Corruption in the RMI

Written 4/5/10

Here’s another way money is wasted in the RMI: corruption. One big problem that businesses face is the aoleps (landowners). All tenants have to pay rent, but on top of that, they also have to give all their products to the aoleps for free. This includes extended families, too. So when even a cousin of the landowner comes by for gasoline, he pumps and does not pay anything. I knew that there was a certain amount of corruption that went on among the landowners, but this information was really eye-opening. Beyond gasoline, they’ll come by restaurant/stores asking for kegs and food for a party they’re having, and the store owner has to give it to them or he’ll be kicked off the land. (There is a huge tax on beer, so kegs are very very expensive.) Even when the tenants have documents proving that they’ve paid the rent, they cannot refuse paying this additional, under-the-table rent because all the judges he would be going through are also related to or otherwise in bed with the aoleps. So they are forced to just give up the products and try to break even in other ways.

The fact that the system works this way is a huge deterrent to any new businesses that might want to come into the country or start up within the country. It’s no wonder that it’s difficult to find well-run companies here. NTA, the telephone and internet company, provides terrible service, as is evidenced by the long time since my last post. Not only is the connection unreliable, but Kenneth (the new computer teacher… see previous post) just told us that internet here is more expensive than anywhere in the world. As far as traveling around the country goes, I’ve already ranted enough about how terrible Air Marshall Islands is. They did just fix their second plane again, but they are constantly being bailed out and subsidized by the government. So basically, everyone’s taking money out of everyone else’s pockets. The result is fewer well-run businesses than there should be and more expensive prices for everyone except for the aoleps.

I have one of the aoleps in one of my classes and despite incessant prodding from me, he puts very little effort into his school work. He’s been barely passing each term. He knows he will never have to do anything to inherit the comfortable life he was born into, so the ruling class is becoming increasingly uneducated to boot.