People Briefs
People Briefs
Jan/Feb 2007
The American Samoa Chamber of Commerce has new officers following a November meeting. David Robinson, general manager of Panamex Pacific is president; Susing Alivia of Southseas Distribution is first vice president; Robin Annesley-Dalton of Samoa News is second vice president; secretary is Jason Thomas, general manager National Pacific Insurance; and treasurer is Gary Ayer, the chief executive officer of ANZ Amerika Samoa Bank.
—FS
Chuck Sayon, a 10-year veteran park ranger at American Memorial Park (AMP) on Saipan, retired as site manager on October 13. The AMP, located adjacent to the Hyatt Regency Hotel, is under the auspices of U.S. National Parks Service, Department of the Interior. Among his many accomplishments is the opening of the Visitors Center at the AMP last year and the 60th anniversary program commemorating the end of World War II two years ago. Sayon served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Pohnpei in the 1980s.
—FSR
Papua New Guinea weightlifting champion Dika Toua has given birth to a 2.56kg baby boy. While there were concerns Toua’s elevation to motherhood could hinder her preparations for the 2007 Samoa Games and the Beijing 2008 Olympics, she told the Post-Courier newspaper she would be ready. Toua says she will take two to three months to recuperate from motherhood before taking up serious training in preparation for the regional and world sporting events.
—AR
Rebecca Warfield is the new Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Commissioner of Public Safety. Warfield, former assistant attorney general, replaced Ray Mafnas, who has been acting following the termination of former commissioner Mark Williams earlier last year. Warfield was confirmed by the Senate in early October. Her husband, Jeff, is the chief of the Criminal Division of the Attorney General’s Office. She is the first woman to become Commissioner of Public Safety in the Northern Marianas.
—FSR
The first I-Kiribati seawoman, Tateta Iereria, 26, was sentenced in Bermuda to five years in prison for drug trafficking. She was working for Norwegian Cruise Lines. While in Bermuda recently, police searched her and found US$250,000 worth of cocaine on her. She later pleaded guilty and her prison term began from November 1.
—BB
Former Australian minister Andrew Peacock has been made a grand companion of the Order of Logohu. The second highest honor under Papua New Guinea’s Logohu awards system, he will be known as “chief.” Peacock was former Australian foreign affairs and external territories minister who played a pivotal role in PNG’s progress to independence in September 1975. Australia’s first high commissioner to PNG, Tom Critchley, was also made a Companion of the Star of Melanesia CSM at an investiture ceremony chaired by PNG governor-general Sir Paulias Matane.
—AR
The Saipan Chamber of Commerce elected its new board of directors for 2007, in an election held November 8 at Grand Hotel. All officers and board of directors were elected without opposition. The new officers, who will take office sometime in January 2007, are: Juan T. Guerrero, president; Alex Sablan, vice president; Jim Arenovski, secretary; Michael Johnson, treasurer. Members of the board of directors are Harry Blalock, Becky Castro, Steve Jang, and David M. Sablan.
—FSR
U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Douglas Owens assumed command of the 36th Wing at Andersen Air Force, Guam on October 25. He is the first general officer to occupy the position in 12 years, a sign of the increasing importance of Andersen in light of the military buildup underway in Guam. He had been assigned to Pacific Air Force headquarters at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. He replaces Colonel Michael Boera, who is now commander of the Pacific Air Force Air Operations Center at Hickam.
—FW
Palau elections are still two years away but a petition is already being circulated throughout the country endorsing former President Kuniwo Nakamura to run in the 2008 elections for the post that he held for two terms from 1993 to 2000. Airai Chief Ngiraked and attorney Johnson Toribiong is the only one who has publicly announced plans to run for president, while supporters of Vice-President Elias Camsek Chin, and Senators Surangel Whipps and Alan Seid openly advocate their candidacies—but none are collecting signatures yet. Nakamura will be a formidable candidate if he decides or is pushed to run due to his experience, influence, and resources through his business interests in shipping, ports, hardware, construction, and many others.
—GU
The general manager of Matson Navigation in Guam, Thomas Ahillen, has retired from the position he held since 1992 and moved to Phoenix, Arizona. He will be replaced by Vic Angoco, a Guam native whose most recent position was as senior vice president of Young Brothers Ltd. shipping company in Hawaii. Angoco had previously worked for Matson from 1996 until 2004, when he joined Young Brothers.
—FW
Fiji’s youngest magistrate was sworn in recently. Josaia Waqaivolavola, 33, was formerly a lawyer with the Public Prosecutions office. Before being sworn into the judiciary, Waqaivolavola was the legal manager at Carpenters Fiji Ltd. He graduated from the University of the South Pacific as part of the pioneering bachelor of laws class in 1997. —RM
Former Special Coordinator of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands, Australian diplomat James Batley said he left the mission with a lot of satisfaction in what RAMSI has achieved during his time. Batley left in November 2006 after serving two and a half years. He expressed satisfaction over the overall law and order and security situation in the country, a steady growth in government finances and a functioning justice system. His successor is fellow Australian diplomat Timothy George.
—AO
The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) has named Richard Mann as its new deputy director general. He joined SPC in 1998 to establish and run its Planning Unit, following United Nations assignments in Vanuatu and a period as director of the University of the South Pacific’s Planning and Development Office in Suva, Fiji.
As SPC’s Noumea-based deputy director general, Mann will oversee the Social Resources Division, which includes SPC’s human development, public health, and statistics and demography programs, and its support services.
—GJ
The new United States ambassador to Solomon Islands is Leslie Rowe, who presented her credentials to Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare in November. She says her government supports the work of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands and will do its part in cooperating with Solomon Islands police and civil services to provide training and other forms of assistance.
—AO
Manuel Minginfel of the FSM state of Yap walked away with a silver medal in the clean and jerk section of the 62kg
(136lb) weight division at the Interna-tional Weightlifting Federation’s World Weightlifting Championships in October in the Dominican Republic. Minginfel is the first FSM athlete to win a medal at a world championship—in any sport. The performance qualified him to compete at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. To secure the medal, Minginfel lifted 165kg (363lb). —JC
Associate professor Richard Moyle is the new director for the University of Auckland’s Center for Pacific Studies where he will have a first hand role with the Center’s Pacific performing arts program, the only one of its kind in New Zealand. As an ethnomusicologist, Moyle has devoted many of his 41 years of research to the study of performance-specifically, of music and dance. With ten of those years spent doing fieldwork in the islands of Samoa, Tonga, Niue, Fiji, Takuu (an island in Papua New Guinea) and the Cook Islands, the academic has no doubt witnessed more Polynesian dancing than most people see in their lifetime. He officially retires from the Department of Anthropology to take up his new position in January 2007. He will continue as the director the Archive of Maori and Pacific Music.
—PR
New Zealand career diplomat David Payton has been appointed the new administrator of Tokelau. Payton replaces Neil Walter. But the appointment was criticized by the opposition National Party who favored an indigenous candidate for the post. Foreign Minister Winston Peters in announcing the appointment commented on the close relationship between New Zealand and Tokelau, adding that a second referendum to decide Tokelau’s future status will be held in November. “Whatever the outcome of that vote, Tokelau can be assured of New Zealand’s continuing friendship and support,” Peters said. Payton was formerly based at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Wellington, and was most recently Ambassador to the Netherlands and the Nordic countries.
—PR
The Samoan government has appointed the country’s youngest ever attorney general, local lawyer Ming Leung Wai. The 33-year-old replaces Brenda Heather-Latu who occupied the post for almost a decade. Heather-Latu resigned for personal reasons, but it came amidst the fallout from the successful election petition lodged against former Minister of Telecommunications Mulitalo Siafausa following the March 2006 general elections. Siafausa lost his seat in parliament, which led to government criticism of the handling of the case by the Attorney General’s office. This prompted former assistant attorney general Daryl Clark to resign, followed closely by Heather-Latu’s resignation. The ascent of Leung Wai was made possible after the original choice New Zealand-based lawyer Leuatea Peseta Iosefa withdrew his application at the last minute.
—PR
Auckland visual artist Jim Vivieaere was the top winner at the 2006 Arts Pasifika Awards, which celebrate excellence in Pacific arts in New Zealand. The Cook Islander took out the NZ$7,000 Senior Pacific Artists’ Award at a ceremony held at parliament house in Wellington where five other awards were announced. Auckland-based Tau Fuata Niue received the $5,000 Pacific Heritage Arts Award as a cultural group that has made a major contribution to maintaining, reviving or promoting a Pacific heritage art form in New Zealand. Samoan filmmaker Sima Urale received the $5,000 Pacific Innovation and Excellence Award. Visual artist, curator and artistic director Loretta Young was awarded the $3,000 Salamander Gallery Award for Emerging Pacific Visual Artists.
—PR
Leader of the Samoa Party, Su’a Rimoni Ah Chong, was found guilty of one count of bribery in a case brought against him following Samoa’s general elections in March. The verdict once again highlighted the grey area of law where custom and Samoa’s electoral law meet. Su’a was fined T$300 (US$100). After the verdict, Su’a said he was returning the Transparency International Integrity Award he received in 2003, when as Controller and Chief Auditor, he exposed widespread corruption in government. The organization has said it stood by Su’a’s integrity irrespective of the verdict.
—AT
When the 30th American Samoa legislature is sworn into office in January there will be two females in the local House of Representatives, the first time two women sit in the House. Following the November 7 general election, incumbent Mary Lauagaia M. Taufete’e was re-elected while former House member Fiasili Puni E. Haleck was elected.
—FS
Contributors: Fili Sagapolutele, Ricardo Morris, Frank Whitman, Frank S. Rosario, Giff Johnson, Batiri Bataua, Alison Ofotolau, Peter Rees, Alex Rheeney, Gaafar Uherbelau, Jessica Chapman.
