EQPB

My primary assignment in Palau is to work at the Environmental Quality Protection Board (EQPB).   Although somewhat similar to a local planning office in the U.S., the way the EQPB operates and the functions it performs are significantly different from U.S. or European planning departments. 

The EQPB is a semi-autonomous agency of the executive branch of Palau’s government.  The Board meets every two weeks and is composed of seven members appointed by the President of Palau.  It is the lead government agency for the environmental protection of the land, sea, and air resources of the Republic of Palau.  Board meetings are usually at night, since the Board members are ordinary citizens.  Most are retirees, but a few have day jobs.  They are paid for the meetings they attend.

Palau’s Environmental Quality Protection Act of 1981 (Title 24 of the National Code) was created to “ensure greater protection of the unique and aesthetically beautiful environment while promoting sustainable economic and social development that would achieve the financial goals of the people of the Republic.”  The EQPB is to disseminate and enforce regulations addressing the following nine topics:  earthmoving, marine and fresh water quality, toilet and wastewater disposal facilities, solid waste management, pesticides, public water supply systems, environmental impact statements, air pollution control, and ozone depleting substances.

How is the EQPB at all similar to a U.S. local planning office you might ask?  Well, here’s how:  If someone wants to construct a building, do a renovation, move some earth, or virtually do anything that might impact the environment, they must apply for permission to the EQPB.  In due course the Board will issue the applicant a permit to proceed.  This also applies to the16 Palau state governments, who must make application to the Board to build or improve roads.

The Board has a full-time staff of about 15, headed by an Executive Officer.  The staff evaluates applications, makes site visits and places conditions on permits.  The staff is also supposed to monitor the work, once it is started by the permittee.  (I’ll have more to say about this in a future posting).  Once the staff completes it's work, the application is reviewed by the Board who approve the permit or might ask for modifications, before the permittee can proceed.  The Board also has the authority to issue fines.  

 

This is the entrance to the EQPB.  It's not glamorous and looks and feels like warehouse space.

Since working at the EQPB I have attended three Board meetings.  At each of those meetings three to five fines of from $2,000 to $500,000 were discussed and issued.  In some cases a person or organization who was previously fined will appear before the Board to appeal, usually represented by a lawyer.  One of the EQPB staff members is a lawyer who advises the Board on the interpretation of the Environmental Quality Protection Act.

Fines over $10,000 are very rare.  The one for $500,000 involved the damage to a local coral reef caused by the accidental grounding of a tourist boat.   This accident occurred in August and was the first known damage to a local coral reef.  An environmental consulting group had made an assessment of the damage and provided ways to set the fine.  They based their recommendations on research done in the Philippines on a similar accident.  I was able to obtained the original Philippine research (isn’t the internet great) and wrote a short paper for our in-house lawyer assessing the consulting report conclusions.  The lawyer did her own assessment, then made recommendations to the Board.

There are some other related function carried out by the EQPB staff, for example, the office maintains a lab for monitoring water quality.  As an aside, unlike many places I’ve visited, the tap water in Koror is perfectly safe.  (That does not hold for other parts of Palau.)

Well this is more than enough about where I work.  I only provided this information as a bit of background for my next posting.

Palau, my Digs, and a Geography Lesson

I've been in the Republic of Palau for a little over a month, living in the town of Koror and working at the Environmental Quality Protection Board.  Most of my time here thus far has been spent learning about the work of the EQPB, assisting on permit reviews, meeting people at various government ministries where I will also be providing some assistance, and getting my apartment set-up.

Relative to Pohnpei, Palau is a prosperous country.  As a result, even the cockroaches are bigger here than in Pohnpei.  So my first job after moving into the apartment was to deal with the roaches and ants.  As of now, I've won the battle, and after doing a few "home improvements" I've managed to create a very nice place for myself.  Connie will provide an independent assessment at the end of December.

My apartment is on ground floor, lower right

The apartment consists of five rooms:  a large bedroom, a living room (could be another bedroom) which I don't use and have closed off, a large bathroom, kitchen, and separate dining room.  The bedroom has an excellent A/C unit, and I use a fan for the rest of the apartment.  Those cars in the photo belong to other tenants.  Peace Corps regulations forbid me from driving (just like Freshman year at Rutgers).

My office at the EQPB is about a mile from the apartment.  I generally walk to and from work along a road that is currently under construction.  I share the road with cars (most people have cars and few walk anywhere), dogs, and an occasional chicken.  Lately the Director of the EQPB, feeling sorry for me, picks me up in the morning after dropping her kids off at school.

There are some very nice houses along the road to work.  One of ones I like best is on the right.  But the housing stock is mixed.  There are quite a few that don't look so great from the outside (see photo below).  Inside many are well maintained.  The heat and humidity tends to damage the exterior of house here.

 

Geography Lesson

In 1947 Palau became a Trust Territory of the U.S., and in 1994 it gained sovereignty under a "Compact of Free Association" with the U.S.  Under the Compact, the U.S. provides financial assistance in exchange for international defense authority.  The Compact is for a set period of time and has been renewed at least once with the Republic of Palau.  The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and the Republic of the Marshall Islands are the other countries that have compacts with the U.S.  Clearly, the U.S. has determined that this region is strategic from a defense point of view.

Palau's population, as of 2015, is about 21,000.  Although not the smallest country in the world in terms of population, it's one of the smallest.  The country is divided into 16 administrative regions called "states" located on 10 islands.  The smallest island (area 0.32 square miles) is Tobi with a population of about seven people.  The three largest islands are Babeldaob (on which there are 10 states), Koror (which has the largest city, also called Koror, and the bulk of the country's population), and Peleliu (where a major battle was fought at the end of World War II). 

The Battle of Peleliu, fought between the U.S. and Japan, is said to have had little strategic value, but it had a casualty rate that exceeded all other amphibious operations during the Pacific War.  

Koror, where I live and work, consists of three islands connected by bridges or causeways, and the Rock Islands.  It is also connected to Babeldaob by a bridge. More than half the citizens of Palau live in Koror, and most if not all of the government Ministries have offices here.  The capitol and official governemnt offices are located over 20 miles away, at Melekeok, on Babeldaob island.  The legislature meets there, but most government business is done in Koror.  (I'll have more to say about Melekeok at another time.)

There is one main street in Koror and no traffic lights, although I'm told at one time there was at least one light, but it tended to cause more problems than it solved.  The main drag get's very busy during morning and evening rush hour.

Koror's main drag during evening rush hour

There are two large department stores in town on the main drag, facing each other.  Each includes a grocery store.  One tends to have some merchandise that is more upscale than the other.  The comparison would be Macy's v. Sears.  I've been surprised at the variety of products carried by each store.  The more upscale store is known as WCTC (for Western Carolines Trading Company).  WCTC also owns several hotels scattered around town and at least one other grocery store.

This is WCTC.  The grocery and pharmacy are on the  ground floor, with clothing and household items on the second and third levels.

Both department stores have separate hardware stores (in the case of WCTC it's an Ace Hardware). 

I frequent both hardware stores as often as I can think of an excuse to buy something for fixing up my apartment.  I'm curently in the process of replacing all the screening material in four window screens.  I also plan to repair some missing grout on my kitchen tile countertop, and hope to use the same grout on a mosaic.  By the way, if you are planning a visit, the currency here is U.S. dollars.  The same holds for the FSM.

Next time I'll describe my work.

Nan Madol and Kepirohi Falls, Pohnpei

My trip to Nan Madol and Kepirohi Falls took place on Saturday, September 19, 2015, while we were still in Pohnpei.  I am currently in Palau and have just found the time to write and post this blog.

The ruins of Nan Madol are considered to be one of the great wonders of the world.  The magnitude and complexity of the site has been compared to the building of the pyramids of Egypt.  Nan Madol is a huge complex constructed entirely by man and includes a number of islands, temples, living quarters, pools for sacred eels and turtles and a complex maze of canals.  It is thought that humans occupied the area as early as 200 B.C.

This picture gives you an idea of the size of the area that we saw when we first arrived.

Just when Nan Madol was built and exactly how it was constructed remain a mystery.  The stones used to construct the buildings are very large and it is thought they came from a different part of Pohnpei, perhaps somehow floated on the water by tying them to wood.  Today the complex is mostly covered by jungle.  I believe we saw only a small portion of the ruins.

Many of the stones appear to have a pentagon shape.  It is not clear whether they were found this way or cut into this shape.

Here's a part of a large wall.

Nan Madol is located on the Eastern side of Pohnpei, running down the side of Temwen Island and out onto the reefs.  There are 93 man-made islets ranging over an area that covers 150 acres.  It's on the opposite side of the island from Kolonia, I'm guessing a distance of 20 to 30 miles.

How did we get there?  (This is one of those stories that Connie thinks I make longer than necessary.)  During training we had an hour of language instruction each day.  We each had our own instructor because we were all going to different islands, each of which has it's own native language.  My instructor was Hasintha Omura, a Palauan married to a Japanese man. They have lived in Pohnpei for about 25 years.  There are lots of Japanese residents of Palau, and also quite a few in Pohnpei.  Their relatives originally came during the Japanese occupation before and during World War II.  In any case, I happened to ask her at our lesson on Thursday (I'm a terrible language pupil and spent a lot of time asking Hasintha questions) whether she knew of anyone who could give me a tour of Pohnpei - just a drive around.

She hesitated for a moment, then said perhaps her husband Ken could take me.  I was to call her on Friday to confirm.  I called and spoke to Ken, who apparently had a bus and offered tours on the side.  His main business was working as a dive instructor.  It turns out he was already taking 5 Japanese tourists on a trip to Nan Madol on Saturday, and I could come along and bring others of our group.  I already knew Michelle was interested in a tour, but Eric had planned a climbing trip and Ron was going with him.  Since Marshall was staying in Pohnpei, he had no interest in doing any activities now.  He would have the whole year to explore the island.

There was a heavy rain Friday night.  Eric's guide for his climb called to say they would not be able to make the trip because of the conditions on the mountain, so Eric and Ron joined our tour.  We set out in Ken's bus at around 8:30 a.m. and drove to Nan Madol.  Several times during the tour we each needed to pay local residents $1 to $3 to enter their land - to get to various sites we had to cross private property.  But the fee was worth it because the owners do a good job of maintaining the trails.

Here we enter a trail leading to the part of Nan Madol we visited.

The path crossed lots of mangrove swamp.

There were several larger bridges.

 Here's a closer look at mangroves.  The mature trees are in the background.  The spikes in the foreground are new mangrove.

 

I really had no idea what the conditions were going to be like in reaching Nan Madol.  As a result, I was poorly prepared in the shoe department.  I wore my waterproof Salomon's (they served me well in Romania), but now we had to wade across a large but shallow inlet.  I would have worn my reef shoes, if I had known.  I took off my shoes, left them on the bank, and crossed barefoot, then proceeded to walk around the ruins barefoot.  It was painful!  Finally, one of our group retrieved my shoes and I made the rest of the trip, including wading back, in shoes.

Here's the water I had to cross barefoot to get to the ruins.

Another view of the water separating the ruins from the trail.

Once across the water, this is what we found.

Here we are (Eric, Michelle, me, and Ron) after wading across to the ruins.

Following are more pictures of the ruins:

Michelle taking a photo of Eric

After touring the ruins we walked out toward the Lagoon.



Ken never mentioned we would be seeing the Kepirohi waterfall on the way to lunch until we got there.  The falls are on private property, so once again we paid the gate keeper a small admission charge.  We walked for about a quarter of a mile from the road along a very well maintained trail.  Here's what we saw:

Kepirohi waterfall

The pools below the falls are deep enough for swimming, but it is not recommended.  Freshwater eels are said to be found in the waters here.  Eels are considered to be sacred by the Pohnpeians.

There was lots of interesting flora along the trail to the Falls.

 

 

Ken had mentioned we would stop for lunch on our way home.  The restaurant was an unusual place, located at waters edge.  They offered a fixed price, all you can eat lunch, delivered on a moving conveyor.  The conveyor was around the edge of a circular bar. You could eat at the bar or take your food to a table.  The person in the center of the circle constantly restocked the various dishes being served by placing them on the conveyor.  The set-up looked very much like a small version of a baggage claim area.

Here's Michelle, under the hat, chomping away.

Following are views of the lagoon from the patio of this restaurant:

Another day in the life of a Peace Corps Response Volunteer!  Charlie

Kolonia Town and Surroundings

I have a few minutes to create this post before flying to Palua, so I'll show some photos of Pohnpei with brief descriptions.  The date should be September 22, 2015, but it didn't get posted until October 3, 2015.

This is the Sea Breeze Hotel where we stayed for 9 of the 10 days in Pohnpei - a short walk (less than 1/2 mile) to Peace Corps headquarters (our training/orientation site).

My room at the Sea Breeze - big enough to sleep 5 (included a frig and a tea pot).

My room at the Hideaway Hotel the last night in Pohnpei (the Sea Breeze was booked).  This place consists of about 5 cabins (more are planned), built on a hill side overlooking an inlet.  It was actually very nice (indoor plumbing with very hot water produced by a solar unit - its less rustic than it looks).

Walk on way to P.C.Offices.

  This is an unusual photo of the Town, since most roads don't have sidewalks.

P.C. Offices where training/orientation was held.  There are lots of new cars in Pohnpei.  Everyone seems to drive here - only PC volunteers walk!  Most cars are from Japan and have steering wheels on the right side, even though they drive here on the right side.

The lagoon, not far from the Sea Breeze Motel.  One of the few places I saw refuse.

 Spain built Kolonia in 1887 as their administrative and military capital of Micronesia.  This is the Spanish Wall, built to protect the colonial government and garrison - all that seems to remain of the Spanish occupation.

The Wall is at the back edge of this ball field.

Buildings of Kolonia Town

Yep, the same Ace that we have in USA, except this one sells office suppies.

  There is also an Ace Hardware in Kolonia and in Koror, Palau

There are several large buildings like this one under construction.

One of the nicer looking houses in town

Typical house and yard in the countryside

I like the looks of this church, even though it needs work on the outside.

The telecom office.

Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission.

Government offices are located in small buildings all over town.

This is the super market where we shopped for supplies for our rooms.

Charlie