Q:
A:
Did you receive any compensation for trees, etc,.?
"No.
But we saw a surprising phenomenon:
or four heads.
coconut trees with three
Previously we produced 30-40 tons of copra for three
months.
Then the Japanese destroyed all.
in 1954,"
It was just coming up
Q:
Receive any other compensation?
A:
"Yes,
Q:
How many people were stuck outside Rongelap and couldn't return?
A:
$5,030 total for personal belongings, received in Aijit."
"300 some.
These people although not living on Rongelap considered
Rongelap their home because they were born there and had land there."
The people of Rongelap estimated that they could have produced 10 tons
of copra per month and the people of Utirik estimated that they could have
produced 30-40 tons for the three-month period.
The average price for copra at that time was about $100 per ton
for the outer-islands, this would yield a figure of about $3,000 for
three months production of copra as opposed to the $240 per three months
the people were given.
Compensation from the U.S. Government for the Rongelapese
The story which leads to the conclusion of
how the people of
Rongelap received compensation from the United States is a long one in
terms of distances, for the original incident took place in the Marshalls,
and subsequent events tock place elsewhere in Micronesia, on Guam, then
in New York, and finally Washington, D.C. before the story is completed.
The story also spans a length of time equai to the distances between the
cities mentioned--in stark contrast to the speedy payment of $2 ,000 ,000
to the Japanese Government barely less than 10 months after the incident
oceurred-~for it was nearly 10 years before this money was appropriated
“vy the U.S.
Congress and some time later before the people actually
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