Majuro is the capital of the Marshall Islands and the sea
elected government.
alin,
of its newly
It is estimated that of those who are emp!
ed in Majuro,
80% work for the Marshallese government in one capacity or anothe
In the other
center of population, Ebeye, most workers are employed by thefAmerican Army
Missle Range on Kwajalein or by one of its American civilian contfFactors.
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 orfganizations.
There
are
Marshallese.
quite
Taxi
a few
small
companies,
businesses
small
that
stores,
are run
garages,
b
enterprising
small
restaurants,
handicraft cooperatives, theaters, and other such enterprises are [becoming quite
common in the urban centers.
These and employment opportunities] constitute an
attraction to the populations of outer
islands.
Consequent]
increasing flow of people into the two urban centers,
there is an
contributing to the
problems that will be discussed below.
The
government
is
working
hard
to
establish
better
compunication
transportation between these centers and the outer atolls and islands.
and
To this
end, a new program is vigorously underway to put an airstrip on asimany atolls as
possible.
At present there are such strips on Enewetak, Bikini,
Wotje, Kwajalein, Maloelap, Ailinglaplap, and Majuro.
Likiep, Mejit,
A new airlifle known as The
Airlines of the Marshall Islands has been established with one plage in operation
and other being outfitted to join its sister.
piloted
and managed
by Australian
These are Australidn Nomad planes
personnel
at
present.
T e Marshallese
government is negotiating for landing rights in Hawaii as they
lan to expand
their services beyond the confines of their own islands, thus c
necting their
country with the outside world.
Fishing constitutes a potentially lucrative income for te Marshallese
economy.
To this end, there are currently negotiations to extend
economic marine zone to a 200-mile limit.
the exclusive
This will add consifierably to the
already expansive area of half a million miles that the Marshal]
slands occupy
and insure their contro! 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
Js 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 atolis and islands.
In orger to develop
further economically, the problem of regular and dependable te
between
the
islands
themselves
and
between
Jecommunication
them and the outsige world neeas