State Minister Sandra Pierantozzi, was the one who officially lodged the claim.
Pierantozzi said that the submission represented the “completion of a monumental task for the Republic of Palau.”She said that there were several groups like the Government of Turkey, Government of Finland, The United Nations Trust fund and Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) who helped in the successful preparation, completion and submission of the claim.The deadline for the submission was before May 12.For the past two years, a technical task force originated under former President Tommy Remengesau had worked on the claim until President Johnson Toribiong took over and reorganized the task force.Pierantozzi chaired the task force with assistance from Ministers Jackson Ngiraingas, and Harry Fritz.The team was composed of David Idep, Jeff Tkel and Tony Mikel.Toribiong’s special assistant Victor Uherbelau, a member of the Task Force also joined the delegation in New York to make the submission.The delegation was assisted by Joan Yang, of Palau’s New York Mission and while Ambassador Stuart Beck had to be here in Palau for the Compact review meetings.Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the term continental shelf was given a legal definition as the stretch of the seabed adjacent to the shores of a particular country to which it belongs.
