‘Saipan cultural performers stranded in Palau’

At least 11 cultural performers from Saipan have reportedly been stranded in Palau and are running out of money to support their stay in the republic after their Korean employers abandoned them without settling unpaid wages and benefits.

A news report that appeared in the BNN Pros-N-Cons, an Internet news service based in the Federated States of Micronesia, said 11 members of the Siba Afi [Fire Dance] group, which performs Hawaiian and Polynesian dances, remain in Palau. The workers are now seeking help from the Palau government to pursue claims for back wages, unpaid food allowances, and plane tickets.

Three other members of the group have returned to Saipan since last month, with their parents shouldering their plane tickets, according to the BNN report. The members who remain on Palau are as young as 18 and are reportedly running out of money to support their continued stay in the republic. Nine of them are U.S. citizens.

As the workers pursue wage claims and seek repatriation, one of the group’s employers, Kim Dae Woo, already fled Palau. The workers have asked Palau’s Division of Labor to hold the departure of their other employer, Kim Sung Ki, who had also planned on leaving the island.

BNN reported that the workers went to the Labor division regarding the hold-departure request after Sung Ki told them about his plan to leave Palau allegedly for Saipan to get money for the workers’ plane tickets. The workers reportedly doubted Sung Ki’s claim.

The workers include group manager Mel Hal Taitano, singer Rose Fejeran, and dancers Jose D. Guerrero, 18; Jedyleeh Quizza F. Castillo, 19; Eldred Reyes Shai, 19; Catherine Shai, 20; Jesse John Castro, 21; Melody Ngirchongor Blunt, 22; Fritz Passi, 22; Dean Pangelinan, 25; and Ray Ngirchau Ruluked, 36.

According to the BNN report, the Kims contracted the dance group on Saipan last June to perform at the Lake 2 Restaurant in Medalaii, Palau. The group arrived on Palau for a six-month contract, which was supposed to expire in March 2005.

Quoting the group’s manager, BNN said that the Korean employers scouted the dance group while performing at the Dai-Ichi Hotel Saipan Beach and the Hafa Adai Cultural Center on Saipan last June.

“Taitano said they never sensed any problem from their employers until they arrived in Palau in September. He said they were asked to clean the apartment where they are staying and the stage where they are supposed to perform was not yet complete,” the report said.

It said that the group performed Hawaiian and Polynesian dances four nights weekly at Lake 2 Restaurant, which had no customers present sometimes. “Then they [workers] found out that the local dance group from Ngardmau State were not getting paid.”

With their business venture not picking up, the employers allegedly abandoned the workers after having a misunderstanding between themselves.

“We just don’t want our employers to leave the island and leave us here,” BNN quoted Fejeran as saying. “They owe us three pay periods and food allowance.”

“We’re hoping that the owner of the apartment where we are staying does not chase us out,” Fejeran reportedly said. BNN said that the group is staying at an apartment in Meyuns, which is owned by Seon Soob Ha, the same owner of the Hanpa Group of Companies that also operates Lake 2. Ha reportedly sponsored the two Korean employers’ stay in Palau.

The Saipan workers asked help from Palau’s Ministry of Justice, but Vice President and Justice minister Elias Camsek Chin reportedly said that his office could not act on the matter, being a civil case. The group then complained against the Korean employers at the Labor division.

The group, who had also asked help from the U.S. Embassy, would also seek help from the Micronesian Legal Services Inc. to pursue their wage claims, the BNN report said.