NEWSPAGE 31 March
2010

(Photo: Te Puni Kōkiri)

(Photo: Expo 2010 Shanghai China)

SAMOA: Samoa gears up for Expo 2010 Shanghai China
Source: Samoa Tourism Authority Press Release

Samoa is pulling out all the stops for the upcoming Expo 2010 that will take place in Shanghai China from the 01st May to 31st October 2010. Samoa will take full advantage of this great opportunity to market Samoa to the rest of the world that is expected to participate. Samoa’s National Day at the Expo has been scheduled to take place on the 01st August 2010.

A VIP delegation from Samoa consisting of 15 members will be travelling to Shanghai specifically for this event. Samoa’s Shanghai Team will already be in place prior to the EXPO Opening for the 6 month period.

To ensure that the National Day is a day to be remembered, Samoa’s National Expo Committee is looking at using the maximum exposure presented by this event to showcase that which is authentically Samoan: tattooing, handicrafts & carvings, dances and singing, and its people.

Local Organizations, Associations and Private Businesses have put together products that have been and will continue to be shipped to Shanghai for Sale during the EXPO 2010. Some of these businesses include Wilex Company Ltd, CCK Ltd, Nonu Samoa Ltd, Soso’s Printing, Gardenia Hinano Boutique, Diva Designs and Things and Women in Business. Their products will be sold at the Pacific Retail Outlet during the EXPO 2010.
 

(Photo: Angel Ladao)

HAWAII: Pearl Harbor Shipyard awards robotics scholarship to Kauai student
Source: Honolulu Advertiser

Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard granted its FIRST robotics engineering scholarship to graduating Island School senior Jayson M. Manzano of Kalaheo, Kauai. Shipyard Commander Capt. Greg Thomas announced the recipient at the FIRST Regional Robotics competition at the University of Hawaii Manoa (UHM) March 27.

"My father introduced me to engineering at an early age," said Manzano. "I want to thank the Shipyard for allowing me to stay here in Hawaii to complete my degree in engineering."

The innovative scholarship pays for four years of tuition, fees and books at the UHM College of Engineering. It rewards Manzano for his extensive participation over the past two academic years in FIRST robotic competitions, overall scholastic achievement, interest in engineering, leadership skills, and sense of service and patriotism.

The scholarship gives Manzano the opportunity to earn a degree in engineering while working alongside engineers at the Shipyard. To enable him to apply his newly acquired skills to actual ship work, Manzano will be allowed to work part-time or full-time during the fall and spring semesters, and full-time during the summer break. Upon earning his degree, he will be offered an engineering position in the Shipyard.

Robotics competitions encourage students to pursue future careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The Shipyard, with nearly 600 nuclear, mechanical, civil and other engineers, is the largest employer of engineers in Hawaii. The Shipyard strongly promotes student interest in STEM through its robotics scholarship and employees' mentorship of youths in robotics programs at intermediate and high schools. Shipyard-mentored Campbell High School was on the winning alliance at the regional competition and qualified for the FIRST World Championships April 15-17 in Atlanta, Ga.

"We are proud to award our second robotics engineering scholarship to Jayson Manzano, a deserving student with impressive goals," said Capt. Thomas. "He will make an outstanding addition to our engineering force at the Shipyard."

Manzano, an honor student at Island School in Lihue, plans to become a mechanical engineer at the Shipyard. He is a member of the Kauai robotics team, which is made up of students from four high schools on the island. As a team member, he built and programmed robots, and competed in three contests. Manzano also tutored students in mathematics, science, English and Chinese.

"I had some real concerns about how expensive it would be to commute home to Kauai from the Mainland, and now I can stay here to attend the University of Hawaii and get home to Kauai more often," said Manzano.

Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard is the largest industrial employer in the state of Hawaii, with a combined civilian and military workforce of more than 4,700 and an annual operating budget of about $687 million. For more information about Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, visit the Shipyard's Web site at http://www.navsea.navy.mil/shipyards/pearl/default.aspx

Photo Caption:  Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard Commander Capt. Greg Thomas proudly stands beside 2010 FIRST Robotics Scholarship winner Jayson Manzano of Kalaheo and 2009 recipient Lauren Sandborn of Kaneohe.
 

NAURU: Nauru wants positive results from Cairns Compact
Source: Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Press Release

The Government of the Republic of Nauru wants “positive results out of the Cairns Compact Peer Review process.”

“Given the energy behind the Cairns Compact when Forum Leaders endorsed it last year and what we have been doing on Nauru in terms of developing our planning and aid management systems, we see this as an opportunity to take this energy and translate it into improvements to our planning and other connected processes,” Hon. Dr Kieren Keke, Nauru’s Minister for Finance and Planning said.

Dr Keke was one of the Nauru Government representatives that were consulted by the Cairns Compact Peer Review team that was in the country 22 - 26 March. The Team also consulted with non-government organizations and community groups in Nauru. It was the first Forum Island country (FIC) to volunteer to be peer reviewed under the Cairns Compact. Nauru chose the Cook Islands and Tonga and the United Nations Development Programme to do the peer review.

“We only started the processes of structured planning and aid coordination five years ago and so there is a lot that we can learn to improve on through the Cairns Compact process. The review of our National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS) 2005 - 2025 last year highlighted that we have a long way to go in turning the national strategy into sector plans and bringing in more stakeholders,” Dr Keke told the Peer Review team.

Dr Keke commended Nauru’s development partners for their assistance over the past years.

But he added: “We would like our aid donors to address what we consider to be our priority areas. We would want them to do this in a way that is suitable for us taking into consideration our current capacity to absorb such assistance and the processes we need to undergo to access this assistance. Some of these processes are time consuming and it is very easy for us to miss the boat.

“We value the assistance but it is difficult for small countries like Nauru to manage the requirements of the development partners especially when they are fixed on their systems and not being flexible to address the special needs that we have.”

Nauru’s Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr Keke urged the Peer Review team not to only make recommendations but to match them with inputs that will be needed to turn them into results.

The Peer Review team is scheduled to have a draft report for the consideration of the Nauru Government by the mid April before it is submitted to the Forum Leaders when they meet later this year. The Republic of Kiribati will be the next FIC to be peer reviewed under the Cairns Compact.
 

(Photo: Kingdom of Tonga)

TONGA: Charter agreement for ferry service for Tonga finalised
Source: Kingdom of Tonga Press Release via Pacific Scoop

The Prime Minister, Dr. the Hon Feleti Vaka’uta Sevele, today announced that the Governments of Tonga, New Zealand, and Australia have finalised the charter agreement for an interim ferry service in Tonga which will commence in April 2010, once the charter vessel, the Ajang Subuh, has arrived in Nuku’alofa from Malaysia.

The Hon Prime Minister said that following the Princess Ashika tragedy the governments of New Zealand and Australia undertook to help the Tongan Government find and fund an interim ferry service, in addition to providing other assistance.

The Prime Minister, Dr. the Hon Feleti Vaka’uta Sevele, said, “We are deeply grateful to the Governments of New Zealand and Australia for their dedication and commitment to assisting Tonga through this very difficult period. The interim ferry service will provide the essential transportation link between Nuku’alofa and the outer islands until the new Olovaha that is under construction in Japan arrives later in the year.”

Under the 12-months agreement New Zealand and Australia will jointly fund the ferry charter, each providing $2.5 million. The Government of Tonga will cover local costs such as fuel and vessel maintenance.

Tonga will also be responsible for on-shore management arrangements with on-going support from a New Zealand-funded project manager and maritime safety advisory support. At this stage, these on-shore management arrangements, and the cost of travel and transportation of cargo on the interim ferry service is still being finalised by Tonga’s Ministry of Public Enterprises.

The Ajang Subuh was built in 2008. It is a 41m standby / utility vessel classed with the American Bureau of Shipping that is suitable for passenger / cargo operations in Tongan waters.

The vessel has a passenger capacity of 50 and deck cargo capacity of 200 tonnes. The vessel has a top speed of 15.5 knots (28.7 kilometres per hour).

The Ajang Subuh was chosen to ensure that the vessel can enter and berth safely at all of the ports in Tonga without significant modifications to ports and wharves. It has undergone an independent survey in Malaysia by internationally-recognised surveyors, London Off-shore Consultants, which found it seaworthy and fit for purpose.

Photo Caption: Tongan Prime Minister, Dr. the Hon Feleti Vaka’uta Sevele.
 

(Photo: J. Kneubuhl)

WOLDWIDE: ASCC/Service Learning donates $2000 to Haiti relief
Source: American Samoa Community College Press Release

“The Bible says, ‘Love thy neighbor as you love yourself’,” wrote Leusoga Naiuli, a student in the English Language Institute (ELI) at the American Samoa Community College (ASCC), in an essay explaining why she supported the relief effort for the earthquake victims of Haiti. “Our students haven’t forgotten the outpour of support they received after the earthquake and tsunami caused so much damage. They saw this as a way of giving back,” explained ELI chairperson and ASCC Service Learning Coordinator Elisapeta Faalafi-Jones, who recently mailed a check for $2,000 in donations for Haiti to Samaritan’s Purse, a relief organization run by Franklin Graham, the son of the late evangelist Billy Graham.

ASCC administrators, faculty and students in a number of departments raised the donated funds for Haiti through various means as a Service Learning project. Contributing departments included ELI, Music, Business, Health Science, Science, Math, and Teacher Education, some of whom staffed a donation table on campus, while others held activities such as bake sales and the sale of leis. “Given their own recent experience with natural disasters, the students immediately showed an interest in putting together something to help the people of Haiti in their time of need,” said Faalafi-Jones, who had her own ELI students combine fundraising activities with assigned research into the history and culture of Haiti.

According to Faalafi-Jones, “Service Learning gives students the option to grow in awareness while also performing a worthwhile service in some way. In this project, they learned about ways to fundraise while also becoming more familiar with the country they want to help.” Given the widespread media coverage of the Haiti earthquake, Faalafi-Jones found her students highly sympathetic towards that nation’s plight. “The people of Haiti are suffering,” continued students Naiuli, “especially the children whose parents died in the earthquake. They need family, they need homes, they need supplies, they need everything. I’ll continue to pray for them.”

Faalafi-Jones chose to send the relief donation through Samaritan’s Purse, a 40 year old relief organization affiliated with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. For more information on Samaritan’s Purse and its activities in Haiti, visit their website at: www.samaritanspurse.org.

Photo Caption: Students from the English Language Institute (ELI) at ASCC display the banner used during the collection of donations for the people of Haiti. A check for $2,000 was recently sent from ASCC to the relief organization Samaritan's Purse to benefit the earthquake-ravaged nation.