Utirik Elementary School and the AEC

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uur oonoern witn the ~~tanloEnergy ~mxnisslw atruotures here on Utfrik 0enter8 around seourug deomt sohool facilities for the uommunity. Jit3 d now under verbai agraementwith present using four bufidlngs in the oomplexfor our sohoolplant (tnree oomp18testructuresand the 35 root generatorhousec) AS is plainly evident It Is kept olean and well taken aare of by the 85 pupils, five teaohers and the 100al Y.T.A.. The progress so rar Is ~t superriolalfor ths utirik uormnunltyas the buildingsstlQ seoxn we began imuiries to deteritietheir final dxsposal In march, 1967, at a dinner party in mjuro at the uome of uhester hainuma in a discussionwith Dr. Robert Qormrd and me busimssmanager,m. Rasmussen. we iIh UiI%d tmn as to what their reelhgs wouid be towardsthe use of these ~ui~dlngsfor eiemmtary s~hwi ad they gava their verbal agreement. M’ter talking wi~h them, we prooeeded LO oonversewith the Uistacltsoffloe and seourepermission as well as Iuformthem of our p~ans~ m oonferenoeswith uv&ht HeIne and his assistantHay MoKay very little KI’iOWAt3(@ as to UC plans was availablebut they said, however,that they muld make i~U@i08 and at that time, as far as they wre comernud, communityuse of the structureswas fine. When we finallyarrived on Utirik on April 10, 1967, WJ IE@ and spoke with Lomor Jorout on whose land the buildingsare sltuatxdl and who, by uontraot,we found out later, 1S the teohnioaloaretalcur. We did not start negotiationswith hlm until after a May 25 radio oonferenoewith Ray MoKay who informedus on that date that:

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1. Negotiationsare going on presentlybetween SaSpan and Atomio Energy Cozrmisslonbut no answer aa of yet. the bulldlngsand the land. This in prolmblya resu”t of tha tcwards tha idea,we Mlie%w, also stem from his WOU knom poor SO05QIzwlationswith the ocmmunityand genaral intoleranaaof ohildren. Ws finally scouredverbal approvalafter ooze tedfoua dissuasionby late July, 1967. At this tim alsowe untle~etoc?~a sohool buildingand rmovation program spon80redby Peaoe Corps Washingtonon behalf at Ioast some of ths struoturosand ronovutingthem for sohool use. This prcgram offerstho maximum awount of’$1,000 donatedby an American elementaryor hi@ Qohool for a 25$ or $250 coxmnfty deposit. The orlterlato qualify for the program are ao follows: 1. Suitableland and dear title available. 3. Communitymust provide 2* of the return. 40 There will be no pay for labor provided-+naterfals013~Y. 5. The foundationof a new buildlngmust be installed prior to release of funds or approval. 60 A stable politloaland sooial struoturemust exist. 7. The Communitymust bewwillingto Informthe U.S. -ponmrs how the money waa spent and progress on the school. 8. Na obligationexists between the sohoolswhen the

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As is evidentthe outstandl~ oriterlonand tb only one not yet uompletedby tl!mCommunityIs the first one, that of a clear land title and base to work from. Before wa UIldOfiOOkthis p~w~, the details of which were pasoed over radio WSCO Majuro, ths Trust Territoryradio network,the automatiostartedon the radio generatorbroke duwn (June 7, 1967) ati the loss of two-way contaot with mjuro slowed down informationconsiderablyuntil August 239 1967, when the gonerator was fixed during a regular field-trip stop. On August 28, we had a oonferenoewith AssistantD1.sta~ Robert Law oonoerningthe buildingsanl land title; he passed to us the followingInformationat that time: 1. As of July, 1967 AEC 8egotiated a lenewalof ths present lease with the High Commission~soffioe for the Utlrlk complex. 2. The Health T- needs three buildings for periodio inspectionand will oontinueto hohd the title. 3. We should contact Saipanto obtain writtenpermission for sohool use. Robert Law at that ttie said he wmil~ draft a fo~al letter to the High Comnlssionerfrm l Ellstadlbrshall for the AEC during the following-k. AEC before he can part with the sore under and around the oomplex wlthor by sale ($500 per sore aaoo~in~ to standardTmst Terrttoryouter island psloe) or On Utirlk itself the job oleaningup had begun ds&ly during the last daya of August. In a oonoertedthree-weekdrive the t~ohers and studentsof Wtirlk Elementa~ Sohool olea~d the debris and of the buildingswith ooaonuthusks, sand and seawater~ imrlng the last week before the 196741968sohoolyear opened on Septemb+r 18, the 100al PTA joined in and parents,teaohera,and ohildren alika hand gathered and c!arriedooral rook fnm the lagoonto fill In the grounds.

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of Septemberand uutober of 2967 to seouresohool suppliesauoh as desks, ohairs,blackboards,otu. for tho sohool,he made innuiriesagain with CommunityDevelopmentas to information concerningfihal AEC disposalbeyond present oontraotterms. TM reply we reoeivedthe followingdispatchfrom Bill Vandling ooneerningthe present status and futurelegalityof any tnnRe MC buildin&!. The followingis a quete from present agreementwith the Trust Territoryand o~ers. Ouote: when not in use by governmentthe owner shall be permitted to use buildingson the premlseaprovidedthat owner dhallnot damage buildingsor installationsnor shall they used for the purpose of storingoopra,nor housing llvestook. Unouote. Weto involvedhere &tlupke on ) Utll?lk.Please oheok with landownerand get OK fm? use. COMMSTAUTIRIK tO DISTAD MARSHALLS Unolas. Pass to iandllng. Four AEC struwtureanow in use by Utirlk Elementary~ohool. After ~erbal permission by owner on Eatlupke as of September18, 1967. This made plain to us the landowner’sduties for his part Of the lease but we wonder yet if he is au olearlyamn’e of them himself. As for as we uan determfne,no translationor oopy of the lease rests in his hands. The Irolj or ohief Hamu Hermlos (wtth power of atXmey for his mother R. Llmojwe who offloially holds title over this Island aooordingto oustorn)has baoked our plans from his part as a signee of the lmase and la due to some

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North on a field trip in tha near future landownerabout turning the ame of land to oonversewith the of the uomplexover to the communityfor use. T?m Marshall Islands EduoatlonDepartment oan be of no help In this matter as they are legallyprevented from dealing in lati so that the land questionfinallymay rest on the deoisionof these two men. Namu Hennios till be most interested In talking to Dr. Conard or any other offioialin the present health team who oould disoussand dear up with him future mnmdssion plans for the structureswhile in I@ur% In view of the supportati possible oleeranceof the bulld~s, the faoulty in Ootober,1967, drafted a @amt-in-d~propo&al to seoure funds for a 5 kilowattgeneratoremglnoby whleh to light the oanpletelywired buildings,the tiring being in near perfeot uonoit!on from the 1958 Air ~oroe-AECstay. This is ooordlnatecl with the future mnovatlon plans and would make the oomplex the best sohoolplant today in the mall Islands. !fhlaproposal, CommunityDevelopmentreview board In saipan and 17 now on Mr. lt&- WOo(!l’sdesk waiting for the final apDnval. Both this and the Sohool hinge on their olearanoe. we would like to find out A detail Or these reportsaooompanfes plans for disposalof the UtirlkbuilQln6s, at your earliest oonvienoeIf you oould be of any help now. yet to his personal The landownerLomor Jorout is negativeon or extendeduse but has no definiteplans as use in the event that they am rsleasedto -.

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Presentlyhe was living in the northernmost faoilityfaoing the pathway. He had previouslywt tho oomplex fall into a negllgent state with human and animal feoas and urine throughoutmany of the rooms, Me has reoentlyoleanedand moved out of his own lagoon. Whatever his intentionsare for this oomplex,they an oertainlyneither prmluetivenor for mmmunity benefit. It would sdem wastefulto allow exoellentaluminumstructuressuoh ao these to stand empty and perhaps ba dismantledin turningthem over to him. Perhaps a written arrangementoould be made whereby the commissionoould turn over the OOMP1OXto the oommunityin oonjunatlon with Irolj Namu?s releasingof the land or negotiatea nw oontraotwith the I’rustTem’itoryand the ~roij htisalf. A writtufa agreementfor oontinuedoommunityuse now untii new steps oould be taken in oontmot ohange or renewal. AU is ridx on the final AEC deoision; UtirikAtoll will either have or have not a worthwhilesohool plant worthy of the nwe~