Government Briefs

Pacific

The Australian Government has doubled its aid contribution to the Pacific Islands region, bringing it to a total A$383 million in 2004/05. Papua New Guinea will continue to be the largest recipient, with new funds to support Australian policemen and government officials who are soon to depart for PNG. "This support for the Pacific is important for the people of the Pacific themselves, but it is also important to our own security and the security of our people," Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told parliament. But the Australian non-government organization AID/WATCH claims "most of these funds will be paid out in wages to Australians and not end up in the countries that so badly need them."

-SM

CNMI

Governor Juan Babauta's proposal to the Commonwealth Telecommunications Commission (CTC) that Pacific Telecom Inc. (PTI) put up a $10 million performance bond before it can complete the acquisition of Verizon assets on Saipan has been labeled "biased" and "punitive" by the Philippines-based company. Babauta said the condition is necessary to ensure that PTI does not violate the approved settlement of the $60 million purchase. PTI has already made a major concession in its negotiations with CTC by agreeing to drop inter-island rates on Tinian and Rota. PTI officials said the condition is not conducive to attracting foreign investment in the Northern Marianas.

-FR

Recent pressure from the U.S. Congress failed to convince the leadership of the Northern Marianas House of Representatives to pass legislation increasing the minimum wage. The House leadership maintained that the economy is not strong enough to warrant increasing the minimum wage from $3.05 an hour to $5. Rep. Heinz Hofschneider warned that failure to increase the minimum wage would force the federal government to do it for the CNMI, which could cause bankruptcies in many local companies.

-FR

Northern Marianas College (NMC) Board of Regents voted to put the controversial Pacific Gateway program on hold and shut down the La Fiesta Mall campus due to lack of funds. During the Board's April 30 meeting, members also voted to lower tuition fees for international students from $250 to $195 per credit. Action from the board came at the recommendation of NMC's Acting President Tony Leon Guerrero, who said the new rate would make the college more competitive to attract more international students. Meanwhile, NMC's Vice President Chas Algaiers has resigned. He said he will be looking at the CNMI's public school system for possible employment.

-FR

Tuvalu

On the heels of the release of the movie "The Day After Tomorrow," which provides a dramatic picture of climate change and sea level rise, the Tuvalu Government issued a statement on the threat. Although "the reality may not be as dramatic (as the film)," even today impacts are already being felt, the government says. "We are witnessing more severe and more frequent cyclones, which we believe are the direct result of climate change. So while the movie may give the impression that climate change and sea level rise is part of science fiction, for us in Tuvalu and small island states it is a reality."

-GJ

Fiji

Drug laws proposed by the government are causing a stir with a joint Parliamentary select committee receiving submissions recording negative comments about provisions, such as an F$1 million maximum fine or mandatory sentencing in the Illicit Drug Bill. Civil society, human rights lobby groups and an unregistered Movement of Jah People Association argue some provisions breach basic human rights because mandatory sentences could translate to injustice in some cases. Two magistrates submitted that discretion of sentencing should be left with magistrates.

-MR

Talks of a sequel to a hit movie and two animations are underway for production in Fiji. The Fiji Audio Visual Commission estimates these developments could bring in some $300 million in the next five years after an estimated $32.6 million from "Anaconda II" that wrapped up production at the end of 2003. Commission chairman Joe Mar says production is to start soon on a movie "Savage Gardens." "It has left a lasting footprint on our shores," Mar says of the impact "Anaconda II" had on Fiji's newest industry.

-MR

American Samoa

The American Samoa Power Authority (ASPA) recovery effort following Tropical Cyclone Heta is moving forward quickly thanks to a $3 million line of credit from the finance company CFC, a member of the trade association U.S. National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, of which ASPA is a member. Heta, the worst cyclone to hit the islands in a decade, severely damaged utility services. ASPA executive director Utu Abe Malae says a total of 62 projects are associated with Heta, at an estimated cost of $2.7 million.

-FS

Samoa

The Samoa Nurses Association is asking the government for a T$1,000 rise in starting salary for graduates and a $2,000 hike for diploma holders in an effort to make salaries competitive with other Pacific Island countries. Samoan nurses are migrating to Australia and New Zealand because of higher starting salaries. Graduates can earn a starting salary of NZ$30,000 (SA$51,300) overseas, compared to SA$14,000 in Samoa.

-FS

FSM

The FSM Department of Economic Affairs has been conducting Phase II of the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan throughout the FSM since February, a requirement under the Convention on Biodiversity signed in 1992. Government leaders and departments tasked with protecting the environment met recently in Chuuk to participate in a two-day workshop to assess the state's ability to carry out provisions of the FSM's plan. According to many present, including Kind Kanto, a professor at the College of Micronesia, Chuuk campus, and a member of the state biodiversity steering committee, the state is ready for conservation on a broader level.

-OW

The Thirteenth Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia have declared Matthew Crabtree and Anthony Welch persona non grata. In Resolution 13-123, passed June 4th, Congress recommended that "the President takes such action as are necessary to send both Mr. Welch and Crabtree out of the FSM as soon as possible." Crabtree and Welch are two of three attorneys employed in the FSM Attorney General's Department of Litigation. Crabtree has spearheaded the prosecution of Sen. Jack Fritz. Chief Justice Andon Amaraich is presiding over the case. If Fritz is convicted of a felony charge he will be unable to hold public office. Both Welch and Crabtree are accused of focusing "a substantially disproportionate amount of resources, time and energy pursuing Chuukese citizens" in the resolution, which goes on to recommend that the FSM Supreme Court "investigate (them) as part of the disciplinary process."

-GJ

Guam

The University of Guam held a groundbreaking ceremony May 20 for the $13.5 million Jesus S. and Eugenia A. Leon Guerrero School of Business and Public Administration. The 5,100 square meter facility is scheduled for completion by mid-2006. The building is named for the late founder of the Bank of Guam and his wife. The building is funded by a loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to be repaid from Guam's liquid fuel tax. The Leon Guerrero family has pledged $1 million to the building. On May 19, UOG also cut the ribbon its new Cancer Research Center, which will house three graduate students working on research projects to determine the causes of cancer and its impact among Pacific Islanders. The project is funded by a $3.6 million grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health for a research partnership with the Cancer Research Center at the University of Hawaii.

-FW

Guam's Consolidated Commission on Utilities voted May 25 to privatize the problem-plagued Guam Waterworks Authority. After reviewing options presented by consultants, the commission opted to pursue a "concession agreement" meaning the utility would be operated by a private company using its own employees. The decision is in line with privatization efforts of Governor Felix Camacho. Efforts are also underway to privatize the Guam Telephone Authority and operations at the Port Authority of Guam as well as a number of other food service, security and maintenance services throughout the government.

-FW

Former Guam Governor Carl Gutierrez and three co-defendants have been re-indicted by a new grand jury panel in relation to a case over streetlights. This just days after Superior Court Judge Richard Benson dismissed indictments in the case Gutierrez; Thelma Ann Perez, former Guam Power Authority general manager; Clifford Guzman, former director of administration; and Joseph Cruz, former GPA board chairman. They are alleged to have illegally connected more than 2,000 streetlights, presumably as political favors. Another trial, in which Gutierrez is accused of using government resources to build a private residence for himself is proceeding independently.

-FW

Palau

Augmenting diplomatic ties maintained since December 1999, President Tommy E. Remengesau, Jr. attended the May 20 inauguration of Republic of China/Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian. A potential outcome of the visit may be the establishment of a third medical referral option for Palauan patients and an exchange program for Palauan doctors at the National Taiwan University Hospital.

-NC

Palau's weather-plagued Compact Road reached 70 percent completion in May. Barring more than normal rainfall the 53-mile road around Babeldaob Island is targeted for completion in late 2005. Good weather in April and May enabled better than average progress. A newly constructed asphalt plant in Melekeok is producing asphalt aggregate shipped from Bataan, Philippines for the paving that commenced in mid-June. The cost of the road is well in excess of $100 million.

-NC

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea authorities have yet to take action against most people implicated in the National Provident Fund commission of inquiry for the alleged theft of more than K200 million (US$58.9 million) in funds belonging to NPF members. The inquiry conducted by retired Australian judge Justice Tos Barnett and concluded in November 2002 revealed massive fraud and systematic corruption by senior officers within the superfund in collaboration with certain PNG-based companies.

-AR

Contributors: Samantha Magick, Frank Rosario, Giff Johnson, Matelita Ragogo, Fili Sagapolutele, Oliver Wortel, Frank Whitman, Nancy Chism and Alex Rheeney.