Chuuk Reform Agenda

Whatever we produce must not be a version of our existing reality, which is largely a creation of imperialism; it must be different, and of our own making. We should not forget that human reality is human creation. If we fail to create our own, someone else will do it for us by default.” – Epeli Hau’ofa, “A Beginning,” A New Oceania, 1993:128-9).“

The Chuuk Reform Movement recognizes the multitude and complexity of problems facing Chuuk all of which require a consistent agenda of reform on many fronts. We dare to begin that process of reform by addressing some basic areas of needs in Chuuk. We do so humbly knowing that many Chuukese citizens have been advocating for these needs whether they consider themselves reformers or not. In the spirit of respect and open dialogue with fellow Chuukese citizens, CRM invites you to share your opinions about the issues that matter most to you, as well as your hopes and vision of what you would like to see accomplished in a consistent reform agenda for Chuuk. It is only through open and respectful dialogue between practioners and theorists, voters and elected officials, native Chuukese and our global allies can a consensus for an agenda-setting reform program emerge.

Education

Education

An educated citizenry is the key to breaking the cycle of disempowerment among the people of Chuuk. No single issue deserves top priority in Chuuk today than the ensuring of adequate education of our children. It is imperative that our young generation are given all the available resources to survive in a globalized and fast-changing world. Without adequate education, the future of our State and its place in the global community will decline into hopelessness. The public school system must be resourced with competent leadership and adequately trained teachers. Efforts must be made to enable the public schools to learn from the best practices found in the private school systems; the private schools must take up the responsibility of helping the public schools. The College of Micronesia – Chuuk Campus through its partnership with other higher educational institutions must be given more governmental resources to provide training programs and certification opportunities for Chuukese teachers and school administrators. View comments>>>

Environment

Environmental Protection

The care of our lands, seas, and air is the responsibility of every Chuukese citizen. The government must provide adequate funding, leadership, and programs to educate the public in the proper stewardship of our natural resources. Efforts must be made to empower the NGO’s that are dedicated to environmental issues. The problems predicted by scientists on global warming has already impacted our islands directly. Taro patches and other locally grown food products have been rendered useless due to the rising tide. The government must work directly with municipal leadership and the FEMA office in the national government to initiate long term plans and short term solutions to this impending crisis. View comments>>>

Women

Women Leadership Roles

Much like the rest of the world, Chuuk is undergoing a paradigm shift in recognizing the importance of women in leadership roles. Women have traditionally been the backbone of the family, a role that has over time become a cause of injustice in today’s democratic government; today, many Chuukese men expect women to serve in subservient roles in the community.  Clearly there is a need for an attitudinal and cultural change towards women’s leadership roles in the community. Women must be given the same opportunities to excel in leadership roles in the community. Young women in schools must be taught to value their leadership roles in the community. Likewise, young men must be taught to respect women. View comments>>

Youth

Youth Empowerment

In every form of community actions in Chuuk, the youth have always been the backbone of the efforts. It is vitally important that the government strengthens its youth services to empower them to do more for nation-building. We wish to instill a sense of pride among the Chuukese youth population in being Chuukese. More importantly, we challenge all members of CRM to work hard every single day to set a positive example and role modeling for our youth a sense of hardwork, respect of others, dedication to taking care of other Chuukese, and of being ambassadors for our beloved Chuuk. View comments>>

Health

Health Care

Preventive health care must be improved to combat the increase of obesity, diabetes, and other health problems in Chuuk. In a State which suffers from incompetent leadership and lack of resources, the only sure medicine that has always been available to us as a people has been our own way of life; we need to re-educate our people on preventive measures such as the need to lead less sedentary lifestyles. Parents must be educated on the lifestyle and diet changes happening to our people as a way to return to our more healthy food choices. The lack of preventative health services threatens the lives and future of the future generation of Chuukese. Health education must be part of the school curriculum as an early way to educate future Chuukese on preventative health skills. View comments>>

Transparency

Accountability & Transparency

Ironically, while our Chuukese culture espouses fairness, openness, and hospitality, our government suffers from a lack of accountability and transparency. People have very little knowledge or involvement in the day-to-day operations and policy-making decisions in the government. Because no one is demanding a transparent governance, the political leaders continue to make funding decisions that are not for the greater good of the community. Reform is needed to force all branches of the government have an open and transparent governance system. Efforts must be made to encourage a cultural shift in how people view the government leadership; citizens must be educated to question their elected officials and demand accountability. In this 21st century, it is inexcusable for the government not to have a website that communicates its services, discloses financial statements, reports news, and enables citizens to question the government actions. CRM challenges all political candidates to publish their platforms on the CRM website for public scrutiny, engage members in discussions, and solicit constructive feedback from citizens and global allies.   View comments>>

Fanapi

Outer Island Services

Providing equal opportunities to the often forgotten citizens outside the immediate lagoon islands is the responsibility of the government. Given the remoteness of these islands, every effort must be made to ensure adequate transportation services are available to enable health services, educational resources, economic development opportunities to be easily accessible to the people in the outer islands. Greater efforts must be made to prioritize the resources for these islands. It is not only a matter of right, but one of justice. View comments>>>

Economic Development

Economic Development

As long as the Chuuk economy suffers from lack of leadership and sound development strategies, Chuukese citizens will continue to leave the State to find jobs elsewhere. While that in itself is not necessarily a bad thing since Chuukese overseas do support their relatives back in Chuuk through remittances, there is still a need to build the Chuuk local economy to support the average citizen. The government must act decisively to reform its economic plan to attract more foreign investment, strengthen the current private sectors with incentives in training and hiring more locals rather than recruit off-island workers. Small businesses which are the foundation of the Chuuk economy must be given tax breaks to encourage growth. View comments >>>

Media

Independent Media

Information is power. In our democratic government in Chuuk, it is imperative that the people have the right information to make better decisions. We need an objective media to report on the news of the day, to question the decisions made by elected officials, and to provide an avenue for the public to share news. With municipalities scattered thousands of miles from the center of government on Weno, having a reliable means of disseminating weather information can mean life or death. Without an independently operated media in Chuuk, the people have no way of getting adequate coverage of events affecting their lives. The government should turn the operation, budget, and infrastructures of the ineffectively-run V6AK Radio Station to an independent  reliable non-government organization to operate. View comments>>>

Disability

Disability Access

Disability (or as Jojo Peter likes to say, Kich-ability) broadly refers to any form of physical or mental challenges. As with any issues of equality, services to those members of our community who are challenged physically, psychologically, mentally is a matter of justice for which we (KICH) as a people are responsible. Besides the need to enact laws that safeguard the accessibility of services to the disabled, education and awareness must be on the forefront of the community’s consciousness. While our families do well in caring for the needs of those with some form of disabilities, the government must assume more responsibility to provide these much needed services.  There is little to no public educational efforts to help the younger generations aware of the needs of people with disabilities.

Lands

Land Reform

Our Chuuk government is stuck in no-man’s land as a result of poor decisions on past administrations who elected to pay landowners for lands that ought to have been part of eminent domain. Today, Chuuk suffers from a lack of communal identity in the area of resource-sharing when it comes to lands for our common use to build schools, dispensaries, roads, and other public services. While lands are owned by private individuals, reform must be made to enable communal sharing of lands either by invoking eminent domain or by a community contract in which land owners are compensated with services rather than money for lands. Chuuk must deal with this problem to prevent further disruption of public services by landowners who are seeking compensation from the government.

Voluntarism

Volunteerism

Historically, our Chuukese culture was built on a strong foundation of reciprocity in which people voluntarily help members of the community through exchange of goods and services. Our islands thrived on the peace and tranquility in the community. Over the years this culture communal reciprocity has given way to the Western influence of individualism. We need to rebuilt this spirit of voluntarism in Chuuk by creating structures and opportunities for Chuukese both locally and globally to help our Chuuk in whatever way possible.

Election

Election Reform

Political campaigns and elections have become a source of divisiveness and corruption in our families, clans, communities, State, and even our nation. On one hand it has become standard practice among many incumbent legislators to use government funds to buy votes. On the other hand, we citizens have readily accepted such handouts with utter disregard for the future of our children. We must advocate for an attitudinal and structural reform in our election and campaign practices in Chuuk to rebuild our sense of pride in ourselves as a people and our ability to rise above corruption. View comments>>>

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