House Bill 7-207-34S, HD3 stated that the national government provides four million lbs. of water each day to residents of Palau all of which comes from Airai.
The bill said that although the national government collects revenue for the use of this water, none of this revenue has been disbursed to the state of Airai.Senate President Surangel Whipps the bill was killed after it got to the Senate from the HOD.The bill said that water is being provided to Palau for over 20 years without the Airai State getting compensation from it.The HOD cited cases in the United States that a party seeking to benefit from the use of another property must negotiate and compensate the owner of the resource for its use.“Under these principles, the people of the states of Airai should be compensated when residents of other states benefit from the use of Airai’s water, especially when the government collects revenue for that use,” the legislation said.The HOD said that water-producing states are entitled to one percent of water revenues derived from residents of water-receiving states who benefit from the use of another state’s water.The HOD transmitted the measure to the Senate on Sept. 8. The Senate tackled the measure Sept. 11The bill said that there was injustice to the fat that Airai States has not been compensated for the water use.“It is time for each state to be justly compensated for the use of its freshwater,” the bill said.
