NEWSPAGE 24 February
2010

(Photos: Courtesy of Umusa Pava Saifoloi / New Zealand Samoa Rugby Union)

NEW ZEALAND: Samoa Barbarian U20 makes changes

(Photo: Miss Samoa Pageant 2009)

SAMOA: New TIDES carry in New Miss Samoa
Source: Samoa Tourism Authority Press Release

New TIDES and a new Miss Samoa were making new waves in Samoa recently.

Samoa welcomed to its shores a flood of delegates attending the very first Tourism Investment for the Development of Enterprise and Sustainability (TIDES) Samoa Programme that began Wednesday 17th February at the Aggie Greys Lagoon Beach Resort & Spa.

In a wave of support at the TIDES Samoa official opening, the more than 150 participants from around the globe and the local tourism sector warmly welcomed Tavalea Nilon as she made her first appearance as Miss Samoa.

Great news for a new beginning, the TIDES Event has definitely kicked-off with an exhilarating start.

"TIDES is the starting point for driving tourism in Samoa and the Pacific," emphasised Greg Duffell, Pacific Asia Travel Association’s Chief Executive Officer in his opening address, after calling for a moment of silence for the victims of the September '09 tsunami which struck
Samoa and neighbouring islands.

One focal point to be taken away from this 'critical and strategic conference for Samoa, the Pacific and the entire region', as pointed-out by Duffell, is the ability to 'understand the unique beauty of the islands and understanding the unique products they can provide' to the outside
world.

The Hon. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Misa Telefoni Retzlaff feels that to be able to give visitors something unique and of value, the Pacific Island Nations need to give more of themselves.

"We must have a passionate love affair with the country, because if we're not passionate about our own country, we can't be passionate about selling the South Pacific, and we're not going to be able to get people to want to come and visit."

Such passion is what has been the deciding factor for Tavalea Nilon who has opted to defer her academic studies and take on the role of Miss Samoa.

"This is my home... this is my country... I want to be able to give something back. I'm excited, I'm challenged... I believe I can be a good Ambassador of Samoa as Miss Samoa."

Is she perturbed by the events leading-up to her taking on the Miss Samoa role?

"That was before my time... my focus is now... I am honoured to be given this once in a lifetime opportunity at this particular moment and with the support of my family, friends and our people, I will strive to make my country proud."

Such feelings of pride and unity in the Pacific region of what each island nation has to promote to foreign investors will be echoed throughout the next two days as the TIDES conference sessions and exhibitions continue.

The TIDES concluded with Miss Samoa, Tavalea Nilon etching in the minds of the overseas delegates a brief but lasting imprint of Samoa as she performed the 'taualuga' bidding them farewell as they leave Samoa's shores.
 

Photo Caption: Miss Samoa 2009, Tavalea Nilon.
 

AMERICAN SAMOA: 20 men & women nominated to U.S. Military Service Academies
Source: Office of Congressman Faleomavaega Press Release

Congressman Faleomavaega announced today that he has nominated 20 young men and women from American Samoa to the prestigious United States Military Service Academies for the class entering in June, 2010.

“It has always been an honour for me to nominate students from American Samoa to the military service academies,” Faleomavaega said. “During this nomination cycle, American Samoa had one slot each at the U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Military Academy (West Point) and at the U.S. Naval Academy, for which I was permitted to nominate up to 10 candidates to each slot. This year, I also submitted 5 nominations to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.

“I am proud of American Samoa’s long tradition of supporting the defence of our nation. If accepted, the military academies offer incredible opportunities for these young men and women to continue this tradition while receiving a first-class four year education. I wish all of them every success in their pursuits of becoming officers in one of the branches of the military.” Faleomavaega concluded

The candidates who have been nominated are as follows:

US Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO

* Pamata Ariel ManaoleAlii Sio, Tafuna High School, daughter of Willie and Ituala Star Letuligasenoa Malae Sio of Iliili.
* Anasitasia Ioane, Samoana High School, daughter of Maselino and Atonina Ioane of Aua.
* Avalisa Mautumua Poiali’i, Samoana High School, daughter of Gaoteote Tapatonu and Manu’a Peau Gaoteote of Vatia.
* Judy Gladys. Leite, Tafuna High School, daughter of Arthur and Seluia Leite of Iliili.
* Fefiloi Fetuta’ialava’a Leo, Tafuna High School, daughter of Miriam and Siua’I Leo of Vaitogi.
* Fa’asalafa Diana Kitiona, Iakina High School, daughter of Mary L. Kitiona and Lemuelu Meyer of Vaitogi.
* Angel Fa’amoemoe Vaimauga, Fagaitua High School, daughter of Fagatiai Fa'aagi and Fa'amoemoe Le'iato Vaimauga of Faga’itua.
* Vaimalu Vaiau, Fagaitua High School, daughter of Kitara and Etevise Vaiau of Alofau.
* Kereti Mata’utia III, Kanana Fou High School, son of Laie and Ienisei Mata’utia of Vaitogi.
* Jaselle Puni Etelagi, Tafuna High School, son of Vaivao Logotaeao and Maleifuamai Polu Etelagi of Fogagogo.


US Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD

* Arletta Peau, Naval Academy Preparatory School, daughter of Lelei and Tui Peau of Tafeta.
* Pamata Ariel ManaoleAlii Sio, Tafuna High School, daughter of Willie and Ituala Star Letuligasenoa Malae Sio of Iliili.
* Anasitasia Ioane, Samoana High School, daughter of Maselino and Atonina Ioane of Aua.
* Avalisa Mautumua Poiali’i, Samoana High School, daughter of Gaoteote Tapatonu and Manu’a Peau Gaoteote of Vatia.
* Judy Gladys Leite, Tafuna High School, daughter of
* Fefiloi Fetuta’ialava’a Leo, Tafuna High School, daughter of Miriam and Siua’i Leo of Vaitogi.
* Kereti Mata’utia III, Kanana Fou High School, son of Laie and Ienisei Mata’utia of Vaitogi.
* Angel Fa’amoemoe Vaimauga, Fagaitua High School, daughter of Fagatiai Fa'aagi and Fa'amoemoe Le'iato Vaimauga of Faga’itua.
* Nicholas Cecil Tait, Tafuna High School, son of Lorraine “Lola” Marie Reid of Tafuna.
* Jaselle Puni Etelagi, Tafuna High School, son of Vaivao Logotaeao Etelagi & Maleifuamai Polu Etelagi of Fogagogo.


US Military Academy, West Point, NY

* Alexander Savusa, U.S. Military Academy Prep School, son of Iuniasolua and Mareta Savusa of Nu’uuli and Fagatogo.
* Pamata Ariel ManaoleAlii Sio, Tafuna High School, daughter of Willie and Ituala Star Letuligasenoa Malae Sio of Iliili.
* Anasitasia Ioane, Samoana High School, daughter of Maselino and Atonina Ioane of Aua.
* Judy Gladys Leite, Tafuna High School, daughter of Arthur and Seluia Leite of Iliili.
* Fefiloi Fetuta’ialava’a Leo, Tafuna High School, daughter of Miriam and Siua’i Leo of Vaitogi.
* Faaolataga Pulou, PFC Active Duty, Afghanistan, son of Fereti and Folauiula Pulou of Fagaitua.
* Angel Fa’amoemoe Vaimauga, Fagaitua High School, daughter of Fagatiai Fa'aagi and Fa'amoemoe Le'iato Vaimauga of Faga’itua.
* Fitimaleafa Taupau, Faasao-Marist High School, daughter of daughter of Meki and Maria Lesina Taupau of Tafuna.
* Moto’otua Samu, Tafuna High School, daughter of Samu Tuli and Aliitasi Fa'apale Samu of Tafuna.
* Genesis Alofaaga Seumalo, Tafuna High School, daughter of Sofa and Toaga Seumalo of Iliili.


US Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Port, NY

* Fitimaleafa Kalameli Taupau, Faasao-Marist High School, daughter of Meki and Maria Lesina Taupau of Tafuna.
* Kristina Kuulani Vaeao-Vernes, Samoana High School, daughter of Laolagi and Betty Vaeao of Tafuna.
* Genesis Alofaaga Seumalo, Tafuna High School, daughter of Sofa and Toaga Seumalo of Iliili.
* Merenaite Tualaulelei, Tafuna High School, daughter of Peretania and Tiresa Tualaulelei of Iliili.
* Seulata Alofisa Masina, Tafuna High School, daughter of Seulata Peau Pefua and Kate Masina of Tafuna.
 

(Photo: Fiji Times)

FIJI: Daylight saving under review
Source: Fiji Times

The Fiji Employers Federation says the State's intention to end daylight saving by the end of the month will disrupt services in the private sector.

Federation CEO Nesbitt Hazelman said the change would not allow sufficient time for readjustments in large organisations.

In a circular to its 300 members yesterday, the FEF called for responses to a proposed Cabinet paper to end daylight saving by the end of the month.

It follows the Labour Ministry's bid to employers and unions for submissions to end daylight saving months ahead of its initial April 25 deadline.

Labour Ministry head Filipe Bole told the Fiji Times they would target the two key players - the employers and the unions.

"We will also invite public submissions," he said.

Mr Hazelman said if daylight saving was to continue to April, workers would arrive at work at dawn.

"April is too far off and it must be moved forward by at least four weeks to allow larger companies to readjust," he said of the policy which was imposed on November 29 last year.

"We still haven't decided when it should end."

On the new school starting time, he said they had not gauged a true indication of its impact. However, they noted a trend in which workers were late for work because the new hours clashed with their starting time.

"Working parents have to drop their children off at school before 9am. To drop them off earlier will mean children hanging around doing nothing. And that's a worry for parents," Mr Hazelman said.

Fiji Chamber of Commerce president Swani Maharaj said they had not received word on the matter, but a submission from them is expected.

The chamber is in favour of ending daylight saving by February 28.

"Our members, most of whom start work at 8-8.30am are concerned about workers arriving late because children are being dropped off," Mr Maharaj said. "We want to avoid disruptions because customers and businesses are affected in turn."

Mr Maharaj urged the State to conduct a study of the impact of daylight saving in a bid to determine an appropriate starting time for work and school.

The Association of Banks and the Fiji Islands Hotels and Tourism Association will make submissions pending word from the ministry.
 

Photo Caption: The Ministry of Labour has begun consultations over a proposal to bring forward the end of daylight saving which was scheduled for April 25.

TUVALU: EU to help Tuvalu handle waste, improve sanitation and water supply
Source: Radio New Zealand International

The European Union and the Tuvalu government have today signed a financing agreement of 5 point 9 million US dollars to tackle the problem of waste disposal, to improve sanitation and to provide safe drinking water to the people of Tuvalu.

In a statement, the EU said the programme will run for six years.

Under the programme’s waste disposal component, the aim will be to expand and improve on the current practices of disposal on all nine islands that make up Tuvalu.

This will involve rehabilitating existing dumpsites, identifying new ones, encouraging composting and recycling, improving current waste disposal services, and establishing a system of safe collection and disposal of hazardous waste.

The project will also provide rainwater tanks to each household in the outer islands, which establishes an efficient system of collection and storage of rainwater.

For sanitation, the programme will rehabilitate defective septic systems to reduce health and environmental impacts, improve pumping systems for septic tanks and establish a treatment facility.
 

(Photos: Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme)

WORLDWIDE: Climate Change - reflections and future directions
Source: Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme Press Release

In December 2009 the United Nations Framework for the Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) was held in Copenhagen. After an intense two weeks of negotiations and meetings, the meeting took note of the Copenhagen Accord.

For the Pacific, the strong commitment to a good outcome for our region was evident in the large delegations as well as over 10 Pacific Leaders attending to show support. The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) had a support team of six staff which provided technical, communications and administrative support to the Pacific that was led by SPREP Director, Mr. David Sheppard.

This meeting saw the strong support of partnerships as the Pacific region worked to raise their profile and become a firm negotiating block within the Alliance of Small Islands States (AOSIS).

SPREP held a High Level Briefing for the heads of delegations and Pacific leaders during the COP15, the event was coordinated in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), for which the head of the UNDP and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark was the keynote speaker. This event was held after requested by SPREP member countries, in order to help prepare and brief the Pacific Leaders on the World’s biggest climate change conference.

Media and Communications of the COP 15 and the Pacific and AOSIS delegations was strong with a climate pasifika media team led by SPREP, that provided awareness for the region and internationally, technical support and advice to the delegations as well as the formation of a blogsite - www.climatepasifika.blogspot.com. The Pacific region staged several Pacific press conferences during COP15, as well as the launch of the SIDS dock and an impromptu AOSIS press conference which led to numerous international reports with world wide media.

Pacific islands countries also played major roles in raising awareness with Kiribati having a side event which helped share the impacts of climate change upon their island nation and their people. Tuvalu had an exhibition booth at COP 15 and pacific islands youth also featured strongly in sharing our voices as several delegations included young Pacific islanders as well as those that were part of the Project Survival Pacific.

In all, from December 7 - 18, the Pacific region came together to ensure the World heard how climate change is impacting upon this region in a strong effort to see a legally binding agreement true to the call of “1.5 to stay alive”.

Several months on after the Copenhagen COP15, we spoke to SPREP’s climate change adviser, Mr. Espen Ronneberg about the Copenhagen meeting and the direction from here onwards.

Q. How was COP 15 in Copenhagen?

[Espen Ronneberg] It was a meeting like all other conferences, it had its up and downs with many positive things for the Pacific but of course the outcome of the conference - only taking note of the Copenhagen Accord created some difficulties in the perception of countries of what actually happened in Copenhagen.

An analysis of the Copenhagen Accord shows that it did fall short of Pacific Islands expectations in a number of areas and we’re currently working on a paper to highlight some of those issues but be that as it may, a number of Pacific Islands countries have associated themselves with the Copenhagen Accord while others have rejected it, that means that we as the secretariat can only really provide the technical advice as to what the accord says and how it will operate.

There are a lot of unknowns unfortunately, in particular the aspect that it was only taken note of by the Conference of the Parties so that puts into question its legal status and whether the accord will be binding in any other way.

It also puts into question the issue of the new funding - how it will be disbursed, who will control the disbursal of the funding? And so forth. There were a number of unanswered questions within the text of the accord that we are now grappling with.

Q. The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme staged a high level briefing followed by a high level dinner during the Conference upon the request of the member countries at the Pacific Climate Change Roundtable in October 2009. What was this about and how successful was it?

[Espen Ronneberg] Our Members had asked us to prepare not only a briefing for the start of the conference, but also to provide a special briefing for the Heads of Delegation, many of whom were Presidents and Prime Ministers. The briefing was intended to recap on some of the key issues in the negotiations and to highlight the status of these issues at that time. We were asked to keep the briefing as non-technical and informative as possible, and this allowed for good interactive discussions with the Leaders. This is perhaps one indication of success, but reading the interventions of the Leaders in the meeting and in their press statements, it was clear that the Leaders had been well prepared for the conference by their delegations, perhaps aided in a small way by the SPREP briefing.

Q. So how legal is the Copenhagen Accord and if more and more countries associate themselves with the accord, will it grow in strength?

[Espen Ronneberg] I don’t think it will gain universal acceptance, we’ve seen a number of fairly strongly worded responses from countries both within our region and throughout the world so it’s unlikely that it will receive universal adherence. That being said even those countries within our region who have associated themselves with the accord have done so with a number of caveats and have all recognized the Copenhagen Accord to be a first step to a legally binding agreement. Hopefully that can be negotiated and completed at the next UNFCCC Conference of the Parties in Mexico, in December.

Q. The Alliance of Small Islands States (AOSIS) stood firm in their call for the 1.5 Degrees limit on global temperature rise. If countries within AOSIS, including the Pacific are now associating themselves with the accord, how will that impact upon the united call for 1.5?

[Espen Ronneberg] We haven’t had any political level meetings of the group that would overturn the common agreement on the 1.5 degrees and it must be said that the Copenhagen accord does have some leeway as to taking a stronger target that 2 degrees, but a possibility of realignment of the position would have to be taken at a political level. From a technical perspective we still feel that there is merit to the position that the Pacific Islands Countries took coming in to Copenhagen.

I think that is something that will be a political decision at the end of the day, that the countries will have to discuss internally and between them. SPREP will continue to provide the technical advice and from a scientific point of view the 1.5 degrees target does appear to be the safest window for the region but we will follow the lead of our member states.

Q. So, to date the island states of the Pacific region is still in support of the call for 1.5?

[Espen Ronneberg] We have some opportunities to discuss this with the Pacific, starting with a gathering in March to further consult with the climate change focal points from the Pacific Islands Countries. First of all there will be a number of adaptation workshops here in Samoa that will give us an opportunity to liaise with our climate change adaptation focal points to take stock of where we are on the adaptation negotiations and then later on in March there will be a meeting of the Australian Pacific climate change science programme which will also give us an opportunity to meet with all the climate change focal points and to discuss with them some next steps forward to do.

Q. You mentioned earlier that there were some good outcomes for the Pacific, what are some of these?

[Espen Ronneberg] Well I think from a public relations point of view there was a growing media awareness - a lot more information abut the impacts from the Pacific have been shared with a much wider audience. The presentation that Kiribati made from their side event was really compelling and was a real eye opener for a number of people who just don’t understand the realities of atolls countries facing climate change. So, from several perspectives I think that that Pacific did get their message out in the Copenhagen conference.

We haven’t as yet been able to get the world to act on those problems but I think we have to take this a step at a time so from the point of view of that the awareness of Pacific climate change problems - it was a really good effort by the Pacific Islands countries.

I also think that the having so many dedicated people from the Pacific working together with the other island countries enhanced the negotiating abilities of the region and put the pacific more in the drivers seat of many of the work streams under AOSIS. The groundwork has been laid by these skilled negotiators and can be used to build a stronger final agreement.

Q. So apart from the Copenhagen Accord, how did the negotiations progress and what are the next steps?

[Espen Ronneberg] The decision of Conference of the Parties collects together all the negotiated text as they stand now and forwards them to the next meeting so everything is still on the table. I think the work I was most involved with which was the adaptation group was really very close to getting agreement - the things that were still left unresolved mainly related to the work that was happening in other working groups for example, the working group on finance and the working group on capacity building. So once the resolution had been reached in all three groups we would have had a good outcome on adaptation but we never had that opportunity to bring together all the different text and to see where a compromise could lie.

Q. So, there is still a lot of work to do over the coming year to ensure a legally binding agreement is formed at the end of the year?

[Espen Ronneberg] We only have two official meetings scheduled this year - Germany in May-June and then the Mexico COP 16 meeting in December, but there will have to be other negotiating opportunities to see if there is some willingness to bridge the gaps and come up with a compromise that everyone is willing to do. There was a request from the FCCC Secretariat for views on the programme of work, and a final decision on this will be made in the next week by the COP Bureau. We are fortunate to have the Ambassador of the Solomon Islands, H.E. Mr. Collin Beck on the Bureau, so we expect to hear the outcomes very soon.

Q. How about work from SPREP? A lot was undertaken last year as part of the Pacific Year of Climate Change to help the region prepare for the Copenhagen COP 15, will this work continue?

[Espen Ronneberg] That is our intention, we achieved a lot last year and that was clear by the strong Pacific input at the COP 15. We will utilize the opportunities in March to get a better feeling for what the member countries would like us to provide in terms of support, but we would like to continue the negotiation skills training, more of the media training and some targeted work on specific work on areas in negotiations.

Photo Captions:

Photo 1 - David Sheppard, Helen Clark, and Espen Ronneberg addressing the High Level Event.

Photo 2 - Delegates from the Pacific at the SPREP & UNDP High Level Event.

Photo 3 - Tuvalu Prime Minister after the press conference.

Photo 4 - Members of the Pacific Islands delegation in Copenhagen.