Former President and chief Imata Kabua, chief Anjua Loeak and Marshall Islands President and chief Jurelang Zedkaia signed a land use agreement extending U.S. use of the Reagan Test Site for an additional 50 years from 2016. The new agreement will give the landowners a $32 million payday later this week from funds that have been collected in escrow since 2003 waiting for an agreement to be reached.
U.S. Ambassador Martha Campbell, who did not attend the signing, said she expected to meet Kwajalein leaders on their return to the capital city of Majuro Wednesday night to sign a release for the $32 million escrow fund.
The new agreement hikes the annual rental payment by about $4 million annually — money that since 2003 has been accumulating pending approval by the landowners of the U.S. and Marshall Islands government agreement for use of Kwajalein.
Thousands of residents of Ebeye, the overcrowded island next to the U.S. Army’s missile testing range, filled the Ebeye United Church of Christ church and its surrounding grounds to witness the historic signing of the land use agreement or LUA.
“The tide is not too high but it’s not too shallow either,” said landowner spokesman, Sen. Christopher Loeak. “Where we are at today is a compromise which we’ve agreed upon to safeguard our future.”
With the LUA no longer a lingering issue, Marshall Islands Foreign Minister John Silk said, “Now the real hard work can begin to develop Ebeye and the nation.”
A U.S. Army report issued in 2010 said that Ebeye’s sewer, water and waste management infrastructure was either not working or on the verge of collapse, posing critical health threats to the 12,000 population.
“We have several key areas we want to address particularly the road to Gugeegue, housing and sewer redevelopment,” said Kwajalein Sen. and chief Michael Kabua.
