By Pacific Island Times News Staff
Koror – The U.S. Department of the Interior this week announced $7 million in new grants for Palau under the Compact of Free Association.
The grants were announced during bilateral economic consultations between the U.S. and Palau teams led by DOI Assistant Secretary Carmen Cantor and Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr., respectively.
The meeting discussed financial and economic goals under the newly approved 2023 Compact Review Agreement.
Cantor announced $6 million in Compact of Free Association Infrastructure Maintenance grants for fiscal years 2022, 2023, and 2024, including $1 million Technical Assistance Program funding provided through the Office of Insular Affairs.
The grants represented three years of U.S. contributions to complement Palau’s maintenance of education and health facilities, water systems, the Palau National Capitol, road failure repairs, and other projects of importance to the people of Palau.
“We are excited to hold our first bilateral Compact consultations as called for under the 2023 CRA, which was signed into law earlier this year,” Cantor said.
“I am also pleased to announce additional support for Palau through Compact Infrastructure Maintenance grants and the TAP grant awards for census, household listing, street naming, and home addressing projects, as well as water quality and monitoring at several water treatment plants in Palau.”
Three TAP grants were also announced for the following projects;
$549,805 for a Household Listing project to update and plot all households in Palau. Funds will also support census outreach efforts in Palau and the development of baseline data to assess economic development strategies and food security in the island country;
$310,000 to develop a uniform street naming and home addressing system for Palau, to include street naming guidelines and GIS mapping of roads; and
$238,894 for the Bureau of Reclamation to support the Palau Public Utility Corporation to conduct water treatment investigations and implement improvements to advance public health and water security at three water treatment plants in Palau.