People Briefs
People Briefs
July 2005
Marstela Jack is the new head of the Justice Department for the Federated States of Micronesia. A Pohnpeian, Jack is the first Micronesian woman to be named attorney general for the FSM. She was confirmed in late May by the FSM Congress. She had been working as an assistant attorney general since 2004. The FSM Congress also approved President Joseph Urusemal's nomination of Akillino Susaia as director of Economic Affairs, giving Urusemal a complete Cabinet for the first time since he took office in early 2003. Also approved was Camillo Noket as an associate justice of the Supreme Court who previously served as Chuuk's attorney general. -GJ The Kiribati National Women's Federation
has re-elected Meere Riwata as president for a third consecutive term. Riwata
has held the post since 1999. The former primary school teacher said during her
first term she aimed to unite all women's groups for a common goal. In the second
term she put more emphasis for women's groups on the outer islands. In her third,
she plans to involve women in more productive and self-financing commitments. A
Solomon Islands man who lived as a hermit in a cave for over 40 years recently
rejoined his family after his only fire went out and he went in search of a replacement
flame. The man, who is thought to be about 80 years old and was identified as
Philip Uduota by local reporters, had lived alone since 1964 in a cave in the
mountain jungles of Abalesi, in the north-east of Malaita province. Uduota, who
had survived on food gathered from the forest, returned to his home village to
seek fire, but after reaching home, relatives urged him to stay. Former
Samoa Police Commissioner Asi James Blakelock has been appointed High Commissioner
of Samoa to New Zealand. He retired from the police post three years ago. He replaces
outgoing High Commissioner Fe'esago Siaosi Fepuleai, who will take over the chairmanship
of Samoa's Public Service Commission in Apia. Samoa also announced the appointment
of Tuala Falani Chan Tung as ambassador to Europe with duties to begin September
2005, replacing Ambassador Tauiliili William Meredith. Saipan
Garment Manufacturing Association (SGMA) Executive Director Richard Pierce has
resigned his position to pursue other business interests. Pierce had held that
position since 1998 and was instrumental in getting SGMA to improve its image
by making recommendations on safety and other issues. Problems with non-payment
of wages and working conditions in the garment industry almost cost the Northern
Marianas control of its labor and immigration to the U.S. federal government.
The local garment industry is downsizing since the World Trade Organization pact
went into effect January, resulting in the closure of three garment factories
to date and reductions of others. Garment factories employ more than 15,000 workers,
mostly from China, Korea and the Philippines. A heart surgery
team headed by Dr. Noel Concepcion, a Guam native and heart surgeon residing in
Modesto, California, performed eight open-heart surgeries at Guam Memorial Hospital
in May. It was the first time such procedures had been performed at GMH. The Medical
Relief Foundation, a Modesto-based nonprofit organization, provided the expenses
for the trip. CNMI Governor Juan N. Babauta has appointed
Jerry P. Crisostimo to head the newly created Homeland Security Office. Crisostimo
has been in that position since 2002 but the Legislature enacted legislation to
officially create the office recently. Under the law, a CNMI Terrorism Advisory
Board will be created that Crisostimo will chair. There will also be a Terrorism
Task Force which consists of the heads of the Emergency Management Office, Commonwealth
Ports Authority, Public Safety, Public Health, and Division of Customs. Eighteen-year-old
Eldon Savea Tuiasosopo of Vaitogi village in American Samoa has been honored with
the highest pin in the Boy Scout program, the eagle badge, after being active
with the program for six years. Tuiasosopo also graduated this year from Tafuna
High School, where he was recognized as the male athlete of the year. Three
Israelis were killed when their boat capsized while rafting down the fast flowing
Watut River in Papua New Guinea's Morobe province. Shlomo Haruvi of Haifa City,
Itamar Haikin of Tel Aviv and a third visitor from Gedera City were part of a
group of 12 Israelis who flew into PNG in May to raft and trek areas around the
northern coastal towns of Madang and Lae. They planned to produce a documentary
of their travel for the Discovery Channel. Jon Rozborski
won the javelin competition in the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships
on May 28 in Abilene, Texas. Rozborski is a former Guam resident who won a bronze
medal when he represented Guam in the Oceania Championships in Adelaide, Australia
in 2000. He is a junior at Chico State University in California. His winning throw
was 226 feet, 10 inches (69.14 meters). A former New Zealand
senior police officer, Senior Sergeant Ross Ardern, has been appointed Niue's
new police chief. Niue News reports that Adern served 31 years with the New Zealand
Police before his new appointment. "I have studied Niue closely," says Ardern.
"I have tried to get myself up to speed with the people of Niue and I'm looking
forward to working with them." Bureeti Iaonii, Terimoa Matang
and Teanningo Tem'aewe, who were reported missing at sea on May 3, arrived home
safely after a 14 days ordeal in the open sea. The trio was picked up by a Taiwanese
fishing boat, Fong Seong 767. The fishermen are from Bairiki village, South Tarawa. Five
Kiribati fishermen who were swept thousands of miles away from their island in
March after their fishing boats developed engine problems have been found in Papua
New Guinea. They are now awaiting moves by the PNG and Kiribati governments to
repatriate them home. Atabu Bai, 38 and nephew Rueben Baeke, 23, both from Tanaeang
village of Tarawa, Kiribati were discovered off PNG's New Ireland province by
a passing purse seiner and dropped off at Rabaul. Another three are awaiting repatriation
at Tasman Island north of Bougainville. It is not known if they were part of the
same fishing group.
Five
of the candidates Congressman Faleomavaega Eni nominated to the U.S. Military
Service Academies have received offers of appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy
in Colorado, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York and the U.S. Naval
Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. They are Richie Liatama Amisone, Edgar P. Carnecer,
David R.L. Kava, Mercy Sesilia Te'o and Demitrah Selena Mele Williams. Each scholarship
is worth over $320,000. Samoa Member of Parliament Dr. Asiata
S. Vaai is suing the Speaker and the Privileges Committee of Parliament for wrongful
suspension. Asiata is Opposition party deputy leader, and was suspended after
complaining to the International Parliamentary Union about the partisan way Samoa's
parliament was being run by the Speaker. The four-month suspension was imposed
by government members only, after Opposition party members of the committee walked
out in protest, and while Asiata himself was away, attending an IPU meeting in
Manila. In Memoriam Fijian and Pacific activist
Amelia Rokotuivuna died in Fiji in June. As a leader in the Young Women's Christian
Association, Rokotuivuna was prominent in the early Nuclear Free Pacific Movement,
as well as a champion for the rights of Fiji and Pacific women, and democracy
and peace in post-coup Fiji. Internationally known and respected
military researcher and peace activist Owen Wilkes died recently in New Zealand
at the age of 65. Wilkes' efforts to research and publicize New Zealand's role
in global nuclear strategy through an Omega transmitter station in the South Island
as well as research stints at the International Peace Research Institute in Norway
and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in the 1970s and 1980s
had him frequently at odds with government authorities, who were not keen to see
his research about military facilities made available to the public. Author and
researcher Nicky Hager described Wilkes as a genuinely exceptional New Zealander,
"partly because of his independence but also because of his ability to research
and articulate ideas not yet understood. He is very widely respected by all sorts
of ordinary people." One of Samoa's better known church officials
and sports administrators, Reverend Dr. Faitala Talapusi died in Geneva Switzerland
where he had been working for a number of years as professor at the World Council
of Churches Ecumenical Institute at Bossey. He had been principal of Malua Theological
College in Samoa, and of the Pacific Theological College in Fiji. Talapusi was
also known for his services to rugby, having played for Samoa's national team,
before becoming a rugby administrator. He is survived by his wife Tausala and
their three daughters. |
