Pacific Magazine > Magazine > August 30, 2007

People Briefs

People Briefs

Guam Gov. Felix Camacho appointed Bertha Duenas acting director of the Bureau of Budget and Management on June 29, giving her a lead position on Camacho’s financial team as he deals with the government of Guam’s financial crisis. In 2004, Camacho fired Duenas who was then chief of staff for then-Lt. Governor Kaleo Moylan. While the recent move surprised most in the community, Duenas received praise from virtually all quarters as a competent financial manager and most viewed it as an indicator of the seriousness of the current situation.

Paramount chief Tuitele T. Tuitele, a former Cabinet member, was sworn into office on July 9 as senator for Fofo County in American Samoa. He fills the seat left vacant in June following the death of Senator Faiivae Apelu Galeai. Tuitele resigned from the post of Port Administration director to take up the legislative job. In all, Tuitele served for over 20 years in various capacities with the executive branch.

Dr. Clement Malau Photo: Alex Rheeney

Founding Papua New Guinea National AIDS Council Secretariat (NACS) Director Dr. Clement Malau has been appointed Secretary of the PNG National Department of Health. PNG medical practitioners are praising his appointment to a department under siege over claims of corruption and under-performance. Dr. Malau set up the NACS to coordinate the battle against PNG’s HIV/AIDS epidemic before he left to work in Timor Leste under a World Bank-funded program. He later joined the Center for International Health, Burnet Institute in Melbourne, Australia in 2003 where he remained until his new appointment.

The Fitial administration in the Northern Marianas is pushing through a list of nominees it hopes will revamp the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation (CUC) that has been plagued with power delivery problems since 2004. Under Public Law 15-40, the new Public Utilities Commission will set utility rates for the Northern Marianas, among other duties. Governor Benigno R. Fitial has nominated Efrain F. Camacho and Allen Perez, representing engineering, Manuel S. Rabauliman, representing telecommunications, and Lina Villagomez, representing accounting. All are from Saipan and require confirmation of both houses of the Legislature. The governor is still looking for nominees from the islands of Rota and Tinian.

Former Manu Samoa player and lawyer  Tauiliili Harry Schuster is Samoa’s newest district court judge after his induction in July. Schuster played for Manu Samoa in the early 1990s after attending Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand where he earned his law degree. After his retirement from international rugby, he continued his career in law first with the Attorney General’s office as a state solicitor, then with a local firm rising to become co-partner of the Fepulea’i and Schuster law firm in Apia. The 45-year-old is still heavily involved with rugby as an administrator. He is the current secretary of the Samoa Rugby Union as well the chairman of the  Pacific Islanders Rugby Alliance. He is the first Pacific Islander to sit on the executive council of the International Rugby Board as the Oceania and Pacific representative. Schuster has been the president of the Samoa Law Society since the end of 2002, a position he has now relinquished because of his new role.

Visiting runners took the top spots in the annual Coca-Cola run in Nauru in June. Kiribati’s Tekoki Teieta won the five-kilometer race in 20:54, while the Marshall Islands’ Wilson Hesa took second place in 22:04. About 1,800 runners—about 20 percent of Nauru’s population—joined the annual event, which this year was a three-country competition, thanks to Our Airline sponsoring the participation of the Kiribati and Marshall Islands runners.

The Participating Police Force (PPF) in the Solomon Islands has a new commander, Denis McDermott, an Australian Police officer who retired as an assistant commissioner in the Australian Federal Police a few years ago. Before leaving the Federal Police, he was awarded the Australian Police Medal, the highest award to Australian police officers. McDermott is also Deputy Police Commissioner to the Solomon Islands Police Force. He replaces Will Jamieson who returns to Australia to head the AFP Police College. McDermott says he is ready to prepare the Solomon Islands Police Force to professionally take over policing responsibilities once RAMSI leaves.

American Samoa Community College President Dr. Adele Satele-Galea’i has been appointed to the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC), one of the three commissions that are part of the U.S. Western Association of Schools and Colleges, which accredits primary and secondary schools, as well as two- and four-year colleges, in California, Hawaii and the U.S.-affiliated Pacific. Satele-Galea’i replaces Susan Moses, the former president and a current faculty member at the College of Micronesia Pohnpei. Satele-Galea’i represents the six colleges accredited by ACCJC: College of the Marshall Islands, College of Micronesia-FSM, Palau Community College, Guam Community College, American Samoa Community College, and Northern Marianas College. Pacific Magazine Publisher Floyd K. Takeuchi is also an ACCJC commissioner.

Former Commonwealth Ports Authority (CPA) Executive Director Carlos H. Salas is now the deputy executive manager at the  Guam International Airport Authority (GIAA). Salas’ most recent job was consultant to the CPA, after leading that agency for eight years. Salas’ appointment is expected to boost GIAA’s relationship with the Federal Aviation Administration as he has developed a good working relationship with the FAA during his term as CPA’s head. While at CPA, Salas obtained millions of dollars annually from the FAA for infrastructure improvements at the three airports in the CNMI.

Sir James Ah Koy is Fiji’s new Ambassador to China.

Fiji’s interim government plans on sending Major Neumi Leweni to China as the country’s defense attaché. He joins Lieutenant Colonel Pita Driti, who has been appointed High Commissioner to Malaysia, while the number two officer, Commodore Esala Teleni, has become police commissioner. Teleni was recently promoted from the rank of captain. Businessman and former politician Sir James Ah Koy has been appointed Fiji’s ambassador to China, one of his first moves being to flag plans to relax immigration laws for Chinese visitors. These are just the start of likely rash of new appointments, with most of Fiji’s high commissioners and ambassadors being recalled, and many civil service leaders being sacked.

Ken Laban PHOTO: PETER REES

A New Zealand-born Samoan is aiming to become the first Pacific Islander mayor in New Zealand after throwing his name into the hat for the October Hutt City council elections. The constituency’s Labor MP and government minister Trevor Mallard is supporting Ken Laban campaigning as the “people’s choice.” He is drawing on his reputation as an experienced and active community servant, calling for more action on financial management, employment, economic and environmental issues. Laban is the brother of New Zealand’s Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector and Associate Minister of Pacific Island Affairs, , who is challenging  incumbent David Ogden Luamanuvao Winnie Laban. He spent 19 years as a constable in the police force before turning to business and community projects. He is also an experienced radio and television broadcaster and has commentated regularly for Sky TV’s rugby coverage in recent years, following a prominent rugby league career in the 1980s and early 1990s. Meanwhile, former National Party MP Arthur Anae has decided to shelve his dream of returning to Parliament in next year’s general elections and will run for mayor of Manukau City, South Auckland, which contains New Zealand’s biggest Pacific community.
 

Corporal Bill Apiata

A soldier of Maori descent is New Zealand’s first recipient of the Victoria Cross medal since World War II. The Victoria Cross is the highest military honor in the British Commonwealth, and one of the world’s most prestigious medals for gallantry alongside the Medal of Honor awarded in the United States. Corpora l Bill Apiata, a member of the Special Air Service (SAS) hailing from the East Coast in Te Kaha of Nga Puhi iwi descent, is the country’s 22nd military recipient since the award’s inception in 1856. Apiata, a nearly 20-year Army veteran, won his VC while serving with U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan. In 2004, he was commended for carrying a wounded comrade over 70 meters of exposed ground through enemy fire, knowing medical assistance was required to save the man’s life. He then returned to the battle.

Bougainville politician Francesca Semoso has been awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the arts and the Bougainville community in the 2007 Commonwealth Queens Birthday Honors List. Semoso, 40, is currently the Deputy Speaker of Parliament in the Bougainville Autonomous Government. The award adds to her colorful resume, which includes a 10-year stint with the government-owned National Broadcasting Corporation as a radio announcer. She was elected to Parliament in 2005 by the North Bougainville people and is one of three women representatives.

Emperor Mines Limited has announced the appointment of Ian McMaster AM as an Independent Director of the company. “Ian is joining us at a pivotal time for the company, and we are pleased to have secured a person of such high standing to be part of the restructure of the company,” says Emperor Chairman Geoffery Campbell. “His international experience and management skills will greatly assist the company as we move forward with our restructuring plans.”  That restructuring included recent divestment of the Vatukoula Gold Mine in Fiji, although Emperor retains interests in Papua New Guinea. Following a 30-year career with BHP Billiton, MacMaster was appointed Chief Executive Officer, CSR Sugar in 1999, a post he held until his retirement in 2006.

Paul Allen’s yacht Octopus in Malakal Harbor, Koror.  Photo: David Miho

Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen visited Palau in late May, meeting up with his $200 million mega-yacht “Octopus.” In 2003, Allen brought his other mega-yacht, “Tatoosh,” to Palau. The Octopus dwarfed Malakal Harbor in Koror for three days. It carries a crew of 60, including four ex-Navy Seals, is equipped with two helicopters, seven launches and a deep-sea 10-man submarine. Allen flew into Palau on a private jet, and was taken straight to his yacht, which departed a day later. He was not seen in public.

Papua New Guinea’s OK Tedi Mining Ltd has named Alan Breen its new managing director. Breen takes over from Keith Faulkner who was instrumental in turning the company around after the departure of BHP Billiton and a raft of serious environmental problems. Prior to his appointment with OTML, Breen served as general manager of Rio Tinto’s Boyne Smelter Ltd in Australia. After many troubled years, OK Tedi has been paying healthy dividends and royalties to the PNG government, but Breen will be charged with not only maintaining this performance, but also managing a closure plan, with current projections having the mine close by 2013.

U.S. Navy Capt Paul Fuligni, commander of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Marianas, salutes during his change of command ceremony on July 9. Photo: Frank Whitman

Navy Capt. Paul Fuligni replaced Capt. Kenneth Branch as the naval facilities chief in Guam on July 9. An increasingly high-profile job in Guam, NavFac commander Fuligni will administer all Guam military construction contracts, the value of which grew from $81.9 million in fiscal year 2005 to $193 million for the current fiscal year and may jump to $345 million next year. He will also be involved with the planning for the relocation of 8,000 Marines to Guam by 2014. Fuligni moves into his new job under newly installed Rear Admiral William French, Commander Naval Forces Marianas, after serving as NavFac commander in Washington State.

An 11-year-old Pohnpeian public school student,  Mayleen Ohry, won a prize in the international “Nutrition for Health” drawing contest organized by Sight and Life, a humanitarian initiative of DSM Nutritional Products, based in Switzerland. Her drawing—a colorful presentation of “Foods to Eat,” including breadfruit, banana, fish, mango, pandanus, and pineapple, and “Foods Not to Eat,” including soda, ramen, Kool-Aid, sausage, cake, ice cream and candy—was published in a recent issue of the Sight and Life magazine, along with the drawings of 24 other winners from countries around the world. She is a fifth grader at Mand Elementary School in Pohnpei.

Setiro Paul is Chuuk’s newest senator in the Federated States of Micronesia Congress, having won the by-election to fill the four-year seat vacated by Manny Mori, who is the FSM’s new President. Mori and Vice President Alik L. Alik of Kosrae were officially sworn into office in July. Paul narrowly defeated Steve Mori by 150 votes out of more than 17,000 cast. Former FSM Vice President Redley Killion lost his chance to return to the Congress when he came in third behind Paul, after his initial defeat by Mori in the March elections. Claude H. Phillip is Kosrae’s four-year senator, having defeated Renster P. Andrew by about 160 votes, to replace the seat vacated by Alik.

Former Solomon Islands Prime Minister Ezekiel Alebua was recently sent to prison for three and a half years for embezzling more than SI$27,000 (US$3,700) of Guadalcanal provincial funds when he was the Guadalcanal premier in 2001.

Lorin S. Robert was sworn in as the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Finley S. Perman as Secretary of Finance and Administration for the Federated States of Micronesia in July by new President Manny Mori. Robert replaces former Secretary Sebastian L. Anefal, now the elected governor of Yap. Described as a “seasoned diplomat” who has worked with Foreign Affairs for more than 20 years, Robert is a graduate of both American University and Oxford University in England. He had been deputy secretary since 2001. Before his move to the FSM national government, Perman was director of the Department of Treasury and Administration for the Pohnpei State government. During his watch, the state government had unqualified audits in 2005 and 2006. He has worked for Bank of Hawaii and the FSM Public Auditor’s office.

Johnson Toribiong, Palau’s only declared candidate for the 2008 Presidential election. Photo: David Miho

Johnson Toribiong, local attorney and past president of Palau’s Constitutional Convention, is the only declared candidate for Palau’s presidential election in 2008. Though rumors circulate of other possible candidates including Vice President Elias Chin, former two-term President Kuniwo Nakamura and Senate President Surangel Whipps, no other candidates have formally declared. Toribiong has yet to name a running mate for vice president but says he will launch his campaign in September and has said “Palau needs change to rebuild the public’s confidence and trust in leadership.”

Guam’s telephone and telecommunications company, GTA, appointed Tony Mosley its new executive vice president of marketing and customer service effective June 11. Mosley brings extensive regional experience to the job, having spent the previous 10 years in Saipan as the chief operating officer of Pacific Telecom Inc. Prior to that, he worked for MCI in Guam for five years as sales and marketing manager

The Saipan Chamber of Commerce  recently awarded $1,500 scholarships to six students from Saipan. They are: Tikla Brown, home-schooled student, Raneesa R. Canoce of Grace Christian Academy, Henry Chan of Saipan International School, Emily Jang and Bernadeth C. Piamonte of Marianas High School, and Chelette San Nicolas from the Northern Marianas Academy.  The six students were selected out of
20 semi-finalists.

In Memoriam

Former Cook Islands Prime Minister Sir Tom Davis passed away in July and was mourned across the region. Davis, popularly known as ‘Papa Tom,’ had a long list of accomplishments: as the first Cook Islander to qualify as a medical doctor in New Zealand, a Harvard researcher where he worked on the NASA space program amongst other things, a founder of the Cook Islands Democratic Party and Prime Minister from 1978-1987.

The death toll of Pacific Islanders in the U.S. military in the Middle East continues to grow, with three more killed between May and July. U.S. Marine Sgt. Faoa Apineru, 31, died July 2 from head injuries he suffered in 2005 while in Iraq. He is the 14th soldier of Samoan ancestry to die in Iraq and Afghanistan. A native of American Samoa, Faoa died at Palo Alto Veterans Hospital where he was undergoing therapy for traumatic brain injury. Educated in the neighboring country of Samoa, Apineru joined the military in 1997 while visiting relatives in the U.S.  Army Sgt.  Iosiwo Uruo, 27, became the 11th Guam resident killed in Iraq in late May, when his unit came under attack. The third son of Palau to be killed, Corpora l Meresebang Ngiraked, was buried in Melekeok State with full military honors in July. The 21-year-old soldier was killed by a improvised explosive device in Iraq in June. President Tommy Remengesau, Jr. ordered the Palauan flag flown at half-mast in his honor for two days.

Marshall Islands Senator Fountain Inok died in Hawaii in early July as the result of a serious stroke that he suffered a short time earlier while on a visit to Hawaii. Inok, who represented Wotho Atoll in the Nitijela, was serving his first term in office. A noted businessman, Inok and his family built and ran the Anrohasa Hotel on Ebeye. He was also a skilled tennis and table tennis player, who was regularly seen on courts in Majuro, Ebeye and Hawaii, and also represented the Marshall Islands at various Micronesian Games.

Randall Biliki, manager of the People First Network (PFNET), died at age 44 in July. A strong advocate of communications for rural populations, his death is a big loss to the advancement of remote communities in the Solomon Islands. During his tenure, PFNET installed several email stations at provincial locations through high frequency radio and solar power technology. As a result, people are able to talk to the rest of the world from their PFNET stations from very remote locations. “This technology has put Solomon Islands ahead of the rest of the Pacific,” Biliki remarked before his death.


Contributors: Fili Sagapolutele, Frank Whitman, Frank S. Rosario, David Miho, Giff Johnson, Peter Rees, Alison Ofotalau, Alex Rheeney and Samantha Magick.