Micronesia: How free

is ‘free association’?

Americans often call them 'flag territories’, and they are the Pacific terri tories which stand in some form of constitutional relationship to the US itself. From Hawaii an actual state of the union to the various new States of Micronesia due to accede to a form of independence in 1981 they present a complex and sometimes tangled picture. PIM correspondents in various ‘flag territories’ unravel some of the strands in the following reports.

From Gift Johnson in Kwajalein

‘Just how free is “Free Associ ation”?’, asked a Micronesian, referring to the new political status being negotiated for Micronesia. The recent consti tutional crisis in Palau has, almost by accident, pointed up the severe restrictions that this political status would place on the ability of Micronesians to control their future.

The constitutional contro versy in Palau emphasised the tense political atmosphere in Micronesia as the islands attempt to achieve self government and begin the road to independence after more than 30 years of United States trusteeship. (For Palau back ground, see p 33.) Micronesia’s economic stag nation has proved the major obstacle to any possibility of

independence during the

10-year status talks.

And the fact that the US has not encouraged the develop ment of a sound economic base was indicated by a UN report of 1976: ‘No direct Capital Im provement Programme funds may be available for economic

development projects in

agriculture, marine resources, mariculture or tourism for the next five years.’ Added the re port: This may leave Micronesia more economically

dependent by 1981... ’

In the Marshalls, the military is a major source of income.

While Marshallese working at the army’s Kwajalein missile range receive the highest wages in Micronesia, other Micronesians are aware of the ills this complete dependence on the military has brought:

critically overcrowded living

conditions, a polluted environ ment, and job and wage dis crimination at the base, They are all part of daily life for the 8,000 Marshallese living on 60-acre Ebeye island.

Only 10% of Ebeye’s people

actually work at the missile range. With 50% of Ebeye’s population under 25 years old, the unemployment rate was 36% in 1978 and growing.

Kwajalein is vital to the Army’s nuclear missile re search and development pro gramme. Since 1964, when landowners were removed from their islands, it has been the prime landing site for inter continental ballistic missiles fired from Vandenburg Air Force Base in California. With billions of dollars invested in Kwajalein radar, base facilities and other equipment, the Pen tagon has no plans to cease test ing in the near future.

Marshallese landowners are

becoming increasingly aware

of the atoll’s importance to the US and recently occupied islands with missile tracking radar equipment, protesting at inadequate compensation and the severe conditions on Ebeye.

This occupation, involving hundreds of Marshallese and delaying some missile range operations, forced the Pen tagon to negotiate with the landowners and the new Marshall Islands government for compensation for past and future use.

In October last, the land owners’ committee agreed on a 5U2.2 million past-use settle ment and $7 million for a one year lease of the atoll. This amount is in stark contrast to the 1964 lease for Kwajalein, in which the US paid Marshallese only $750 000 for 99 years' use

of Kwajalein.

Kwajalein has proved to be

an important bargaining chip

for the Marshalls government in the Micronesia-US status talks.

To what degree the Ebeye people will eventually benefit from these negotiations is unclear, as their problems have

not changed substantively in

the last four years, despite increasing local government control. The newly formed Marshalls government must also contend with similar prob lems in Majuro, the district capital.

Following the development

pattern of many Pacific islands, thousands of young people have been pouring into Majuro (and Ebeye) in search of non existent employment and the excitement of urban life movies, nightclubs and other entertainment unavailable on the outer islands. Majuro’s un

employment figures are similar

to Ebeye’s, with little chance of short-range improvement, as the major source of employ ment remains limited with the government.

Although formally obligated

by the UN Trusteeship Agree ment to build Micronesia’s economy, the US is instead pouring millions of dollars into visible capital improvements such as roads, bridges and buildings with no provision for future maintenance or operat ing costs.

In a decade that has brought increasing autonomy in the islands around the Pacific and seen the emergence of many

newly independent Pacific

nations, Micronesia continues in a dependent ralationship with the US.

The Kwajalein missile range, numerous Guam mili tary bases and proposed bases in Tinian and Palau, along with

the current ‘free association’ provision allowing the US to

establish ‘necessary military

facilities’ anywhere in the islands, indicate the Pentagon’s need for continued control over Micronesia as part of its future military strategy in the Pacific.