REPUBLIC OF THE MARSHALL ISLANDS
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
P.O. BOX 2, MAJURO, MARSHALL ISLANDS 96960

ORDERS

Pursuant to Section 1102 (6) of the Emergencies Act 1979 (7 MIRC 11) and the Proclamation declaring the State of (Economic) Emergency, I, LITOKWA TOMEING, hereby promulgate the following ORDERS:

That All Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies are hereby urged to work in unison to achieve the successful implementation and achievement of the following measures in the period of the State of (Economic) Emergency.

(1) That all Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies are hereby ORDERED to take immediate steps to implement energy conservation measures, to save on utility costs.

(2) In addition to paragraph (1) above, and in particular:

(a) The Ministry of Finance:

(i) That the Ministry of Finance shall establish a National Energy Support Account as a measure to create capital funds (reserve) for the purchase of fuel, and to mitigate against the adverse effects of the rising cost of fuel.

(ii) That the said Account shall be utilized only: (A) to secure a fuel supply line; (B) to address the maintenance needs of the power generation sector; (C) to stabilize costs associated with the outer island transportation sector; (D) to stabilize the cost of delivering staple food items to the outer islands; (E) for the implementation of projects on alternative energy development, both in the outer islands and the urban centers.

(iii) The said Account shall be replenished by: (A) the reprogramming of available funds from other accounts within the General Fund; (B) funds that may be appropriated by the Nitijela, (C) grants and other contributions from domestic or foreign sources, including the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank; (D) unexpended capital projects funds.

(b) Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

(i) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs: (A) shall seek financial and other types of assistance from the RMI’s closest allies, including the United States, Republic of China (Taiwan), Japan, Australia and other development partners during this time of hardship. (B) shall seek financial and other types of assistance from regional and international organizations, to help with projects aimed to lessen the dependence by the RMI on fossil fuel, and to initiate renewable alternative energy activities.

(c) The Cabinet:

(i) The Cabinet to look at introducing legislation in the Nitijela aimed at: (A) providing for tax exemptions on selected food items, to ease the financial constraints caused by the rise in world fuel prices; (ii) provide for: (A) providing tax holidays for combined utilities services; (B) offering protection to the combined utilities services as sole suppliers of electricity within the Republic; (C) offering protection of the re-fueling business sector. (iii) All earnings generated from the sale of fuel are to be used to supplement the utility tariff rates and to provide the capital to purchase fuel.

(d) The Ministry of Health Services:

(1)That the Ministry of Health shall take steps to safeguard the delivery of health services and to ensure that Contingency Plans for Majuro and Ebeye hospitals are in place during this period of emergency.

(e) That the Ministry of Public Works:

(i) The Ministry of Public Works shall: (A) shall carry out a survey of all lighting, air conditioning and other electrical systems on all public facilities and where necessary, to replace and re-fit all public facilities with more energy efficient equipment; (B) reduce the public street light hours and commence the procurement process for suitable solar street lights. (C) assist other Ministries and Agencies with Contingency Plans to ensure that the essential infrastructure and delivery of public services are safeguarded. (D) adopt future public facility design concepts based on energy efficient models, inclusive of alternative energy sources and related specification requirements, for long term sustainability and affordability. (E) ensure that the combined utilities (MEC/KAJUR) are directed to further reduce operational expenditures, where necessary, and to secure favorable terms with vendors abroad to ease the current fiscal pressure resulting from the high energy costs. (F) takes steps to ensure that the combined utilities (MEC/KAJUR) are further directed to take pro-active steps to reduce loss of energy generation, improve operational efficiency and other measures as necessary.

(f) The Ministry of Resources and Development:

(i) The Ministry of Resources and Development shall: (A) devise an arrangement that will make available alternative energy projects, such as the Outer Islands Solar Project, to residents in the urban centers (Majuro and Kwajalein); (B) take steps to accelerate efforts to achieve bio-diesel processing capacity, for the Marshall Islands Tobolar Processing Plant, to lessen the high dependency on imported fossil fuel. (C) take steps to put in place, agreements with all vessels that transship in our waters, and all vessels licensed by MIMRA to fish in our waters, to purchase fuel exclusively from MEC.

(g) The Ministry of Education:

That the Ministry of Education shall carry out energy conservation awareness education programs in the community.

(h) The Ministry of Internal Affairs:

That the Ministry of Internal Affairs shall: (i)conduct energy conservation awareness programs on the national radio; (ii) engage non-government organizations and civil society to assist in the energy conservation awareness efforts, to ensure that the message reaches the wider community.

(i) The Ministry of Justice:

(i) The Ministry of Justice shall: (A) enforce the “Government Vehicle Policy” that requires all Government vehicles to be returned to the designated parking lot at 5:00 pm. All vehicles operating after working hours are required to obtain prior authorization. (B) ensure that energy conservation measures are implemented at all public facilities. (C) ensure that Law and Order is maintained throughout the period of emergency.

(j) The General Public:

All citizens and residents of the Republic are hereby urged to conserve, save and reduce the consumption of electricity at homes and other establishments, in order to reduce the level of power generation required at the nation’s power plants, to manageable levels.

(k) The Private Sector:

That the Private sector is urged to support the efforts of the Government in this period of emergency. As a contribution to the Government’s efforts, the private sector is urged to import fuel efficiency products, and take general remedial measures to minimize the adverse impact of the fuel crisis on the economy. To this end, the private sector is encouraged to maintain constant dialogue with the Government and the nation’s combined utilities services.

(l) Medium and Long term Measures:

The Government shall: (i) seek technical assistance to update the National Energy Policy, and to ensure that there is identified, an action plan that identifies measurable objectives to guarantee national energy security and sustainability over the long term, to reduce the nation’s high dependency on imported fossil fuels, and further, to counteract the impact of high fuel prices on the cost of living. (ii) expedite the site specific feasibility study, and consider the concept and the viability of the Ocean Thermo Energy Conversion (OTEC) in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

(m) National Disaster Committee: The National Disaster Committee shall monitor the progress of this Declaration, and shall choose an appropriate time in the course of implementation, to review such progress in accordance with the goals set, and to submit to Cabinet a report to that effect.

(n) General:

That the Cabinet shall take, from time to time, additional measures deemed necessary to assure the well-being, health and property of the people of the Marshall Islands are not placed at risk.

Given under my hand this____day of _____________2008.

H.E. Litokwa Tomeing
PRESIDENT