4th Micronesian summit begins sans Babauta

The four-day annual Western Micronesian Chief Executives Summit began on Guam Tuesday—without CNMI Gov. Juan N. Babauta.

Press secretary Peter A. Callaghan said yesterday that the governor was originally scheduled to leave for Guam late yesterday but cancelled it due to “other pressing matters.”

“The governor may choose to fly to Guam early Thursday and be back on the same day. He needs to take care of several things here,” said Callaghan.

This year’s event is the 4th regional summit hosted by Guam Gov. Felix P. Camacho. Other members are Palau President Tommy Remengesau Jr. and Yap Gov. Robert Ruecho.

Based on the agenda, the summit kicked off with regional lead agency meetings and a luncheon on Tuesday at Guam Marriott Hotel.

On Wednesday, the only official function was the welcoming reception at 7pm held at the same hotel.

At 8:30am today, Western Pacific chief executives will formally deliver their welcoming remarks, followed by breakout sessions on different regional issues. These include recycling initiatives, invasive species, regional renewable energy, international ship and port facility security code and the Maritime Transportation Act.

Various resource persons are set to make presentations, including Lou Pangelinan, secretariat of the South Pacific Community, who will speak on the “Pacific Plan,” and Angie Williams from the Office of the Insular Affairs to speak on the Department of the Interior’s trade mission to the Pacific islands jurisdictions.

In the afternoon, reports will be presented on regional tourism and regional health licensing requirements.

Today’s activities include a tour of the Department of Agriculture and a dinner hosted by Guam first’s couple at Hilton Guam Resort & Spa.

Tomorrow, President Bush’s special assistant and associate director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs Toby Burke is scheduled to speak on “Relations Between the White House and Pacific Island Territories and Nations” at 11am.

Other discussions tomorrow focus on the Coral Reef Initiative and labor. Guam Department of Labor director Maria Conneley will talk on workforce development and training.

Babauta had attended the summits in previous years during which he and other regional leaders reached agreements on pursuing common goals in improving regional air transportation, health care services and tourism.