Roman Tmetuchl

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Roman Tmetuchl

Roman Tmetuchl (born February 11, 1926 - July 1, 1999 ) was a Palaui politician and businessman. He grew up in a Japanese-controlled settlement in Palau and joined the Kempeitai , the Japanese military police , during World War II . After the war he became the leader of the Palau Liberal Party . He worked in the Congress of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands from 1964 to 1978 and worked to ensure that Palau received a separate status from the rest of Micronesia . He became governor of Airai and ran three unsuccessfully for the presidency of Palau . As a businessman, Tmetuchl carried out several construction projects, many of which also benefited the community.

Life

youth

Tmetuchl belonged to the Eloklsumech clan of Airai. He grew up in Koror , which was under Japanese control at the time. He attended a Japanese elementary school in Koror and excelled in mathematics. During this time he worked as a caretaker and as a newspaper boy. Tmetuchl was also a good runner and, according to William Vitarelli , was considered the fastest runner in Palau and Guam in 1949.

In 1943 he was recruited to work with the Kempeitai , the Japanese military police during World War II. At first he was only entrusted with various cleaning jobs and later worked for Lieutenant Colonel Aritsune Miyazaki . He also took part in military exercises and learned more about the course of the war at the police headquarters.

After the war, he returned to Koror and began working for the United States Armed Forces in a quarry. At that time, he spoke Palaui and Japanese and began learning English . He was then recruited for a teacher training group, with which he traveled to Guam in 1948 for further training. That year he also testified at a war crimes trial for twenty Japanese military personnel. At the age of 23, Tmetuchl was accepted into the 11th grade of George Washington High School in Guam . He graduated in 1951 as one of the top ten.

Political career

Tmetuchl became politically active early on. In 1950 he led the second strike in Palau's history to raise wages. Later he was the leader of the Palau Liberal Party . In the 1950s and early 1960s, he worked in various positions for the management of the US trust territory Pacific Islands (Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands - TTPI), including as a translator, defender, consultants, administrative assistant and a judge of the District Court In the academic year 1954-. In 1955 he studied law and social welfare in the Philippines with a United Nations scholarship . On April 9, 1956, he succeeded his brother Toribiong Uchel as President of Palau's local parliament Olbiil Era Kelulau era Belau (House of Discussed Decisions). There he fought from 1954 to 1962 to regain Ngerekebesang Island , which the TTPI had acquired from the Japanese government.

Congress of Micronesia

In 1964 Tmetuchl was elected to the First Congress of Micronesia for the TTPI . He ran again in 1966, but lost his mandate to David Ramarui . In 1968 he again won a seat in Congress by popular vote . He participated in House Committees and Congress groups from 1969 to 1970 on future political status and budget planning. One of the resolutions that he tabled dealt with the independence of Micronesia within the next seven years on July 28, 1969. The resolution was transferred to another committee and no further political steps were taken.

Tmetuchl ran for a seat in the Senate in 1970 and won against John O. Ngiraked . A few days later a local named Hitler tried to shoot him. Heinrich Ngowakl claimed that he himself was commissioned by Ngiraked to carry out the murder, but was unable to do so, and therefore passed the weapon on to Hitler. Ultimately, Tmetuchl decided not to initiate a lawsuit. Senator Ambilos Iehsi , however, initiated a minority report in which he questioned the election results. The Senate dealt with a revision of the election results and ultimately accepted them. Tmetuchl became a senator in the Congress of Micronesia on January 29, 1971. During his tenure, he campaigned for independence, as well as for the demand for reparations payments for damage that had occurred in Palau during the Second World War.

In 1974, Tmetuchl headed Palau's Select Committee on Development and supported a law that allowed the Palau people to write their own constitution. He represented a loose federation with the other Micronesian islands and for separate status talks with the United States. To this end, he formed a separatist faction in Palau's parliament. Originally he voted for Palau independence, but later had a different status, similar to that of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands . An article in the Palaui magazine Tia Belau criticized Tmetuchl's new position in 1975, calling it “out of tune” (inconsistent with local opinion).

Since 1974 the rumor spread in Palaua that the American government wanted to build a superport (super port) in Palau. Environmental groups like the Save Palau Organization fought against this superport and believed that support for independence status could stop these plans. In March 1976, Tmetuchl traveled with Sadang Silmai to Tehran , Iran , to assure those in charge of the National Iranian Tanker Company and the Nissho-Iwai Company that they could still secure a superport in Palau. From November 1976, however, Tmetuchl also rejected the plans for a superport.

From 1976 to 1978, Tmetuchl surrounded himself with various American advisers: Stuart Beck served as Legal Counselor for the Palau Political Status Commission (PPSC), William Brophy became Tmetuchl's political advisor, Thomas Gladwin became an unpaid consultant, and John Kenneth Galbraith became another unpaid counselor for the PPSC. Tmetuchl and the PPSC visited the UN Trust Council in July 1976 and then flew on to Washington, DC to negotiate the status of Palau. Groups seeking the unification of Palau with other Micronesian districts sent petitions to the government for Tmetuchl to be ousted. On February 25, 1978, the Senate dismissed Tmetuchl from office.

However, in April 1978 he still signed the Statement of Agreed Principles for Free Association in Hilo , Hawaii . The Palau House of Chiefs stated that Tmetuchl “acted outside the ambit of his authority and responsibility”. Tmetuchl countered that most of the Palauers agreed to his action. The referendum that followed showed that 88% of the electorate were in favor of independence status.

Presidential election campaigns

Tmetuchl applied for president in 1980 and lost to Haruo Remeliik . Tmetuchl then ended his support for the Compact of Free Association and used his power in the Senate to oppose Remeliik's government. He became governor of Airai in January 1981 and acted as a mediator in three strikes against Remeliik's administration.

Tmetuchl ran again in 1984 for the presidency against the incumbent Remeliik and Ibedul Gibbons , but lost again to Remeliik. Remeliik was murdered in 1985. The former competitor John Olbedabel drew suspicion on Tmetuchl's nephew, which Tmetuchl could not run for president in August 1985.

He did not run again until 1988. This choice was decided according to the plurality voting system . He received 26% of the vote, or in whole numbers only 31 votes less than the election winner Ngiratkel Etpison ; The near-stalemate led to the fact that the electoral law in Palau was reformed and then the elections were carried out according to majority voting, with a second round, if no candidate received more than half of the votes. After this new defeat, Tmetuchl concentrated on his business and on his family.

Economic career

In the 1950s, Tmetuchl traveled to the United States with friends. On this trip he got to know a method of making hollow blocks from concrete , which at that time was 35 ct. each cost. He imported this technology to Palau and made building blocks from the concrete structures of the Japanese. With the help of his uncle's sawmill, he built numerous houses. In 1952 he founded a construction company and bought land in Koror and Babeldaob .

Tmetuchl and his team helped William Vitarelli , a TTPI employee, to build schools in Palau by raising funds for the projects and writing to TTPI for a building contract. Subsequently, John O. Ngiraked accused Tmetuchl of not paying the workers enough. The allegations were investigated in court and found that the workers were indeed overpaid. The village of Ngchesar issued an apology, and Tmetuchl gave the workers a feast.

In 1966 the High Chief Ibedul commissioned Ngoriakl Tmetuchl to expand a small administrative building near the TTPI District Administration. Typhoon Sally's building was damaged during construction on March 1, 1967. Ibedul Ngoriakl then moved his administration building to the location of the meeting house and allowed Tmetuchl to use the previous project. Tmetuchl repaired and expanded the building, renaming it Pacifica Development Corporation Group Building . It became one of the most important buildings in Palau over time.

In the late 1970s, Tmetuchl acquired the quarry on Malakal Island with Hawaiian rocks. During this time he helped build the Seventh-day Adventist High School . In 1983 Tmetuchl met the Japanese Masao Nishizono, and the two became partners for the construction of an airport and hotel in Airai. However, Nishizono abandoned construction for these projects in June 1984 and lawsuits delayed the opening of the Grace Hotel . Tmetuchl acquired this hotel after Nishizono committed suicide in 1990 and renamed it the Airai View Hotel . The hotel finally opened in July 2000. In 1984 he built a private power plant in Airai with two electric generators.

On March 4, 1985, Tmetuchl Palau's first bank opened in Koror. During his time as Governor of Airai in the 1980s, he had a clan house and four modern bai s (men's houses) built. In 1986 he had twelve houses built in a hamlet in Airai with the help of Chinese workers. In addition, he had the Airai State Elementary School built, which opened on March 6, 1989.

Following the example of the Seventh-day Adventist Clinic in Guam, Tmetuchl financed the conversion of an existing building into a clinic in the hamlet of Ngerbeched by Koror, which opened on May 26, 1991. In 1997 he built the Sabbath School following the Seventh-day Adventist Church . That year his net worth was $ 30 million. estimated. The following year he donated land and money to build a new Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ngchesar , but died in 1999 before the project was complete.

Death and legacy

Roman Tmetuchl died on July 1, 1999. He left his wife Dirrengerkiu Perpetua "Tua" Polloi Tmetuchl, 12 children, 19 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. The current President of Palau, Kuniwo Nakamura , proclaimed state mourning for Tmetuchl.

On April 11, 2006, Senators Reklai , Koshiba , Seid , Diaz and Dengokl applied to rename Palau International Airport to Roman Tmetuchl International Airport . The Senate passed the resolution on May 4, 2006. In 2008, the Tmetuchl family built a chapel at Belau National Hospital to preserve his memory.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Donald R. Shuster: Micronesia in Review: Issues and Events, July 1, 1998 to June 30, 1999 . In: University of Hawai'i Press (Ed.): The Contemporary Pacific . 12, No. 1, Spring 2000, pp. 194-220. jstor = 23717486
  2. ^ Donald R. Shuster, Peter Lamour, Karin von Strokirch: Leadership in the Pacific Islands: Tradition and the Future. National Center for Development Studies, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University January 1, 1998. Political Leadership in Palau: The Roman Tmetuchl Period : 27–52; 27. ISBN 978-0-7315-2372-6
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h Donald R. Shuster: Roman Tmetuchl: A Palauan Visionary . Roman Tmetuchl Family Trust, 2002, ISBN 982-9064-01-8 .
  4. ^ Roman Tmetuchl: I Worked for the Kempeitai . In: Bruce M. Petty (Ed.): Saipan: Oral Histories of the Pacific War . McFarland, Jefferson, NC 2001, ISBN 0-7864-0991-6 , pp. 72-74.
  5. ↑ Gail E. Hawisher, Cynthia L. Selfe: Global Literacies and the World-Wide Web . Psychology Press, 2000, ISBN 978-0-415-18941-5 , p. 99.
  6. ↑ Shuster 2002: 65.
  7. ↑ Shuster 1998: 29-30.
  8. ↑ Shuster 1998: 28.
  9. ↑ Home Town Boy . In: Micronesian Reporter. vol. 7, 1, January – February 1959, Agana, Guam: Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands: 14.
  10. ↑ Shuster 2002: 49, 53-54
  11. ↑ Shuster 2002: 57-62.
  12. ↑ Full Moon: 10.
  13. ↑ Shuster 2002: 72-74.
  14. ↑ Shuster 2002: 72-74.
  15. ↑ Shuster 2002: 82-85.
  16. ↑ Shuster 2002: 72-74.
  17. ↑ Shuster 2002: 79-80.
  18. ↑ Shuster 2002: 88.
  19. ↑ Shuster 1998: 33.
  20. ↑ Shuster 1998: 32.
  21. ↑ Shuster 1998: 33
  22. ↑ Shuster 2002: 99.
  23. ↑ Shuster 1998: 35.
  24. ↑ Shuster 1998: 40.
  25. ↑ Shuster 2002: 110-111.
  26. ↑ Shuster 2002: 147.
  27. ↑ Shuster 2002: 112.
  28. ↑ Shuster 1998: 46.
  29. ↑ Arnold H. Leibowitz: Embattled Iceland: Palau's Struggle for Independence . Praeger, Westport, CT 1996, ISBN 0275953904 . 36-37.
  30. ↑ Shuster 2002: 118-123, 193.
  31. ↑ Shuster 1998: 49-50
  32. ↑ AROUND THE WORLD - Palau's President Leading a Challenger . In: The New York Times , December 4, 1984. 
  33. ↑ Shuster 1998: 49-50.
  34. ^ Graham Hassall, Cheryl Saunders: Asia-Pacific constitutional systems . Cambridge University Press, 2002, ISBN 978-0-521-59129-4 , p. 93.
  35. ↑ Shuster 2002: 118.
  36. ↑ Shuster 2002: 26-27.
  37. ↑ Shuster 2002: 34.
  38. ↑ Shuster 2002: 28-29.
  39. ↑ Shuster 2002: 30
  40. ↑ a b Shuster 2002: 30-31.
  41. ↑ a b Shuster 2002: 37.
  42. ↑ Shuster 2002: 43-44.
  43. ↑ Shuster 2002: 41.
  44. ↑ Shuster 2002: 33.
  45. ↑ Shuster 2002: 36, 38.
  46. ↑ Shuster 2002: 38-39.
  47. ↑ Shuster 2002: 39-40.
  48. ↑ Shuster 2002: 45.
  49. ↑ Jackson M. Henry: Dreams, Visions and Roman Tmetuchl: A Palauan Statesman . In: Full Moon Magazine . March – April 1997, pp. 1, 24.
  50. ↑ Shuster 2002: 50-51.
  51. ↑ Shuster 2002: 238-243.
  52. ^ Roman Tmetuchl International Airport . In: Palau Horizon , 21.-24. April 2006. 
  53. ↑ Belau hospital has now chapel . In: Marianas Variety , July 6, 2008. 

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personal data
SURNAME Tmetuchl, Roman
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Palauan politician and businessman
DATE OF BIRTH February 11, 1926
DATE OF DEATH July 1, 1999