People Briefs
People Briefs
| 'Ofa Simiki of 'Ofa Simiki Building retail company has been named
business woman of the year in Tonga's inaugural Westpac Bank Women in Business
Awards. 'Elenoa 'Amanakoi, who is general manager at the Tongan Broadcasting
Corporation, was named executive businesswoman of the year. They traveled
to Australia late October to meet their Australian counterparts at a national
award function. Janine Allis, who is founder and managing director of Boost
Juice Bars, was awarded the businesswoman of the year award at the Sydney
function.
-SM - ADVERTISEMENT -
Niue contestant Sinahemana Hekau, 24, was crowned Miss South Pacific at a ceremony in American Samoa on Oct. 29, picking up the US$5,000 cash prize, airline tickets and other prizes. It's the first time Niue has won the title since the pageant, owned by the government of Samoa, was established 18 years ago. Hekau captivated the attention of the judges and the crowd with her moving presentation during the talent portion of the contest, of the devastation that Cyclone Heta wreaked on Niue in January of this year. There were six other contestants in this year's pageant from Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Northern Marianas, Cook Islands and, for the first time, New Caledonia. -FS Maire Bopp DuPont, the founder and chief executive officer of the Pacific Islands AIDS Foundation based in Rarotonga has tied the knot. Maire who is Tahitian and the face of the pandemic in the region, married her Cook Islander husband, Peter Allport, at a simple ceremony in Rarotonga on Nov. 13. The qualified journalist has worked tirelessly against the disease in the region and her fight has given her audiences with world leaders such as then-U.S. President Bill Clinton and South Africa's Nelson Mandela. She went public with her HIV-positive status in 1998 during a Pacific Islands News Association conference in Tahiti. -UKM Patolo Mageo, former deputy director of the Human and Social Service Department in American Samoa, pled guilty in October in federal court in Honolulu to conspiring to rig bids for government contracts in exchange for $10,000 cash kickbacks. He faces one count of conspiracy to commit fraud against the United States and will be sentenced April 14, 2005. -FS Former speaker of the FSM Congress, Jack Fritz, has been hired by the Chuuk State Legislature as an attorney within the Legislative Counsel's Office. Fritz was convicted on Sept. 20 by the FSM Supreme Court on four criminal charges and resigned from the national Congress one day prior to his sentencing. Fritz was one of the longest serving senators in FSM history, going into the FSM Congress from 1981 until 2004. -OW
Pacific Islanders living in Sydney converged to celebrate the Pacific Wave Festival in late November. Program highlights included Tatou Tatou: Pacific Arts Exchange Symposium, Drum Drum-dancers and musicians from PNG, and a Pasifika Youth Day. The festival has been revamped after some years following changes in the organizing committee. -SM Arieta Yamaguchi, an American Samoa woman accused of redistributing and selling crack cocaine and using other Samoans as 'runners' for a drug operation in Honolulu, was found guilty on in October on five counts by a federal jury in Hawaii. Samoan co-defendants Lilo J. Fa'afiti, Sui Fa'afiti Jr., Tui Masina, John Uti and Sui Fa'afiti Sr., plus two non-Samoans were charged with conspiring to possess and distribute crack cocaine and cocaine. While the rest of the Samoan defendants later pled guilty only Yamaguchi and Lilo J. Fa'afiti stood trial and both were found guilty. Sentencing is set for next February. -FS American Samoa Governor Togiola Tulafono, a 1970 graduate of Chadron State College (CSC) in Nebraska, was awarded the college's Distinguished Alumni Award. Chadron State president Dr. Thomas Krepel said the alumni association wanted to honor its most prominent member in a special way with a formal celebration. -FS President Tommy E. Remengesau Jr.'s alma mater, Grand Valley State University (GVSU) in Michigan, has established the President Remengesau Scholarship for Palauan students. Each year, two students from Palau high schools or Palau Community College will be selected for the scholarships based on their academic achievement. The scholarships will allow the students to attend GVSU based on Michigan resident rates. -NC The American Samoa Territorial Parents and Teachers Association elected its executive council in October with Henry Sesepasara as president. Other officers are vice president Kolumane Fuimaono, secretary Fuifui Kulberg and treasurer To'asefulu Laulu. -FS The former president of the Philippines, Corazon Aquino, visited Guam for several days to help the Filipino community of Guam celebrate its 50th anniversary on Oct. 23. During her visit she spoke to the students of the Academy of Our Lady of Guam and Father Duenas Memorial School. She told the high school students about the events that led to the 1986 'People Power' revolution. She spoke to the Filipino community about charitable work being done in the Philippines under the People Power Movement she launched a year ago. -FW Aloha Airgroup, Inc., the parent company of Aloha Airlines, announced the appointment of airline veteran David A. Banmiller as president and chief executive officer of Aloha Airgroup and Aloha Airlines in mid-November. Banmiller has been in the aviation industry for three decades, holding senior posts in the United States, Europe, South America, Mexico and the Far East. -GJ Pacific Island states' nominee for the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States secretary-general position, Sir John Kaputin, could be too old for the job. Officials from the PNG Foreign Affairs Department have confirmed they are seeking independent legal advice following reports that the ACP secretariat had concluded that the former politician was over the retirement age of 60 for ACP staff. The former co-president of the ACP-EU Joint Assembly and PNG government special representative to the EU beat Samoa's Dr. Pao Luteru to be the region's nominee after a ballot by 14 island state leaders. -AR Samoa Tel, Samoa's state owned telecommunications company, has appointed Mike Johnstone, a New Zealander with 30 years experience in telecommunications, as new CEO. Samoa Tel's former CEO Mark Yeoman, and chairman Murray Drake, both left after a series of investigations into the company's affairs. "Telecommunications is a crucial part of development," Johnstone said. "That is why Samoa Tel has development plans for total communications services-for all to be connected." -AT Weightlifter Manuel Minginfel of Yap, the only Micronesian area athlete to qualify for the August 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, was recognized in mid-October in a special ceremony in his home state, The Yap Networker reports. He placed tenth in his weight class at Athens. "We all should be proud of Manuel," said Eliuel Pretrick, president of the FSM National Olympic Committee. "He has put the FSM on the Olympic map." Governor Robert Ruecho and traditional chief Thomas Falngin spoke at the event, praising Minginfel. -GJ Papua New Guinean Bessie Maruia has received a prestigious humanitarian award from the United Nations. She was among five young people from across the globe to receive awards from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for tackling poverty through AIDS prevention, conflict resolution and educational initiatives. Working as a counseling trainer supervisor with the National AIDS Council of PNG, Maruia trained 63 counselors on HIV prevention. They have reached 75 percent of Papua New Guinea's population with basic HIV/AIDS prevention information. -AR Pacific Magazine correspondent Olivier Wortel recently launched a new newspaper for the Federated States of Micronesia. Called the Sinlaku Sun Times and based in Kosrae State, the paper is published every two weeks. It is published by Wortel's Equator Media Productions, which he formed in 2002. -GJ
In Memoriam Former Samoa Police Commissioner and judge Galuvao Tanielu Galuvao was one of three senior public servants who died in October. The others were Housing Corporation chief executive officer Fa'amausili Vaitoa Toelupe, and chief of nursing, Gafatasi Tino Chu Ling. Galuvao, like Toelupe and Chu Ling had been educated in Samoa, followed by further tertiary schooling and training in New Zealand before returning to work in the Samoa public service. Both Galuvao and Toelupe were still working when they passed away. -AT Contributors: Samantha Magick, Fili Sagapolutele, Ulamila Kurai-Marrie, Olivier Wortel, Giff Johnson, Frank S. Rosario, Nancy Chism, Frank Whitman, Alex Rheeney and Afamasaga Toleafoa.
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