Majuro
is the capital of tne Marshall Islands and the seat of its newly
elected government.
It is estimated that of those who are employed in Majuro,
80% work for the Marshallese government in one capacity or another.
center of population, Ebeye, most workers
In the other
are employed by the American Army
Missle Range on Kwajalein or by one of its American civilian contractors.
Thus
it would seem that while in the past most Marshallese were engaged in copra
production, fishing, and other subsistence activities, nowadays most of the labor
force is employed either by the local government or by foreign organizations.
There
are
Marshallese.
quite
Taxi
a
few
small
companies,
businesses
small
that
stores,
are
run
garages,
by enterprising
small
restaurants,
handicraft cooperatives, theaters, and other such enterprises are becoming quite
common in the urban centers.
attraction
These and employment opportunities constitute an
to the populations
increasing flow of people
of outer
islands.
into the two
urban
Consequently,
centers,
there
contributing
is an
to
the
communication
and
problems that will be discussed below.
The
government
is
working
hard
to
establish
better
transportation between these centers and the outer atolls and islands.
To this
end, a new program is vigorously underway to put an airstrip on as many atolls as
possible.
At present there are such strips on Enewetak, Bikini, Likiep, Mejit,
Wotje, Kwajalein, Maloelap, Ailinglaplap, and Majuro.
A new airline known as The
Airlines of the Marshall Islands has been established with one plane in operation
and other being outfitted to join its sister.
piloted
and
managed
by Australian
These are Australian Nomad planes
personnel
at
present.
The
Marshallese
government is negotiating for landing rights in Hawaii as they plan to expand
their services beyond the confines of their own islands, thus connecting their
country with the outside world.
Fishing constitutes a potentially lucrative income for the Marshallese
economy.
To this end, there are currently negotiations to extend the exclusive
economic marine zone to a 200-mile limit.
This will add considerably to the
already expansive area of half a million miles that the Marshall Islands occupy
and insure their control of the inter-atoll waters.
At this time, however, the most important single source of revenue to the
Marshallese economy is the rental paid by the United States government for the
use of Kwajalein as an Army Missile Range.
At present, the rental is nine million
dollars annually, but negotiations are already underway to raise it to fifteen
million per year.
Telecommunication remains one of the greatest needs of a country with such
vast
expanses
and
distance
between
atolls
and
islands.
In order to develop
further economically, the problem of regular and dependable telecommunication
between the islands themselves
and between them and the outside world needs