The
October 9 - 22, 2024
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Kaselehlie Press
The
October 9, 2024
Free bi-weekly publication
KASELEHLIE PRESS PO Box 2222 Kolonia, Pohnpei, FM 96941
Kpress@mail.fm
Vol. 24 Issue No. 22
(691) 320-6547
USAID and CRS help Pohnpei launch CREATE Project for plastic recycling By Bill Jaynes The Kaselehlie Press
Photos by Reileen Joel
October 3, 2024 Pohnpei—Due to the initiatives of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and an approximate $250,000 grant from USAID, Pohnpei has taken its first real step toward resolving its serious plastic disposal problem under the project name “CREATE.” Currently, plastics of all types are dumped at Pohnpei’s landfill indiscriminately with other household garbage—that is, if they make it to the landfill at all. All too often, they don’t and instead end up in the mangroves, where they can linger for hundreds of years, float out to the ocean, or accumulate wherever they fall on land. The celebration of a new plastics recycling program took place on the afternoon of September 27 at the containerized shop behind Pohnpei’s can collection and recycling center. The machinery is now in place, and training has been conducted to grind usable plastics and melt them into reusable forms. CRS is still in the process of developing its collection center, which will be housed in a container on the CRS property adjacent to Our Lady of Mercy Catholic High School, but the facility is nearly complete. Meanwhile, CRS, the Pohnpei Environmental Protection Agency, and Kolonia Town government are working with elementary schools to not only encourage students to recycle plastics but also to actively participate in doing so. They have already set up bins at several schools for students to
bring in plastics that would otherwise be discarded in effort to promoting plastic recycling and educating environmentally harmful ways. the public on its importance. The local community will need to take part by bringing plastics of all types Collection will be entirely voluntary, meaning that the cooperating entities will need to dedicate significant Click here for continuation on page 4
Legal battle continues over Western Union cash payment delays in Pohnpei By Bill Jaynes The Kaselehlie Press October 8, 2024 Pohnpei—Well over a year ago, Craig Reffner received written notice from a Western Union outlet in Hawaii that the $1,700 sent to him would be available for collection on April 4, 2023. On that day, he went to three Western Union outlets in Pohnpei to collect the money. However, for various reasons, Western Union "failed" to pay out the money owed to him, as he claims often happens to others in Pohnpei. He was able to collect the money late in the afternoon of April 5, 2023.
These circumstances led to the filing of civil action 2023-003 against the Western Union corporate entity, Consolidated Transportation Services, Incorporated (CTSI), and Apdin Peter doing business as Ray and Dors, with Reffner as the plaintiff represented by Marstella Jack. Reffner’s causes of action are breach of contract, conversion, and violation of the FSM Consumer Protection Act. An attorney in Fiji is representing the Western Union parent corporation. One attorney, Debra Ann Mori Retuyan, is representing CTSI and Apdin Peter, although
Jack’s attorney filed a motion to disqualify her from representing either of those clients due to an alleged conflict of interest between the two defendants. A hearing on that motion took place on the 17th of this month, heard by Associate Supreme Court Justice Larry Wentworth. At press time, the Court had not yet rendered a decision on that motion.
in their responses. However, Reffner claims that Ray and Dors did have the cash, not from the bank but from their business operations. He claimed Ray and Dors told him they could pay him, but he would have to spend 15 percent of his $1,700 payment at their business before they would give it to him.
Reffner’s filing claims that neither CTSI nor the Western Union outlet had cash to pay out the money they owed him. The defendants say the reason is that the Bank of Guam did not have sufficient cash on hand to give them the money required for payment. Both local defendants provided the same defense
Reffner claims that Peter's requirement violates his contract with CTSI as a subcontracted Western Union outlet. That contract specifically prohibits outlets from charging fees to customers receiving cash
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