The structure that houses the equipments used for the maintenance of the system has an utter look of neglect. The section nearest to the road has collapsed completely and the equipment stored therein may have been destroyed or damaged beyond repair.
There is genuine cause for concern about damages to the sewer treatment plant. That facility receives, treats, and disposes all waste materials, including toilet and other human effluents from the homes, public facilities, and from the business establishments all over Koror. A significant damage to the plant facility will have an enormous impact on the lives and health of all the people living on Koror, and that is why great care must be taken at all times to prevent any such damage from occurring. Furthermore, the facility disposes all of its treated products into the waters of Malakal Bay and any untreated effluents would pollute and damage many areas of Koror’s lagoons and reefs. We’ve had big problems with the treatment plant before, also because it was not maintained correctly. Some years back the earthen pools at the Sewer Treatment plant became huge breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which infested the southern part of the city of Koror from Medalaii to Rebai-Melachel. People living in the area and anyone traveling to Malakal knew how bad the problem was. Swarms of mosquitoes attacked people, even in broad daylight. If the same problem were to occur today, with the dengue problem going on in the country, we would have one enormous health problem on our hands. The Government agency responsible for maintaining the Sewer Treatment Plant must take immediate action to correct the situation at ICE BOX. Inspectors from the Sanitation Division should also visit the site to ensure that the problem is resolved correctly. Remember the old Ferry Boat at Ren-rak? About this time 39 years ago, in October 1969, the Koror-Airai Ferry Boat began operation on the Ren-rak Channel. Looking over my old notes for the occasion, I came across some very interesting things about this long-gone event in Palau’s history on transportation, which should interest our young people. The Ferry Boat took about seven minutes to make one crossing as against four minutes with the old M-boat, but it could carry 12 vehicles at one time. The old World War 11 M-boat could carry only two vehicles at one time and had to make six trips in about an hour to ferry across 12 standard-sized vehicles. The Ferry boat was run back and forth by two cables, which were powered by a hydraulic engine on board the ferry. The cables wind or unwind, depending on which direction the ferry was going. The 75-foot ferry boat was built in Japan at a cost of $75,000.00 and was transported to Palau by the U.S. Navy. The Ferry Boat’s first run was a complete success. It made travels on the 1,000-feet-wide Ren-rak Channel easy and set the stage for the constructions of the two K-B Bridges.
