8 Apr 2010

Marshalls public enterprises drain government resources

3:39 pm on 8 April 2010

Publicly owned enterprises in the Marshall Islands are set for a major overhaul, after a report labelling most of them a waste of taxpayer money.

The Asian Development Bank report has shown that only one of the nation's 11 publicly owned enterprises has consistently turned a profit over the past decade.

Our correspondent in Majuro, Giff Johnson, reports.

"This report is recommending to cabinet that it set up a special taskforce to do a much more detailed analysis of all of these public enterprises with a whole series of recommendations of what to do in each one. There's just a whole ranges that need to be made, including standardising pay scales, looking at reforms, particularly in the utility companies that have cost the government so much in terms of cash advances and subsidies to keep afloat over the last few years."

Giff Johnson in Majuro.