NEWSPAGE 22 December
2010

(Photo: Public Energy)

(Photos: Australian High Commission)

SAMOA: Australian Defence Cooperation Program assists Police Maritime Wing
Source: Australian High Commission Press Release

Police Commissioner Lilomaiava Suemalo Fou Taioalo yesterday inspected the upgraded Samoa Police Maritime Wing building and thanked the Australian Defence Cooperation Program for giving it a $176,000 Tala facelift.

The much needed upgrade included repairs to roofing, replacement of external and internal walls, tiling, curtains, air-conditioning and handover of audio visual and computer equipment.

All work was completed by local contractors.

Royal Australian Navy Maritime Surveillance Adviser Lieutenant Commander Matt Richardson yesterday took the Commissioner and other senior officers on a tour of the new equipment and facilities.

The Police Commissioner thanked the Australian Defence Cooperation Program and the Australian Government for their continued support to the Police Maritime Wing.

Lieutenant Commander Richardson acknowledged the professionalism of the Maritime Wing personnel and the difficult and sometimes dangerous job of life at sea.

“The upgraded facilities will assist the Police in conducting their operations and training in a safe and comfortable environment,” he said.

“Australia looks forward to continuing to assist the Police Service and Nafanua in their very important role protecting local waters.”

Police Maritime Wing personnel, including Officer In Charge Inspector Tagaolo Iosefatu Wright and CO Nafanua Senior Sergeant Petone Mauga, also inspected the refurbished premises.

The Defence Cooperation Program is the primary means by which Australia’s Department of Defence engages with Pacific Islands Forum nations, and assists with funding and expert advice to help maintain and support Patrol Boats across the Pacific as well as developing professional leadership, infrastructure and equipment.

The Nafanua is Samoa’s Patrol Boat, donated by the Australian Government in 1988. It is used for search and rescue, for fisheries patrols and quarantine and customs.

Sixteen members of the Police Maritime Wing crew the Nafanua. Two Australian Navy personnel are permanently based in Apia to assist the Police Maritime Wing.

In November, the Samoa and Australian Governments coordinated the successful slipping of the Nafanua at Aleipata, jointly funded by the Defence Cooperation Program and by the Samoan Government.

The slipping of the Nafanua was the first conducted at Aleipata following its repair after being severely damaged in the September 2009 tsunami.
 

(Photo: Jeff Hayner)

AMERICAN SAMOA: Impress American Samoa Inc. bought out, no talk of closing down
Source: Samoa News

Impress American Samoa Inc., the locally based can-making plant and its international owner, the Dutch firm of Impress Cooperative has been acquired by a European company, Ardagh Glass Group under a deal announced earlier this month. Impress Samoa plant manager David Jackson said on Saturday that Impress has been purchased...

by the Ardagh Glass Group but no other details were available on the impact this acquisition will have on local operations, which has a workforce of a little over 100 people.

Jackson was at Fagaalu Park on Saturday along with employees of the company and their families for a Christmas celebration get together, where nine employees were recognized for their years of service.

In a Dec. 7 news release, the Luxembourg-based Ardagh Glass Group S.A. announced that it has completed the acquisition of Impress, a global metal packaging group for €1.7 billion (about 2.25 billion U.S. dollars) from private equity firm Doughty Hanson.

Both the European and US regulatory authorities have approved the deal to create an enlarged organization which will be known as Ardagh Group. The close of the acquisition has concurrently resulted in the refinancing of certain debts of the combined group, according to the joint news release.

“This is a transformational deal for Ardagh providing us with global reach and scale. The acquisition of Impress will enable Ardagh to become a major force in world packaging,” said Ardagh chairman Paul Coulson.

It was the summer of the year 2000 that Starkist Samoa’s can-making plant was sold off by H J Heinz, the cannery’s mother company, to the Dutch firm Impress Metal Packaging Holdings B V.

At the time, StarKist Samoa and StarKist Company were owned by Heinz.

Impress USA, Inc. was then formed in 2000 following the acquisition of the StarKist canning manufacturing assets, with the U.S. division headquarters in Carnegie, Pennsylvania,

Prior to the Ardagh group acquisition, Impress had 57 operating facilities in 22 countries including the canning plant in American Samoa, according to the Impress website.

With the acquisition completed, Ardagh group says it now operates 81 facilities in 24 countries employing about 14,000 people.

According to their website: www.ardagh.com, The Ardagh Glass Group is based in Dublin, Ireland. It is a European producer of glass packages for the food and drink industry.

Ardagh Glass is known globally for manufactured glass and is the packaging supplier for many of the world’s largest food and beverage brands. They produce in the region of 13 billion glass containers a year.


Christmas Party

In the spirit of the season, the employees of Impress Samoa held a Christmas party last Saturday morning at Fagaalu park, with employees and family members.

There were a total of nine employees who were recognized for their many years of employment. A DJ was on hand supplying the tunes as everyone danced to their hearts content.

Games were played, such as egg toss, despite the wet ground and rain, as there was plenty of food to keep everyone content.

The grand prize for the raffle drawing was a refrigerator.

Here is the list of employees who were recognized for their years of employment;

5 years:

Fue Liua, Iese Lama, Keti Aleni, Shawn Togia and Panama Togafau

15 years:

Rasela Leota and Alofa’ae Faiva

30 years:

Louis Ulberg and Iakopo Ioane

Employee of the year was Louis Ulberg, and “Plant Manager’s Impressive Employee of the year went to Iese Lama.

Jackson said during his greeting of employees at the party, “We are having a Christmas party for all of the employees and their families today, here at Fagaalu park. We will be having raffle drawings for prizes, and employee service awards, for 5 years, 15 years, and 30 years, and there will be contests and games for everyone. We had a pretty good turnout today, despite the rain, and as everyone knows by now, Impress has been purchased by ‘Ardagh Glass Group.’

Samoa News spoke to one of the Impress employees about the Ardagh Glass Group acquisition, who said that as far as he knows, the company has changed names, “but it’s business as usual” — there’s been no talk of layoffs or shutting down.

Photo Caption: Awards were announced for employees with 5 years, 15 years, and 30 years of service during the Impress Samoa Christmas party held last Saturday, at Fagaalu park. Louis Ulberg and Iakopo Ioane were given special recognition and awards for 30 of service. While the company has been acquired by the Ardagh Glass Group, it seems to be doing ‘business as usual’ in the territory, with no announcement of changes.
 

(Photo: Fiji Times)

FIJI: Kareem shares how to live to the fullest 
Source: Fiji Times

Kareem Buksh grew an year older than a century this year but old age does not constrain him.

Mr Buksh, also known as Matru, lives with his wife in Milgau settlement in Nasarawaqa, which is about 50 kilometres away from Labasa Town.

When he was a teenager, he helped his parents bring up his six brothers and sisters. He is a father to 12 children, some of who live abroad, in Suva and Labasa.

At the age of 101, he continues to work in small farm to maintain health and has also challenged to plough land and work in farm better than youths.

"You give me any job and I can still do it. Planting vegetables or even ploughing the land can also be done by me faster compared to a young man," he said.

Mr Buksh is a strong man who leaps onto his horse called Ranjit to attend mosque, go shopping to the nearby store or riding to his farm.

His motto in life is to live life to the fullest.

"There should be no regrets and enjoy life. I brought up my siblings, and I prepared everything for their wedding. Then I worked towards my children education and getting them married, and that time my only income was revenue generated from my farm and livestock,"he said.

"Doing anything that is work is always a challenge for me these days. Nothing comes easy ù we all know that to achieve things in life we have to sacrifice something but it is end result that counts.

"Struggles in life is a good thing because it teaches an individual a lot about life," he said.

Mr Buksh was identified to The Fiji Times by his grandson Mohammad Yaseem during his visit to Labasa, and he described his grandfather as a humble man.

Meanwhile, would like to advise children to respect their parents.

"Be a good person, be honest and respect your parents because they are the priceless treasure anyone can own," he said.

Photo Caption: Kareem Buksh.
 

(Photo: 4pr)

NIUE: Former Miss South Pacific joins Niue Tourism Office
Source: 4pr Press Release

Niuean national and former Miss South Pacific, Vanessa Marsh, has been appointed as the new Tourism Development Coordinator for Niue Tourism.

Not just a beauty, Vanessa is passionate about the growth of Niue tourism as well as preservation of the island and has dedicated much of her time to working, studying and volunteering towards these causes.

“Niue is my home, this is where my cultural identity stems from so I have a vested interest and responsibility in ensuring there is a balance between sustainable development of Niue’s future and maintaining Niue’s cultural heritage and identity” says Vanessa.

Vanessa’s previous role was Executive Assistant for the Premier of Niue Hon Mr. Toke Talagi. Vanessa also has a myriad of experience working for various organisations on Niue Island including the Department of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries and as a tour guide for Kapitigi Tours.

She has been actively involved with Niue Tourism for a number of years and volunteers for a marine mammal conservation organisation, a climate change awareness group and for the Niue Island Fishermen’s Association.

Senior Tourism Development Manager Hayden Porter says “Vanessa brings enthusiasm, energy and intelligence to this vital role. She is going to be a great asset to the Tourism office”.

Niue Island features crystal clear sea water and an abundance of marine life making it one of the best places in the world for marine activities including fishing and diving. It is also one of the only places in the world where you can swim with the whales which are regular visitors to the island during the humpback whale migratory season. Growing up with these features gave Vanessa a passion and knowledge of the sea which she brings to her new role with Niue Tourism.

Vanessa achieved a Bachelor of Arts with a Double Major in Tourism Management and Marine Studies from the University of the South Pacific in Fiji and is currently undertaking a Postgraduate Diploma in Climate Change at the University’s extension centre in Niue.

Vanessa was recently in New Zealand with Niue’s Senior Tourism Development Manager Hayden Porter meeting with the travel industry and the New Zealand based team who are entrusted with the tourism future for this tiny island nation.

“Vanessa is critical to the tourism offices success with the vast amount of development projects we have on the go from construction to marketing and web development’ says Porter.

Porter also stressed the importance of having a talented Niuean involved in the change process to they can continue after he has gone.

Vanessa will officially commence her role with Niue Tourism in early January.

Photo Caption: Newly appointed Tourism Development Coordinator for Niue Tourism, Vanessa Marsh.
 

(Photo: European Commission)

WORLDWIDE: Joint Pacific-EU initiative on climate change
Source: Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Press Release

The Pacific Islands Forum and European Union last week launched the “Joint Pacific-EU Initiative on Climate Change”.

The Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum, Tuiloma Neroni Slade, during his visit to the European Union in Strasbourg, France (13-17 December 2010), met with European Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs, on 15 December 2010 and through signature of a Memorandum of Understanding, launched the joint initiative.

The launch took place with the support and presence of Pacific Ambassadors, including the Ambassador of Vanuatu representing the Forum Chair, and Members of the European Parliament.

In welcoming the joint initiative, the Secretary General noted that Forum Leaders had proclaimed climate change as the “great challenge of our time”.

Mr Slade welcomed this cooperation with the European Union and its member states as a practical and effective way forward to respond to the dangers of climate change and to the concerns of our Pacific communities.

He also acknowledged the initiative as a further major step in the partnership between Europe and Pacific; a partnership forged by long history of shared values and commitments and vested in the mutual benefits enjoyed by both parties.

The joint initiative also recognises ongoing work on climate change being carried out by Forum member countries and by relevant regional organisations. It seeks broader support by building on the Pacific’s key international partnerships.

During his meetings and consultations in Brussels, the Secretary General met with Pacific Ambassadors and their representatives, key European Union officials and senior representatives of EU member states.

The Secretary General met with senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials and the Secretary General of the Commonwealth in London on 17 December 2010 prior to his return to the Pacific.

Photo Caption: Tuiloma Neroni Slade (left), Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum and Andris Piebalgs, Member of the European Commission in charge of Development, at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding launching the "Joint Pacific-EU Initiative on Climate Change".