People Briefs
People Briefs
March 2005
| The Resident Representative
for the United Nations Development Program multi-country office in Fiji, Peter
Witham, has retired after 33 years with the UN. Witham spent three years in the
Suva office, which also covers nine other island nations. Richard Dictus takes
over the role of Resident Representative. The recent announcement
by the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas' Commonwealth Ports Authority (CPA)
that more than 20 of its staff, including executive director Carlos H. Salas and
deputy director Regino M. Celis, are retiring at the end of this year has raised
concern among board members about stability of the organization. Biromina
Aviu, the first woman to manage the Kiribati Copra Society from1986 until her
retirement in 1999, is back with the Society as an advisor. The society is recruiting
a new chief executive. Former minister of Samoa's Lands and the Environment
Ministry, Tuala Sale Tagaloa, has been appointed president of Lands and Title
Court. His appointment ends 10 years as a government minister. Tagaloa was Samoa's
unsuccessful candidate for secretary general of the Pacific Islands Forum. Dr.
Tevita Hala Palefau is Tonga's new minister of education. Palefau, appointed by
His Majesty King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV on Jan. 21, takes over from Paul Bloomfield,
who was interim minister of education since January 2002, according to Matangi
Tonga. In addition to his 26 years experience in education, Palefau was ordained
as a minister of the Methodist Church of Tonga in 1998. As
of January 30, the Fono in American Samoa approved the appointment by Governor
Togiola Tulafono of several directors of government departments and agencies:
Magelei Logovii, Budget Office; Alalamua Filoialii, Criminal Justice Agency; Talia
Fa'afetai Iaulualo, Department of Human and Social Services; Apefa'i Taifane,
Department of Agriculture; Taamuvaigafo Iakopo, Department of Parks and Recreation;
Paolo Sivia Sivia Jr., Office of Public Information (KVZK-TV); and Nuutai Sonny
Thompson, Department of Administrative Services. The Guam Hotel
and Restaurant Association, a private nonprofit association elected its officers
for 2005: chairman Bartley Jackson, first vice chairman Mustafa Issa, secretary
Marie Guerrero and treasurer Oscar Miyashita. Jackson, Issa and Guerrero are the
general managers of Pacific Islands Club, Hyatt Regency Guam and Planet Hollywood,
respectively. Miyashita is the managing partner of the Ernst & Young accounting
firm. Former Cook Islands Prime Minister Dr. Robert Woonton is taking
up a new posting as high commissioner to New Zealand based in Wellington, replacing
Sir Tom Davis, also a former PM. Woonton won his Manihiki seat by four votes in
the September general elections but a high court petition challenging the eligibility
of voters cut back his votes. A recount ended in a tie, after which Woonton opted
out of politics. Papua New Guinea weightlifting dynamo Dika Toua
has rewritten the record books by setting a new Commonwealth and Oceania record
at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney, Australia. Competing as part
of an Oceania team, the 20-year-old lifted 110 kilograms in the clean and jerk
to grab the gold medal in the Women's 53-kilogram class. Brian Bennison,
a New Zealand educator with extensive involvement in the Pacific, has been appointed
principal of Samoa's Robert Louis Stevenson School. Bennison holds a doctorate
in education management and has worked before as teacher, school principal and
consultant for NZAID. The institution is Samoa's premier private school.
Henry Kappel, American Samoa Governor Togiola Tulafono's legal counsel, has left
his government post to join the private law firm of Rose Joneson and Vargas as
a partner. Kappel, who also played the role of spokesperson for the administration,
became the governor's legal counsel in 1997 after serving as an assistant attorney
general. Joey Crisostomo, president of Cars Plus and Cycles Plus
on Guam, and Jerry Kramer, chief executive officer of Pacific International Inc.
which is based in the Marshall Islands but has significant business interests
in Guam and Saipan, were named Guam Business 2004 Executives of the Year, the
first time in 22 years that there are co-winners. They were recognized during
a fundraising dinner for the Guam chapter of the American Red Cross held at the
Hilton Guam Resort & Spa in January. Major General Edward Rice Jr.
assumed command of the Thirteenth Air Force at Guam's Andersen Air Force Base
on Jan. 24. Rice is a 1978 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and most recently
was the chief of staff for the Office of the Representative and Executive Director
of the Coalition Provisional Authority in the Office of the Secretary of Defense
in Washington. A 16-year U.S. Army veteran from Yap in the Federated
States of Micronesia was killed in early February in Iraq, the second from the
FSM and eighth from the U.S.-affiliated islands to die since American involvement
started in Iraq. Staff Sgt. Steven Bayow, 42, died when a bomb hit his vehicle.
Pacific Daily News reported that a second FSM citizen, Bailey Elley from Kosrae,
was injured in a separate bomb attack near the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. It
will be another four-way race for the Northern Marianas gubernatorial election
this November. After officers of the Republican Party endorsed incumbent Governor
JuanN. Babauta and Lieutenant Governor Diego T. Benavente as the party's standard
bearers, Representatives Heinz S. Hofschneider and David M. Apatang opted to run
as independents. Hofschneider, a Republican, had asked for a primary showdown
with Babauta. Former Governor Froilan C. Tenorio has declared his candidacy under
the Democratic Party banner and chose former Retirement Fund chairman and businessman
Vicente Camacho to be his running mate. Current Speaker Benigno R. Fitial and
Vice Speaker Timothy P. Villagomez are running under the Covenant Party banner. Fepuleai
Rimoni Aiafi, chief executive officer of Samoa Airport Authority, has resigned
saying he wants to pursue other professions and family interests. Contributors: Samantha Magick, Frank S. Rosario, Batiri Bataua, Afamasaga Toleafoa, Giff Johnson, Fili Sagapolutele, Frank Whitman, Ulamila Kurai Marrie, Nancy Chism and Alex Rheeney. |
