According to Minister Jackson Ngiraingas of Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Industries and Commerce of Palau, “On the Japanese side, this is a way for them to display their engineering and construction ingenuity. On our side, we get to show them the things that their government has done for Palau before and after the War.”
Safety, environmental protection and natural-disaster preventive techniques are some of the strengths of Japanese construction.
Since 1970s, the track record of contract awards abroad by Japanese construction has steadily increased. At present, Japanese construction companies have engaged in construction works in 124 countries, most notable of which, to name a few, are the largest land reclamation in Singapore, cable-stayed bridge with the largest vertical clearance in Egypt, and the world’s tallest building in Taiwan.
Palau, on its end, presented the current situation of social infrastructures in the country.
When it comes to sanitation, the Capital Improvement Programs (CIP) reported that out of the 16 States in Palau, only Koror and Melekeok are being served by centralized sewage treatment facilities. The other 14 States use holding tanks, septic tanks and traditional out houses.
As for public water treatment system, all States except Sonsorol and Hatohobei have water treatment and distribution systems, but majority depend on streams or rivers for water source and use primary gravity filters for basic filtration.
Some public roads in Palau need improvement. Over 50 km of public roads on Babeldaob is unpaved; Nekken, Shimizu and Ngardmau bridge crossings are unsafe; and major portions of Koror secondary roads need rehabilitation.
Minister Ngiraingas said that although they’re not asking Japan to help out with the improvement of all the infrastructure needs of Palau, they would appreciate if Japan can assist them through the Official Development Assistance.
“That’s up to the Japanese government to be able to assist Palau with the rehabilitation of some of these infrastructures,” said Minister Ngiraingas.
According to him, the first thing Palau needed right now is aid with the power sector, and Japan has already agreed to assist Palau in that aspect. “Next is the improvement of the water and the sewer systems.”
“Our construction industry is committed to solving the global warming, environmental issues, island-nation industry development and social infrastructure techniques,” said Takeshi Komori, Director for Japan’s International Construction Negotiations, Ministry of Land Infrastructure Transport and Tourism.
The conference was also graced by Japan Ambassador to Palau Yoshiyuki Sadaoka, Ambassador, and Vice President Kerai Mariur.
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