Briefs
Government
The Region
The 12th Council of Pacific Island Ministers of Tourism met in late September in the Cook Islands, expressing a full commitment to tourism in the Islands and emphasizing its significance for social and economic development. Observers attended from the University of the South Pacific, the South Pacific Regional Environment Program, the Asian Development Bank and the Forum Secretariat. While recognizing the importance of the South Pacific Tourism Organization in promoting the region, the Council amended SPTO’s constitution to provide more efficiency and flexibility.
—ND
The Marshall Islands and Vanuatu in late September announced the first HIV-positive cases in their respective nations. Vanuatu Prime Minister Edward Natapei made the announcement in Port Vila, while in the Marshall Islands local media reported the finding. In Vanuatu, the person is said to have contracted the AIDS-causing virus overseas, while the Marshall Islands doctors believe that the individual was infected locally on Ebeye Island.
—GJ
- ADVERTISEMENT -
Guam
In mid-September, Guam Congressman Robert A. Underwood announced that $12.7 million for the Guam International Airport was included in the Federal Aviation Administration’s grants for airport improvement programs. The bulk of the money is to be used for security measures mandated by recent federal regulations. In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S., Congress increased the range of security activities eligible for the grants. Last fiscal year, the Guam airport received $4.3 million for two projects.
—FW
Federated States of Micronesia
The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency approved $6.6 million in disaster assistance for victims of Typhoon Chata’an. The storm killed 47 people and destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes in Chuuk in late June. FEMA approved the disaster relief funding in late September.
—GJ
Fewer than 25 percent of registered voters turned out to vote in the August 27 referendum on 14 constitutional amendments proposed by a recently concluded constitutional convention. All 14 proposals failed to receive the 75 percent vote needed for approval.
—GJ
Xavier High School’s 50th anniversary on September 8 was recognized by the FSM Philatelic Bureau that issued a new 37-cent stamp to mark the occasion. The stamp shows the school campus and is based on a drawing by 2002 graduate Robert Bel Gorongfich of Yap, one of more than 1,200 Micronesians to graduate since the school was established in Chuuk by the New York Province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). The school started out for boys only, but in the 1980s became coeducational.
—GJ
In Kosrae, big time lawyers, pastors, mayors, senators, business leaders and media people were all present for one of the highest profile court cases in Kosrae State history. At issue in hearing was whether the state constitution allowed the Lieutenant Governor to run for the post for a third consecutive term, a case rife with high stakes political maneuvering. Both the Plaintiff, Gerson Jackson, and the defendant, Kosrae State Election Commission, agreed that what was paramount was clarity of the language in the constitution and legibility for the voters in the upcoming elections.
“The public has an interest in setting term limits,” Edward Buckingham, of the Kosrae AG’s Office said.
“Fundamental rights are at stake here,” Honolulu attorney Jon M. Van Dyke countered.
In the end Judge Aliksa ruled in favor of the Lt. Governor. The decision may also cause some difficulties for the other candidates running for the office of Lt. Governor against an enduring incumbent.
—OW
Palau
The power struggle between Palau’s Legislature and its president, Tommy E. Remengesau Jr. took another twist on the last day of the 2002 fiscal year as the lawmakers overrode Remengesau’s veto of its proposed 2003 budget. Remengesau had rejected the $53.1 million budget on September 27, primarily because it contained a provision folding the Office of the Special Prosecutor into Palau’s Ethics Commission.
—RS
Marshall Islands
The fact that the median salary for a public elementary school teacher in the Marshall Islands is just $6,500 and for a public high school teacher is only $11,000 may account for part of the woes the Ministry of Education is having in recruiting qualified teachers. The Ministry reports that 55 percent of its teacher force has only a high school diploma and just 4 percent have a four-year degree.
—GJ
The latest government audit shows significant improvement, with the Ministry of Finance reducing its “findings”—problems—from 49 the previous year to 22 in 2001. The audit remained “qualified,” as in past years, because eight agencies and programs provided no audited financial statements for inclusion in the government-wide audit.
—GJ
Kiribati
The Kiribati Government of President Teburoro Tiito has suffered a rare parliamentary reverse in one of the last sessions before next month’s general elections. The second reading of a government bill to amend the Constitution was rejected because it failed to gain the two-thirds support needed. Opposition MPs had criticised the amendments, which included the chief justice being replaced by the attorney-general on the Council of State.
—PINA
Samoa
Samoa Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi says that his country would be seriously affected by an American attack on Iraq. Speaking on the government-run TV station, Televise Samoa, he said that a rise in fuel costs resulting from war in the Middle East would dramatically impact the planes flown by Polynesian Airlines. The Prime Minister says options other than war “should be visited first.” He says it is important to show the U.S. government that there was not universal support for an attack on Iraq.
—FS
American Samoa
American Samoa has been selected as the host nation for the 10th Festival of Pacific Arts in 2009. The 27 member islands participating in the Council of Pacific Arts chose American Samoa to follow Palau in hosting this large regional event that was launched in Fiji in the early 1970s.
—FS
French Polynesia
Addressing the Territorial Assembly during its 2003 budget debate, French Polynesia’s President Gaston Flosse said that road safety, the environment and job training are to be top government priorities next year. Road safety needed attention, he said, as traffic accidents caused more than 60 deaths annually.
—ND
Vanuatu
At a ceremony in Port Vila, Prime Minister Edward Natapei announced Vanuatu’s renewed support for the movement for indigenous independence in the Indonesian province of West Papua. Natapei said that the West Papuans will be allowed to establish an office in Port Vila, and that two West Papuan representatives will be included in a Vanuatu delegation to the United Nations.
—ND
Cook Islands
School teachers in the Cook Islands have something to smile about. Perseverance in their sometimes thankless job is beginning to pay off. Announcing recent increases in salaries, Education Department secretary Ken Matheson said that in 1997 the average annual salary for teachers was NZ$11,908.
—ND
—Frank Whitman, Norman Douglas, Fili Sagapolutele, Rebecca Stanfel, Olivier Wertel, Giff Johnson
