{TRIP REPORT - MAJURO, KILI, JALUIT
-2-.
A
Whole Body ‘Counting
.
y
A boat was made available from the Marshalls Government's Department
of R&D and we went to Ejit (10 minutes from downtown Majuro) and
met with the elders and leaders. There were about 55 Kilians
(Bikinians) living there as part of the resettlement program. They
seemed to welcome the chance to be counted and of course saw us as
doctors who were there to take care of them,
We tried to dispel
this notion by explaining what the Whole Body Counting (WBC) was’
for.
Each person over 5 years of age was paid $10 to provide
them with funds to buy meals, take taxis, etc. while in Majuro.
The people were returned to Ejit each night and the counting took
Place from May 15 through 17.
The WBC trailer is in bad shape
as it suffers from maladies associated with old age and a life of
debauchery.
While we were successful in getting the air conditioners
repaired we did not have the same good fortune with the roof, and
deterioration continues.
We negotiated for a ship to go to Kili
and ended up with the M.V. Marshall Islands which runs on DC current,
although the trailer uses AC.
While the Marshalls Government made
every effort to provide us with a working generator we ended up
in the communications .station clearing with the people of Kili and
Jaluit Atoll the idea of picking up the people at Kili and performing
the counting dockside at Jaluit Atoll using regular shorepower.
A deal was struck with the people from Kili welcoming a "weekend"
in Jaluit, an atoll with amenities and an abundance of fish.
The WBC was performed in this manner.
Kili to Jaluit for counting purposes.
Only 15 people went from
The others said they would
welcome being checked but the death of an infant on Kili involved
social obligations at Kili. The health aideand his family also
stayed because of his duties but indicated if we had a replacement
he would have been glad to come.
All in all we were well received.
The people were in unison as to wanting to know when the Enyu decision
would be forthcoming.
There was no closeout meeting at Kili.
I
asked the Acting Magistrate if he wanted one, but due to the funeral
ceremony and the fact the many council members were off island
he declined after I assured him that the radiation levels in their bodies
continued to drop:-as expected and presented no known danger. to. the people.
He was to have explained this tothe. other. leaders.
.
In all, 127 persons were counted from Kili, Ejit and Majuro, 81 of
whom were present on Bikini in April 1978.
I was told by BNL
personnel that between the January counting and this latest
exercise, all but a handful of people had been counted.
We returned to Majuro on Wednesday, May 23rd, and had a very interesting
meeting with the Bikinians on Ejit later that day.
There were four
major points I emphasized several times:
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