NEWSPAGE 30 April
2010

(Photos: Nelson Multicultural Council)

(Photo: Samoa Observer)

SAMOA: Samoa to play Silver Ferns
Source: Samoa Observer

Samoa Netball Association confirmed on Tuesday Samoa’s national team will play New Zealand’s Silver Ferns in a one-off test in New Zealand.

In a brief statement, Vice President Mata Tuatagaloa said, “The opportunity to play New Zealand at this stage before the Commonwealth Games is good for our preparation.

We are under no illusion as to the difficulty of the task that faces our players but it’s far better for us to play NZ now and know our baseline and progress in August as we prepare to face Australia on 4 October.

“As seen in many sports, it’s not what happens outside of major international competitions that matter, it’s the results at a World Cup or Olympics that counts. We are counting on the NZ match to give us some bearings for our strategy in our match against Australia.”

The match against NZ will take place at the Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua on Saturday 7 August 2010 at 4pm.

New Zealand is ranked second in the world behind Australia.

SAMOA 2010 INTERNATIONAL FIXTURES

THE PACIFIC SERIES AND WORLD CUP QUALIFIER: 3-5 June (Cook Islands)
Samoa netball squad: Monika Fuimaono, Malu Fasavalu, Frances Solia, Sepi Langi, Shirin Chang, Alyce Solaese, Grete Nuralli, Brooke Williams, Sanonu Robertson, Lee Edwards, Lesley Simone, Italia Tipelu. Management: Linda Vagana (coach), Rosemary Esera (manager)

SOUTH AFRICA SERIES: 23, 25 June (Apia)
Samoa netball squad: Monika Fuimaono, Malu Fasavalu, Frances Solia, Sepi Langi, Shirin Chang, Alyce Solaese, Grete Nuralli, Brooke Williams, Sanonu Robertson, Lee Edwards, Lesley Simone, Italia Tipelu, Sanita Too, Sose Tavae, Monique Vaai. Management: Linda Vagana (coach), Rosemary Esera (manager)

SILVER FERNS: 7 August (NZ)

COMMONWEALTH GAMES: 4-14 October (India).

Photo Caption: Vice President of the Samoa Netball Association, Mata Tuatagaloa.
 

(Photo: U.S. Helsinki Commission)

AMERICAN SAMOA: Faleomavaega highlights benefits of student aid reform
Source: Office of Congressman Faleomavaega Press Release

Congressman Faleomavaega announced yesterday that the recently passed H.R. 4872, the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010, included major student aid reform that will provide substantial benefits to college-bound students from American Samoa.

“I am pleased to share that, in addition to making significant changes to America’s health care system, this new law will make important investments in many federal student aid programs that directly affect our students. These investments will help more of our students pay for and succeed in college through affordable loan options and increased funding in grants and support services,” the Congressman stated.

Makes student loans more accessible

Beginning in July 2010, this new law will take the middle man out of student lending by switching all schools to the more efficient Direct Loan program, which lends money directly to students, instead of giving subsidies to banks. This change will result in $61 billion saved over the next 10 years, money that will be re-invested in students through the Direct Loan program, the Pell Grant, and other programs.

Increases the maximum Pell Grant and the number of grants available

Of the money saved, $36 billion will go to the federal Pell Grant program, which offers need-based educational grants that do not need to be repaid. The U.S. Department of Education reports that roughly $115 million in Pell Grant funding will be available to students from American Samoa over the next 10 years, reaching a little more than 26,000 students.

The maximum Pell Grant will rise to keep up with the costs of tuition and books, jumping to $5,550 in 2010 and $5,975 by 2017. It will also be linked to the Consumer Price Index to match future increases in costs.

Expands the income-based loan repayment program

To ensure that loan payments are not a burden, the law also includes a new system of loan repayment and loan forgiveness for federal student loans. Right now students can cap their loan payment at 15% of their discretionary income. Any balances left after 25 years of payments will be forgiven. After full implementation of the bill in 2014, new borrowers will have their federal student loan payments capped at 10% of their discretionary income with payments forgiven after 20 years.

Increases funding for college access, completion, and support

The law also increases funding to $750 million for College Access Challenge Grants, aimed at increasing the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in college. Of this total, there will be $7.5 million in available funding for American Samoa over the next 5 years.

College Access Challenge Grants are distributed through project proposals which are submitted to the U.S. Department of Education. Authorized projects are those that offer support services such as: providing college and career information to students and families; promoting financial literacy and debt management; assisting students in completing the Free Application for Federal Student Financial Aid (FAFSA); providing need-based grant aid; conducting professional development for college admissions counselors; and offering loan incentives for borrowers who are employed in a high-need geographical area or a high need profession.

Invests in universities and community colleges

To build capacity in support services, the government will also dedicate $2.55 billion to Minority-Serving Institutions, like those that enroll our students from American Samoa. These funds will help provide students with the assistance they need to stay in school and graduate. Each year, an institution must re-apply for eligibility to be considered for the following fiscal year.

Lastly, a new $2 billion national competitive grant program will help community colleges develop and improve educational or career training programs.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank President Obama and Speaker Pelosi for their dedicated leadership and for making sure our youth gain affordable access to higher education. As our economy recovers, it is important to be assured that our students and their families will have greater means to finance their education and that our colleges will be supported in their efforts to help our students thrive in their studies and future endeavors. That we can better provide this basic right to our young people is a victory for us all,” the Congressman stated.

“More importantly, I would also like to encourage all of our students in their pursuit of higher education and commend their parents, family members, educators, and mentors for their support and guidance along the way. The passage of this bill is a sure sign that America makes it a priority to offer opportunities for students of all socioeconomic backgrounds to accomplish their dreams. I encourage ours students to constantly seek out these opportunities and I am confident that the new law will help bring the dream of higher education closer to reality,” the Congressman concluded.

Photo Caption: Congressman Eni Faleomavaega.

FIJI: Pacific peace builders gather for induction workshop
Source: United Nations Development Programme Press Release

Representatives from governments, non government organizations, private sector and development partners will gather in Nadi for a ten-day induction workshop on peace building in the Pacific. The workshop starts on May 3 and will be attended by more than fifty participants from Bougainville, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Tonga.

The induction workshop will look at identifying the linkages between peace, conflict and development as well as ways to address the root causes of conflict in the Pacific. It will also discuss how gender and human rights can be addressed through peace building projects. The workshop is part of a peace building project supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pacific Centre. The project, Strengthening Capacities for Peace and Development in the Pacific aims to bring together regional organizations, government and civil society actors to share experiences, discuss the difficult issues and begin to strengthen leadership and capacities for Peace in the Pacific.

The design of the induction workshop was discussed at length at a two day meeting in February this year. Dennis Kuiai, the Chief Executive Officer of the Division of Peace, Reconciliation and Weapons Disposal in the Autonomous Bougainville Government, who was part of the earlier meeting, sees much value in attending the induction workshop.

“Bougainville needs to participate in this programme as we are struggling to balance peace building with development which is the way forward for sustainable peace, security and development. The programme is aimed at strengthening the conflict prevention infrastructure of the region by strengthening the key government and civil society organizations that will be accomplished by supporting conflict prevention initiatives by developing the capacity of the participating organizations in the area of peace and development,” said Mr. Kuiai.

The induction workshop will also lay the foundation for a community of peace practitioners in the Pacific which will share experiences from within the Pacific and beyond.

Coordinator of femLINKPacific, Sharon Bhagwan Rolls said being a member of the Pacific community of peace builders was a wonderful opportunity for her organization.

“This is an opportunity to enable more ideas and skills to be included in the pool of decision making within our organisation and networks, especially as, quite often, there are limited support mechanisms including financial resourcing in the peace and security sector. This is also extremely exciting for our organisation as it is investing in women,” said Ms Rolls.

The overall aim of the Strengthening Capacities for Peace and Development in the Pacific project is to strengthen the cadre of peace practitioners from the Pacific whose work and approach will hopefully be further strengthened through skills building, up-scaled policy interventions, the regional sharing of good practices and effective peace building mechanisms suited to the Pacific - and through improved access to resources and experts made available through a peace-net portal supported by the project. One of the key issues is not to duplicate work being done at the regional level or the national level, but rather to complement and add resources to current initiatives.
 

KIRIBATI: Kiribati launches tourism campaign
Source: Australian Associated Press via TVNZ

Kiribati? It's probably the least-known, and one of the least visited, Pacific islands nations.

Uniquely, its islands lie both sides of both the Equator and the International Date line.

And you say it in its original Gilbertese language, Kiri-bass.

Today, the former Gilbert Islands, which became independent Kiribati in 1979, has launched a campaign to attract more tourists than last year's 5,000 or so.

The target is at least 8,000 by 2014.

Recently, Kiribati's Director of Tourism Tarataake Teannaki and Australian adviser Danial (Danial) Rochford, working through Ausaid, paid Australia a promotional visit during which they went to the Brisbane Tinnie and Tackle Show spreading the word about the "fabulous fishing" in the islands - as well as surfing and cultural attractions.

They want you to enjoy experiencing an island lifestyle as it was around the Pacific before tour packages with luxury resorts with swimming pools hit many archipelagos further south.

Kiribati's best claim to fame came when its main island of Tarawa was one of the bloodiest battlegrounds between United States marines and Japanese troops in November 1943 during World War II.

After four explosive days the Americans prevailed, but at a loss of 1,677 Marine and Navy personnel and 2,286 wounded; Japanese dead totalled 4,713 with only a handful surviving to surrender.

Today, Tarawa is at peace but, large guns, other rusted relics and signs of battle remain as reminders of the violent past there and on neighbouring Betio, site of the Japanese headquarters, and on Butaritari and Abemama atolls.

Guided tours of the battle sites are available.

Apart from World War II buffs, Kiribati should appeal to anyone who'd simply like to get away from well-trodden tourist trails and explore some beautiful unspoiled islands.

"A visit to Kiribati is for those of adventurous spirit ... who are looking for a different side of the Pacific experience," says Kiribati Tourism.

"We're for travellers, not tourists.

"You won't see any fluffy towels and swim-up bars here, but if you're prepared to leave the comforts of home behind and go with it, you might get more than you bargained for on a visit to Kiribati."

Australians are made to feel at home: Kiribati's currency is the Australian dollar and English is widely spoken as well as Gilbertese.

The Gilberts of Britain's Gilbert and Ellice Island Protectorate were named for an English sea captain who sighted them in 1788.

When independence came, the Ellice Islands to the south became independent Tuvalu.

Today's I-Kiribati people continue to live off their land and sea resources, catching and eating fish, using coconut trees for furniture and canoes, their leaves for shelter and weaving and the nuts for food and drink.

Exports include copra, coconuts, seaweed, shark fins, small tropical fish and salt from a desalinisation plant.

A world-respected school for seamen turns out graduates now manning ships all over the world.

On the social scene, visitors to Kiribati should enjoy traditional and exuberant singing and dancing.

But they should be wary of the local coconut toddy, a potent liquid made from fermented coconut sap - a warning given from hazy memories of a personal experience a few years back.

Accommodation is available at hotels, guest-houses and fishing lodges - modestly-furnished but clean - and you may also home-stay in a traditional "biwa" open-sided cottage.

Australia's far-flung island neighbours are not flung much further than Kiribati.

The main island and capital, Tarawa is just above the equator and 4,834km north of Sydney - by comparison, Suva in Fiji is 3,215km northwest of Australia's largest city.

Around 90% of the 120,000 I-Kiribati live in and around Tarawa, a string of causeway-linked islets with a population density nearing that of Hong Kong.

Most of the others are in the eastern Line Group and just 40 in the southern Phoenix Group.

In Tarawa, the Parliament is on Bairiki islet, the most World War II relics on Betio islet and on the international airport on Bonriki.

In total, Kiribati comprises 33 coral atolls plus the phosphate island of Banaba with a total land area of 811 square kilometres.

Amazingly, its territory includes a 3.5 million square-kilometre area of the Pacific, on both sides of the Equator.

"Our country is 99.99977% ocean," says Kiribati Tourism - a percentage that could eventually increase with global warming on the flat-lying atolls, a major concern for the government.

Kiribati has a Christmas Island of its own Far East, but it bears no resemblance to the Australian territory of the same name in the Indian Ocean, now a temporary home for detained boat people smuggled from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.

This Christmas Island, named Kiritimati in Gilbertese, was named by Captain James Cook, who arrived there on Christmas Eve in 1777 during his third and last (and fatal) Pacific voyage.

At 640 square kilometres, Kiritimati is claimed to be the world's largest coral atoll in area - although you may get an argument about this from such islands as Niue northeast of Tonga, Lifou in New Caledonia, Rangiroa in French Polynesia, Ontong Java in the Solomons or Kwajalein in the Marshalls.

But there's no argument about the quality of its surfing waves and of its "world-class" saltwater fly-fishing, fighting bone-fish and game-fishing.

Bone-fish are best deep-fried, we were told, a process which makes the fish's brittle bones crumble and the meal extra-tasty.

For surfers, swells emanating from both sides of the Equator are consistently good year-round, with (so far) no crowding.

One magical 5km-long Kiritimati stretch has 24 breaks of which 16 are described as "user-friendly" with soft-sand bottoms, while the others are over rough coral and are recommended for experienced riders only.

There are also some great diving sites; beachgoers enjoy attractive sands and lagoons and bird-watchers can spot up to 35 species, among them the petrel, noddy, booby, frigatebird and a native reed-warbler with the delightful name of bokikokiko.

A visit to Kiritimati means you can also see London, Paris and Poland all in one day - all are names of villages on the islands, although Paris is now in ruins.

Geographically, Kiribati is also on both sides of the International Date Line, but in 1995 its leaders bent it so that all the nation's widely-dispersed citizens could share the same day.

Previously, people in Tarawa on GMT plus 12 hours, were 22 hours ahead of those in the Line Group some 3,200km to the east, across the Date Line and almost a whole day behind.

The bend in the Date Line in the area is not always recognised by map-makers.

The Line Group, including the fishermen's paradise of Kiritimati Island, is now on GMT plus 14 hours, two hours ahead of the rest of the country.

It's the furthest world forward time-zone, allowing its 6,000 people and visitors to be the first to greet the New Year at midnight each December 31, their clocks being two hours ahead of those in Fiji and New Zealand.

Another of the Line Group's eight atolls is Fanning (Tabuaeran in Gilbertese) where board-riders from around the world are gradually discovering what was previously a hidden treasure-trove for surfing.

Readers with long memories may recall that the Line Islands were the base for high-altitude nuclear tests in the late 1950s, first by the British and later by the Americans.

Some military men and islanders reportedly suffered radiation sickness at the time, but the islands have long been completely radiation-free.

Abemama is notable also for having been a tiny kingdom within the islands before they became a British protectorate in 1892.

King Binoka in those days ruled with an iron fist, refused to admit white men to his island and kept a harem of wives.

But in 1889 he allowed in Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, a tuberculosis sufferer who stayed on Abemama with his wife, stepson and Chinese cook for two months during his Pacific voyage while seeking a warm and friendly island on which to settle in his declining years.

The two became friends, and Stevenson wrote about Binoka in his book, In the South Seas.

(The author later made his home in western Samoa, where he died aged 44 in 1894.)

The other main islands in Kiribati are the Phoenix Group of eight, plus Banaba, otherwise known as Ocean Island, from which phosphate deposits were mined between 1900 and 1979 by both the British Phosphate Commission and by the Japanese occupation forces in World War II.

With about 90 per cent of Banaba's surface dug up and little phosphate remaining, the British in late 1946 transferred 713 Banabans and about 300 Gilbertese some 3,200km south to the Fiji island of Rabi as a new home.

In 2008, the Kiribati government declared 410,500 square kilometres around the Phoenix Group a marine protected area - the largest of its kind in the world.

The move was aimed at preserving the eight atolls and two submerged coral systems, also the abundant marine and bird life, while banning commercial fishing there.
 

(Photo: Associated Press)

WORLDWIDE: Forum Trade Ministers’ Meeting critical to Pacific economies
Source: Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Press Release

The meeting of Forum Trade Ministers’ underway in Pohnpei, in the Federated States of Micronesia is of critical importance to the economies of the Pacific region.

“This meeting provides Ministers with an opportunity to progress the PACER Plus negotiations by providing direction on the timing of future meetings and issues for further consideration,” said Tuiloma Neroni Slade, Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat at the opening of the meeting today.

PACER is the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations between the Forum Island Countries with Australia and New Zealand. PACER Plus is a further negotiation process towards a possible free trade agreement among Forum members.

“Remaining outstanding is the necessary issue of national consultations by Forum island countries. These consultations are an integral and vital part of preparations for PACER Plus negotiations. But we need to establish balance and find rational accommodation between national preparations and the progression of agreed regional endeavours. National consultations and the enhancement of capacities are ongoing never-ending and must remain ongoing activities. They cannot hinder and become or be seen as impediments to progress,” said Mr Slade

Secretary General Slade said the Pacific is currently experiencing an important transition phase as the region recovers from the global economic crisis, and makes effort towards increased involvement in global trade.

“Trade is a crucial component of regional economic integration. Forum Leaders have long recognized economic integration as a priority and has been one of the important standing items on our Leaders’ agenda,” said Mr Slade.

Secretary General Slade told the meeting the Chief Trade Adviser for PACER Plus has commenced work in Port Vila, Vanuatu, and earlier this month, PACER Plus Officials met to engage in detailed discussions on priority matters, in accordance with the Trade Ministers’ direction from the Special Meeting on PACER Plus in October 2009.

“Your further direction is now required to move ahead with the negotiations. Your further direction is also necessary to clarify key issues such as when negotiation meetings will take place, what outcomes are expected from these meetings, and what support is required to ensure Forum island countries’ full participation.”

PACER Plus issues will be high on the agenda of the two-day meeting. Other issues include trade-related activities undertaken by the Economic Government Programme at the Forum Secretariat, a strategy for the Pacific Investment and Trade Commissions to create more business opportunities for the private sector in Forum Island Countries assist the private sector in the region become more efficient so that they are able to compete in the global market. The Trade Ministers will also consider options to ensure the long-term funding and sustainability of the Forum WTO Office in Geneva.

The Vice-President of the Federated States of Micronesia, Hon. Alik L.Alik opened the two-day meeting. Hon. Alik is chairing the meeting.

Photo Caption: Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Tuiloma Neroni Slade.