KOROR (Palau Horizon) — The supplemental budget requested by the Office of the President to the national legislature included funds for Palau’s consulates in Saipan and Guam.
Toribiong has asked for an additional $40,000 for Guam and $20,000 for Saipan for both offices to continue their operations.
Due to constraints in the 2010 fiscal year budget, Palau’s consulate on Saipan was closed on Dec. 31, while the Guam office will only have until March 31 to operate.
But in his recent trips to Guam and Saipan, Toribiong said the Palauan residents in both islands want the consular offices open, and that they needed the offices’ services.
The president said the 1,800 Palauan residents on Saipan and 3,000 on Guam felt left out and abandoned with the closure of both offices.
Chief of Staff Isaac Soaladaob, in an interview, said, “The consular offices on Guam and Saipan are necessary not only to provide services for Palauan residents, but to open opportunities for Palau to promote itself in terms of tourism and other businesses.”
He said that once the national legislature approves the budget, they will immediately reopen the consulate on Saipan and continue operations on Guam.
The president, in a previous interview, promised that he will restructure the job descriptions of both offices to make sure that they provide the necessary services for Palauan residents.
