People Briefs
People Briefs
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A new women’s development advisor has been named to head the Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s (SPC) Pacific Women’s Bureau. Sivia Qoro, the former director of Fiji’s Culture and Heritage office, will be taking up her new post in Noumea in early May. She has worked in the Fiji ministries of culture, women and foreign affairs, including a stint as the first secretary in the Fiji Embassy in Canberra.
A new book on Polynesia by Pacific Islands specialist Dr. Robert D. Craig has just been published by Scarecrow Press. The Historical Dictionary of Polynesian, 2nd Edition, will provide another valuable resource on Polynesia. Craig taught history at Brigham Young University-Hawaii for 14 years.
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Guam Congressman Robert A. Underwood expressed his concern in March during a House Armed Services Committee hearing over a recent U.S. District Court ruling that may result in the closing of the island of Farallon de Medinilla in the Northern Marianas—the last live-fire bombing range in the Western Pacific. The court ruled on March 13 that the U.S. Navy’s live-fire training exercises on the island occasionally killed migratory birds in violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. “We have to monitor this particular issue carefully, because it has the potential of making Guam and Saipan less inviting for Naval ships to visit,” Underwood says.
The Hawaii District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration announced the selection of Alan M. L. Yee as the National Accountant Advocate for 2002. Yee, the managing partner of the Hawaii firm Grant Thornton, won the national title from other executives representing 10 regions across the United States.
The People’s Republic of China has appointed Gu Sicong as its new Ambassador to Samoa. Gu Sicong had been an embassy official in the country from 1981-1985. The new ambassador recently presented his credentials to the Head of State, His Highness Malietoa Tanumafili II.
Former Marshall Islands cabinet minister Luckner Abner has been named to chair the newly-formed Customary Law Commission in Marshall Islands. It was passed into law more than 10 years ago but never constituted until earlier this year.
Long-time public servant and sometime radio personality Mailata Laulua Mailata has retired from 29 years of overseeing the daily operations of the country’s Fugalei Marketplace. Mailata, 73, also provided daily reports of agriculture products sold at the market for the government-owned Radio 2AP and private radio station Talofa FM. Mailata wants to retire so that he can attend to family commitments. “My children also wanted me to retire already,” he added.
Karen Talan is the first chief executive officer of the Samoa Umbrella for Non-Government Organizations. Talan is an Australian volunteer on a two-year contract with SUNGO. She previously worked in Croatia for the United Nations peacekeeping force during the war in the former Yugoslavia, and later in Sarajevo where she worked for NATO as a media liaison.
The main opposition Samoa National Development Party (SNDP) has appointed veteran Leilua Manuao its new deputy leader. Leilua replaces Fuimaono Mimio who died in February. Leilua has been serving in Parliament for the Salega district for almost 20 years.
Former Federated States of Micronesia President John Haglelgam has just written a review of the 14 FSM constitutional amendments proposed by the recently concluded “Con-Con” in Pohnpei. His review is published in the latest issue of the Micronesian Seminar’s Micronesian Counselor and is available on-line at: www.micsem.org/counselor.
Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, 87, who crossed the Pacific on a balsa wood raft, died of cancer in late April. Heyerdahl won worldwide acclaim with his 1947 voyage from Peru to French Polynesia on a replica of an aboriginal balsa raft called Kon-Tiki. He was taken to a hospital in Italy in early April, where he had been spending a family holiday. Earlier this year, Heyerdahl traveled to Samoa, where he participated in archeological studies of a discovery that could be an ancient pyramid.
American Samoa 8th grade elementary school teacher Magdalene Eteuini Augafa has been selected as a recipient of this year’s Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. A teacher for six years, Last year Augafa received $750 as a nominee.
This time, Augafa receives a $7,500 grant to implement a school project or to further her own education in science and mathematics. She teaches at Alataua Lua Elementary School.
