is quoted from someone from the Kofi Annan Foundation or maybe from the sage himself (KA was the former Secretary General of the UN.): “Politics is the art of making possible what is necessary,” How fitting. The necessary purposes for the new resources are given. To achieve those necessary purposes for the good of our state and our people, it is all up to us as leaders of this government to work together to make it possible. It is critical that we allocate and manage our financial resources in a transparent manner because that engenders trust and confidence in our people and increases satisfaction, engagement, and productivity for the government workforce under our collective leadership.
Once again thank you very much Mr. Speaker and members of the 11th Pohnpei Legislature for this opportunity. May God continue to bless the people of FSM and Pohnpei State.
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