Seabees who are part of the Pacific Partnership Mission 2018 (PP 18) in Palau had finished their biggest construction project for this year’s whole mission during their two-week stay here.
Officer-in-Charge LTJG. Kelvin Edmonds said in an interview with Island Times on April 13 that for the Seabees onboard the USNS Brunswick, the construction project they had at the George B. Harris Elementary School was the biggest they had for the entire mission.
Before Palau, the Seabees had done construction project in Yap of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and they are heading to Malaysia also for a two-week mission as part of the Pacific Partnership mission.
Twenty-eight Seabees worked 12 hours a day since April 4 until April 12 to complete the painting of five school buildings and three roofs to reflect heat and keep classrooms cooler, expand a 240-sq/ft walkway, and construct nearly 300 feet overhead canopies over the school’s most heavily-trafficked walkways to shield the students from the rain during sudden downpour.
Last April 13, US Ambassador Amy Hyatt, George B. Harris Elementary School Principal Wicliff Emul, Pacific Partnership 2018 Palau Commander, CAPT Peter Olive, and Minister of Education Sinton Solablai toured the areas around the school where the Seabees did their project.
The Seabees, as part of the mission, had already pre-planned what kind of project to do here during a visit last September 2017 and LTJG. Edmonds was one of the officers sent beforehand to talk with Palauan government officials and figure out what project they can do that is accomplishable for a short period.
“So we wanted to get something that would be accomplishable in a given time that also has a big impact on the people as much as possible,” Edmonds said. (Rhealyn C. Pojas/Reporter)