Briefs
Business
Pacific
Cruise company P&O, enjoying a successful first season with its new Pacific Princess, has scheduled four additional island ports of call for the ship’s 2003-2004 season. The 670-passenger ship, said to be the most spacious of P&O’s many vessels, will visit “virgin” cruise destinations Wala on Malakula Island in Vanuatu and Poum in Northern New Caledonia as well as Luganville and Pentecost, also in Vanuatu, but hitherto unvisited by P&O. The call at Pentecost will be timed to coincide with the famous land-dive, an annual event associated with the yam season. Luganville, sometimes called Santo town, is on Vanuatu’s largest island, the historically significant Espiritu Santo, and is being billed along with the others as an “unspoilt” and “romantic” destination, a description that has already caused some mirth among people who know the place. Meanwhile, another cruise ship acquired by P&O from the defunct Renaissance Cruise Line has been rechristened Tahitian Princess by Madame Tonia Flosse, wife of the president of French Polynesia, and will offer a series of cruises in the Eastern Pacific.
—ND
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Guam
Bank of Hawaii completed its merger on Guam with sister bank First Savings and Loan on December 31. Six First Savings branches and 24 ATMs now carry the Bank of Hawaii name. First Savings was chartered in Guam and owned by Bank of Hawaii Corp. The move follows a series of rulings that struck down a portion of Guam banking law prohibiting “out-of-state” U.S. banks from opening more than two branches—with ATMs defined as branches—in the territory. In October 2001 the Guam Banking Commission approved First Hawaiian Bank’s application to open a third branch based on clauses in recent U.S. banking laws. Challenged by local banks, the ruling was upheld by the FDIC and two Guam courts. First Hawaiian opened its third Guam branch in May.
—FW
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Continental Micronesia is contributing to the University of Guam faculty. The funding will be spread over a five-year period, and will support faculty travel for research and other purposes to enhance academic programs and student learning. “As Guam’s hometown airline with 35 years of service in the region, Continental Micronesia is proud to contribute to the region’s leading educational institution,” says Mark A. Erwin, Continental Micronesia’s president.
—GJ
The U.S. federal government filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court in Guam against the Guam Waterworks Authority and the Government of Guam for violations of the federal Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act. The December 20 suit cites environmental and health concerns resulting from the ongoing failure of GWA wastewater treatment plants, inadequate chlorination system, and other maintenance and operational problems creating unacceptable levels of coliform bacteria and turbidity in Guam tap water. The suit seeks to “compel Guam Waterworks to take advantage of technical expertise and needed resources which are currently available,” says Wayne Nastri, EPA’s regional administrator for the Pacific Northwest.
—FW
Nine members of the Yomiuri Giants baseball team trained in Guam during January. Practice was held at the Leo Palace Resort baseball field for five fielders from January 7 to 15 and four pitchers from January 17 to 25. The visit is expected to generate welcome publicity for Guam in Japan, the island’s largest tourist market. It is hoped that with the success of the smaller delegation’s training, the entire Giants team will hold spring training in Guam next year, as it did in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
—FW
Fiji
Ratu Josateki Nawalowalo, chairman of Fiji’s Kava Council, claims that the ban on kava, imposed by the US and some European countries has already cost Fiji about $500 million in lost export revenues. The ban has resulted from allegations that the substance causes liver damage if taken to excess. Ratu Josateki said that a symposium to be held in June, and attended by scientists and food experts from all over the Pacific, will help to provide evidence that kava does not cause liver complaints.
—ND
Fiji’s domestic telephone service provider, Telecom Fiji Limited, recently purchased a suite of access devices from Australian-owned Paclink Group to deliver voice, fax and Internet connectivity to 35 holiday resorts on the country’s outlying islands. In order to meet demand for Internet access, Telecom Fiji will replace a solution intended solely for voice traffic from the pre-Internet era. The new infrastructure will allow TFL’s island resort clients to communicate over digital radio links that will carry both voice and Internet traffic with vastly increased speeds. “The new system will considerably aid Fiji’s image as a tourist destination as international tourists are increasingly demanding better Internet capabilities for email, banking and other services,” says Telecom Fiji’s chief executive officer Winston Thompson
—GJ
American Samoa
The second American fast-food chain franchise—Kentucky Fried Chicken—opened in early February in American Samoa. The new KFC is providing over 100 new jobs. KFC-American Samoa president Vincent Haleck said that in about six months, the company will add a Pizza Hut, increasing employment opportunities. The first U.S. fast food chain to open was McDonald’s, which started in 2000. (See our story, page 30.)
—FS
Samoa
Earnings from noni exports have risen steadily since 1999, says Minister of Trade, Commerce and Industry Hans Joachim Keil. In 1999, earnings were SA$250,000. In 2002, revenue jumped to SA$1 million, he told parliament. Noni, used as a medicine in the Pacific for many illnesses, is exported as juice or powder to Japan and the U.S.
—FS
Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas
More than 20,000 passengers from Japan were last month flown into the Northern Marianas by Japan Airlines and JALWays in January, a new single month record, the Marianas Variety reported. Yasuyoshi Kinoshita, public relations manager of Japan Airlines, says that since super typhoon Pongsona hit Guam in early December, JAL has been operating larger aircraft from Japan due to the high tourist demand. Japan Airlines’ previous record was 19,672 arrivals set in August 1999.
—PINA Nius Online
The Northern Marianas Alliance for Safety and Health held its first local training session on January 27. The four-day day OSHA 501 Voluntary Compliance course was conducted by U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration Outreach Training Instructor Joe Teeples. The 35 attendees were from hotels, garment factories, security firms, training specialists, shipping companies, construction companies, the CNMI Dept. of Labor and Immigration and the Northern Marianas College.
—FW
Papua New Guinea
Big league mine LIHIR Gold Limited in PNG’s New Ireland Province recorded its best-quarter-ever figures for gold production in the last quarter of 2002, with the production of 168,443 ounces. According to the company’s quarterly report, its total resource increased to 41.1 million ounces, while its reserves increased to 16.7 ounces.
—ND
Contributors: Frank Whitman, Giff Johnson, Norman Douglas, Fili Sagapolutele and PINA Nius Online
