Business Briefs

Solomon Islands

The Solomon Islands Commissioner of Forests has suspended the logging license of Malaysian company, Pacific Metro. The company was logging in the Marovo Lagoon Area. Commissioner Kennedy Hoda says there are discrepancies in the relevant timber rights documents. Pacific Metro has been operating under contract to Solomon Islands company Bulo Enterprises since early 2004. Earlier another logging operation was suspended on Ovau Island, between the Shortland Islands and Bougainville because of land ownership disputes.

-SM

Kiribati

The first lot of I-Kiribati sea women have been recruited to work on Norwegian Cruise Liners that travel from Honolulu to Tabuaeran Island in Kiribati to the U.S. mainland. The NCL agent in Kiribati reports 19 women have been recruited. One left in February and the remaining will board their ship in June. This is the first time for young women from Kiribati to work onboard cruise liners.

-BB

Fiji

Radio company Communications Fiji Limited (CFM) has launched its new radio station, the Hindi-language Radio Sargam. This despite a high court order granting a stay on the Fiji Government's decision to award a public service broadcasting tender to CFM. The Fiji Broadcasting Corporation Limited challenged the government's decision. The case will be before the courts again on June 1. "We feel it is important that we continue to deliver a service as we have discovered in the development of Radio Sargam that there are areas of the community not currently serviced by radio," says CFM Managing Director William Parkinson. "As Hindustani radio is so important to the Indo-Fijian community we felt obligated to launch as planned."

-SM

Guam

Guam's tourist arrival numbers showed a significant upward trend as they topped 100,000 in both January and February of this year. It is the first time they've reached six digits since September 2002. The duration of the lull is attributed to the beating the island sustained in December 2002 from Supertyphoon Pongsona.

-FW

Samoa

Minister of Finance Misa Telefoni said government is looking at the idea of tax cuts for businesses that donate to charity or sponsor sports programs. Such "tax relief' is already in effect for investors in tourism, he said. Investors have injected up to T$1 million in tourism because tax relief is in place for such investments, he says. There was a "strong feeling" that business and community groups like Rotary, and those for the disabled and abused women and children, were doing tremendous work, he says, adding that consideration is being given to not taxing donations of T$20,000 to T$50,000.

-FS

Contributors: Samantha Magick, Batiri Bataua, Frank Whitman and Fili Sagapolutele.