Government Briefs
Government Briefs
| Region Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian plans to visit Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Marshall Islands. Officials in Taipei are saying the visit will go ahead in May and is expected to coincide with visits to the Marshall Islands and Kiribati by a Taiwanese naval fleet, which is making an unprecedented round-the-world voyage. -GN The Australian government's aid agency, AusAID, has committed US$200,000 for "strengthening parliaments" in Pacific Island countries. The project will be administered by UNDP's new Pacific Regional Sub-Center. Center coordinator Garry Wiseman says the project will see increased parliamentary independence and integrity in parliaments around the region. -SM Solomon Islands The Solomon Islands government has agreed to become a full member of the World Bank's Multi-lateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) Convention, which it signed in 1996. Full membership of the investment promotion body will cost Solomon Islands about US$541,000. Prime Minister Allan Kemakeza said this is a small investment compared with the benefits Solomon Islands stands to gain. -SM Vanuatu Taiwan has yet to receive word from Vanuatu severing ties between the two countries and still regards official relations as valid, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says. Michael Lu, the ministry's spokesman, made the remarks as Vanuatu Prime Minister Ham Lini was on a visit to China at the end of February, during which he reiterated his commitment to recognizing the "One China" policy. Lini's predecessor, Serge Vohor, signed a communique in November recognizing Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province. The Vanuatu Council of Ministers refused to recognize the deal, and Vohor was removed in a vote of no confidence. During Lini's trip, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao praised him for abandoning the "wrong decision" made by Vohor. -GN Vanuatu has become the fifth Forum Island nation, joining New Zealand, Australia, Fiji and Samoa, on the list of Pacific countries that have turned in detailed reports on the status of women in their countries to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Vanuatu's Minister for Comprehensive Reform and Women Isabel Donald delivered the report to the UN. -GJ Yap The Yap State Constitutional Convention adjourned on Feb.17, after passing only 12 of the 82 proposal amendments offered into the convention. The convention had opened in March 2004. After Typhoon Sudal, the convention sessions were postponed until October when it will reconvene and finish its business. -BG CNMI The CNMI government has allocated its total annual $5.2 million "Compact Impact" money to the Public School System (PSS) for education-related projects. The U.S. Department of the Interior will release the money as soon as it receives and approves the plan of action from the Northern Marianas. The governor has committed this annual funding to the PSS for the next four years to build new schools, renovate others, improve curriculum and other education-related projects. The U.S. Compact Impact law provides a total of $30 million annually for Hawaii, Guam, and the Northern Marianas to help with costs associated with large populations of islanders from the Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands and Palau. -FSR Guam The government of Guam announced that it has chosen the site for the new landfill to replace the infamous Ordot Dump. The choice of Dandan, in southern Guam, elicited objections from area residents including legal action in Guam Superior Court. The land is owned jointly by Calvo's Insurance Underwriters and First Island Industry. The Ordot Dump closure is the subject of a U.S. federal court order under which the court will choose a site if local officials are unable to do so. -FW Kiribati British soldiers are heading back to Kiritimati Island, the capital of the Line and Phoenix Group, but this time with no weapons of mass destruction. Instead, they're showing up with vehicles and equipment to clean the mess created on the island in the 1950s when Britain used it for nuclear testing. Kiribati's liaison for the project, Rubetaake Taburuea, says that once the clean up of old equipment and buildings is complete, the rubbish will be exported. The clean up operation is solely funded by the British Ministry of Defense. -BB American Samoa A health study conducted on 420 American Samoa children found that among five-to-10 year old children, more than 50 percent had high cholesterol, and could suffer heart disease if they continue to eat unhealthy foods, according to the Samoa News. The study, funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that 28 percent of the children were considered overweight and 14 percent were considered at risk of becoming overweight. Thirty-three percent of the children were reported to drink soda, eat cake or sweets once or more per day, and 36 percent eat chips or salty snacks that included uncooked ramen noodles once or more per day. Fewer than 23 percent of the children eat fruits and vegetables at least once a day, the findings showed. -FS Cook Islands An assessment of damage caused by four cyclones that hit the Cook Islands within a month has been delayed by government giving priority to the clean up and restoration work. Cyclones Meena, Nancy, Olaf and Percy wreaked havoc on both the northern and southern group islands. French soldiers, New Zealand Air Force planes and Australian funds have been helping out with the restoration work-from distributing relief supplies to far-flung islands to cleaning up roads. -UKM Marshall Islands A missile interception test involving the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein Atoll failed in February, the second, apparently similar, test failure in two months. Missile Defense Agency spokesman Rick Lehner says early indications are that there was a malfunction with the ground support equipment at the Kwajalein test range - not with the missile itself. Each test launch costs about $85 million. The failed test was intended to intercept a dummy warhead fired from Kodiak Island in Alaska. -GJ Papua New Guinea The Papua New Guinea government has established a resettlement authority to coordinate the relocation of Manam Islanders to the PNG mainland. Known as the Manam Resettlement Authority, the body headed by former PNG Chief Justice Sir Arnold Amet is to use all funds given to it via public appeals or donors to resettle the villagers. The Manam Island volcano erupted in October last year forcing close to 15,000 of the island's population to flee. The authority is currently negotiating with traditional landowners of plantations on the mainland to accommodate the disaster-stricken islanders. -AR The Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands Catholic Bishops Conference (CBC) has lashed out at the PNG government for not keeping records of proceeds from poker and horseracing machines since 1993. Supporting moves by PNG parliamentarian Nick Kuman to revoke the Gaming Board Act 1993, CBC president Archbishop Karl Hesse urged all PNG parliamentarians to support Kuman's private bill. He said it is the church's belief that gambling was immoral if the necessities of family life were sacrificed and pointed out to the PNG government that a lot of families would benefit if the machines were removed. -AR
Samoa The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment has opened a can recycling facility as part of its waste management plan for the country. The Japan International Cooperation Agency, JICA helped with technical expertise and with funding. The opening of the new facility coincided with National Waste Awareness Day, the theme of which was "Developing Goods From Waste." The facility will be managed on a trial basis by a private company for the first six months. -AT Contributors: Graham Norris, Samantha Magick, Berna Gorong, Frank S. Rosario, Frank Whitman, Batiri Bataua, Fili Sagapolutele, Ulamila Kurai Marrie, Giff Johnson, Nancy Chism, Alex Rheeney and Afamasaga Toleanoa. |
