Elderly people who saw and were part of the population movement from Babeldaob to Koror half a century ago say it is only a matter of few years when the reverse would take place. “When the movement out of Koror to Babeldaob gets under way in the coming decades, the number of people who would like to “resettle” on Babeldaob would probably far exceed the number of migrants who came to Koror in the fifties and the sixties”, they said. The people who would be returning to Babeldaob would probably not worry about basic services such as water, power, telephone, and convenient land transportations, which their forebears didn’t have on Babeldaob and which were the main inducements for the earlier migration to Koror. All of these conveniences, in addition to better education and easy access to medical services, will be available to the “new returnees” except for the most important part in the relocation process—adequate homes. Everyone who would like to live on Babeldaob will have to find ways of building and financing his home. The question is—Where can he find the money to pay for his home? We already have the Palau Housing Authority and a US Federal program that provide limited financial assistances to homebuilders, particularly the senior citizens. We understand that the Palau National Development Bank is also active in the Housing program. All these, however, would probably not have sufficient resources to provide the level of funding that would be needed to build the homes, businesses, and public facilities that would be required in the new “settlements” on Babeldaob. Our political leaders and planners should begin to lay out plans for the establishment of public lending institutions that would provide funds to “fuel” the move to Babeldaob. Should the existing public housing programs be combined to form one larger unit that will have sufficient funds to finance all housing projects that would be needed on Babeldaob? If not, where do we go for the necessary funding for this huge undertaking? We believe there are people in our communities and in the government who have the wisdom and the necessary experiences to search for and establish lending institutions (with low interest rates and with lands as collaterals) that we would need for the “resettlement” of Babeldaob. Let’s give them a chance. One possible source of funding could be the next Compact Treaty, which we would have to negotiate for with the United States before the current treaty expires in 2009. The current treaty gave us the 53-mile road on Babeldaob. Do we have people with the calibers of a Roman Tmetuchl and a Lazarus Salii who could negotiate for what might be called the “Babeldaob resettlement fund” with the United States? Such financial assistance could be fashioned like the housing program (We believe it was called Operation Bootstrap) that the US Government extended to Puerto Rico in the sixties and the seventies. After all, why build a 53-mile paved road if there are no residents to benefit from it?)
