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Presidential measure to extend Early Retirement Program Period

PALIKIR, Pohnpei (FSM Information Service): January 2000 - FSM President Leo A. Falcam has submitted a measure to extend the FSM early retirement program to May 31, 2000, to Congress, thus making legal an earlier extension granted by the Asian Development Bank.

The measure would also make participants ineligible for re-employment before September 30, 2001, or two years after their effective date of retirement, which ever comes first.

The ERP program's legal fife ended October 5, 1999 without the FSM meeting its staff reduction targets; however, the FSM had been granted a December 31, 1999, extension, said the President.

The January 2 letter to Speaker Jack Fritz emphasized the importance of meeting staff reduction targets, said the president.

"We did not cause the necessary amendment of the law to provide the legal basis for the administrative extension, thus no employees could participate in the program after October 5, 1999," said the president.