Construction boom in Majuro and Kwajalein moves ahead on various fronts

BY GIFF JOHNSON
Marshall Islands Correspondent

MAJURO, Marshall Islands — A construction boom is underway in the Marshall Islands and with Pacific International Inc. the only large contractor here, it is dominating the sector.

PII has multiple multi-million-dollar projects in progress, many funded by the World Bank. The construction boom is well underway despite most U.S. infrastructure funding under the Compact still unused three years into the new 20-year funding cycle. This is in part due to challenges of the US requirement of 100% bonding for projects that the Marshall Islands is trying to navigate. With new hospitals planned for Majuro and Ebeye — with a combined price tag upward of $150 million — the bonding requirements have to date been insurmountable for local contractors, even PII.

PII CEO Joseph “Jerry” Kramer said the company may have come up with a solution to the bonding requirements with a developing relationship with a U.S. insurance firm.

In the meantime, the current boom is funded heavily by the World Bank and Taiwan.

With no other large construction companies based in Marshall Islands, PII is handling multiple, large-scale projects in Majuro and at the Army base on Kwajalein, as well as soon to start work at Ailinglaplap Atoll.

PII is working at fever pitch to complete a new Nitijela parliament building to replace the one that burned down last August. It is aiming for completion by August, the next scheduled sitting of parliament.

To accomplish this, a development never before seen in the construction industry here will go into motion. It has already been operating two shifts daily so that construction workers are on site at least 16 hours a day — and the results are evident as the building construction has moved quickly with the double shift.

But the deadline for completion looms less than four months away. The custom-designed, prefabricated roof is being shipped from the U.S. to Majuro. “The roof is on the water now,” said PII CEO Jerry Kramer April 24. “It will arrive by the end of May.”

Once the roof arrives and is installed, PII will move to three shifts of workers, Kramer said. This means the Nitijela construction will be the focus of non-stop 24-hour construction operations once the roof is up. “We’ll go round the clock once the roof is up,” he said.

Taiwan and the U.S. government are funding the rebuild of the Nitijela.

Other projects PII is engaged in, much of it World Bank funded are:

• A shoreline improvement/protection project on the lagoon side in a housing area that has repeatedly been battered by waves during storms coupled with high tides.
• The several story Ministry of Finance Division of International Development Assistance and National Disaster Management Organization building, now well underway.
• An over 1,300-foot seawall and shoreline protection project on the ocean side of Marshall Islands High School, the largest public high school in the country, and adjacent areas. PII has been mobilizing to start work.
• Work on the Amata Kabua International Airport apron to improve the piping from the Mobil airport fuel depot to the location on the tarmac where refueling gear is located. It is part of a $30 million-plus U.S. Federal Aviation Administration Airport Improvement Program-funded paving project.
• At the College of the Marshall Islands satellite campus at Arrak, a new building is going up and nearing completion.
• Dock construction and airport paving work at Ailinglaplap Atoll is soon to start.
• At the U.S. Army Garrison-Kwajalein Atoll, PII is working on a number of housing-related projects for the base that are U.S.-funded. It has more than 400 workers working on projects at Kwajalein.

And a major development, funded by the U.S. and the Marshalls government, is the development of a temporary airport terminal in order for the old and dilapidated main terminal to be torn down and a new airport terminal built. Japan has approved funding for the new main terminal.
 

In the meantime, PII has started work on developing a temporary terminal that will ultimately become the domestic air terminal next to the Japan-funded new international terminal. To build the new temporary facility, PII has closed off access to about two-thirds of the parking lot at the airport, causing challenges for airport customers who now must park a quarter mile away when the few remaining parking spaces are occupied.

On top of all of these World Bank, Taiwan, Japan and US funded construction projects, PII is preparing to launch a major commercial development of its own in the area adjacent to the new Nitijela, the government headquarters and the K&K Island Pride Supermarket shopping area.

Despite the challenging situation with accessing land in the Marshall Islands, where virtually all land is privately held, PII has a lease for a large portion of Delap Park.

“We are starting to move on the design phase,” Kramer said of the plans. “There is a good chance this will be done before the end of the year.” Because it is PII’s own project, “we’ll be able to move quickly,” (on the construction) he said.
 

Kramer said PII is planning a wide-ranging commercial area to “emphasize the commercial headquarters in Delap” with the capital building, Nitijela, new hospital, and K&K Island Pride Supermarket all clustered together.

The plans for the area are not yet set in stone and PII is considering various design options. But Kramer indicated the new commercial complex will include a mix of office and apartment rentals, rentable concession areas, a restaurant, space for Pacific Regional Bank and Bank of Guam, and other options. mbj