NEWSPAGE
21 December
2011

(Photo: Andrew Beck)

(Photos: Savali News)

SAMOA: BlueSky-Samoa aims for number one 
Source: Savali News

New telecommunications partnership Bluesky-Samoa is promising better service and an innovative product-line to its customers.

To celebrate the new merger, a cocktail dinner was held at the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum last Friday night - hosted by BlueSky Communications president and chief executive Mr Adolfo Montenegro.

“Today we had a meeting with our (local) staff,” said Mr Montenegro.

“I told them, I know you are tired of being number two, of being second rate, but I promise you, we will get there. We will be number one.

“It will not happen overnight..it will take time..but we will get there.

“There’s lots of opportunity in this partnership. We have a responsibility to our customers, our shareholders and to government.

“BlueSky is known for its high standard of customer service and innovation. We have an innovative product roll-out in the wings. We will introduce lots of new things.”

“Our challenge is to be number one.”

Mr Montengro thanked the shareholders for their patience, the customers for their patronage and government for its progressive vision in opening up the communications market to competition.

The new partnership will see BlueSky taking over 75 percent of SamoaTel and the remaining shares by the Unit Trust of Samoa (UTOs).

Associate Minister Tafua Maluelue Tafua of the Ministry of the Prime Minister and Cabinet delivered - an often humorous address - on behalf of government.

BlueSky - owned by eLandia International - is the biggest telecommunications service-provider in American Samoa.

Asked to comment on the new competition last Friday, Digicel general manager Pepe Christian Fruean said his company’s focus is “entirely on our customers.”

“But we too thank government in fully privatizing the telecommunications market.’

Photo: BlueSky Samoa management and staff show their new stripes at the Samoa Conference Center.
 

AUSTRALIA: Pacific and East Timor workers helping Australian farmers and tourism industry

Australian farmers will be able to employ workers from the Pacific Region and East Timor under a permanent Seasonal Worker Program announced by Minister for Employment, Workplace Relations, Financial Services and Superannuation, Bill Shorten MP, Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson AM MP, and Foreign Minister, Kevin Rudd.

The $21.7 million Seasonal Worker Program will begin on 1 July 2012 and builds on the
success of the Pacific Seasonal Worker Pilot Scheme.

“Australian employers in the horticulture sector unable to source enough local Australian workers will now be able to access a reliable, returning seasonal workforce,” Minister Shorten said.

“This valuable program contributes to economic development in participating countries, while offering Australian employers seasonal staffing help when needed.

“Employers will now have certainty at harvest time and seasonal workers will be able to
improve their skills and have a level of financial security.”

Foreign Minister Rudd said the decision to fund a permanent program provides a clear indication of Australia’s commitment to development and engagement with the Pacific region and East Timor.

“This program will provide valuable economic opportunities for workers from the Pacific region and East Timor and will make a real difference for them and their communities,” said Mr Rudd.

“Today’s announcement is an important signal to our regional neighbours East Timor, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu of Australia’s commitment to their economic development.”

Minister Ferguson said the Australian Government will also carry out a small-scale, three-year trial with accommodation providers in the tourism industry.

“The tourism industry currently has around 36,000 vacancies. Severe labour shortages are more pronounced in regional areas where the sector is competing for workers with the booming resources sector,” Minister Ferguson said.

“This three year trial will make a real difference for the tourism industry, both here in Australia and in the region as tourism is a primary source of employment and economic development.

“It is a win-win outcome that will allow Australian tourism operators to help meet labour requirements particularly in peak seasons, while also improving workforce skills through
education and training for workers from Pacific countries and East Timor, which in turn helps them to compete globally.

“The Seasonal Worker Program extends the wider program of engagement and cooperation
between Australia, the Pacific and East Timor to promote economic growth.”

Cotton and cane growers as well as fishing operators will also be included in the small
scale trial.

Australian employers will be required to demonstrate they have a commitment to employing Australian job seekers as a first priority, employ seasonal workers in accordance with Australian work standards, and contribute to their travel costs.

Approved employers will manage the recruitment and placement of seasonal workers with the businesses unable to find Australian labour.
 

NAURU: London arbitrator greenlights World’s first certified purse seine fishery
Source: Radio New Zealand International

The approval this week by an independent arbiter in London of a Pacific fisheries management program is being hailed as a world first.

The move will provide financial incentives for fishing nations to sustainably harvest tuna in the Pacific region.

The director of the Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority, Glen Joseph, says the certification of free-school catches of skipjack tuna by purse seiners is the first of its kind.

His comments follows London-based independent adjudicator Melanie Carter’s decision to reject objections by some tuna industry players to a plan that will allow a cartel of small island nations to enforce new standards controlling the lucrative purse seiner fishing industry in the Pacific.

Her decision sets in motion a plan developed by UK-based Intertek Marine Moody Limited for the skipjack tuna industry to meet global sustainability standards set by the Marine Stewardship Council.

The Council is an international organization that works with fisheries, seafood companies, scientists, conservation groups and the public to promote best practices in seafood.

Its certification program recognizes and rewards sustainable fishing.

The director of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement, Dr Transform Aqorau, says people want to know they are buying sustainably caught tuna and will pay a premium for it.

He says the PNA plans to market "free-school" catches of skipjack tuna at a premium price to European and American wholesalers and retailers.

The eight PNA members - Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Palau, Nauru, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Kiribati and Tuvalu - control waters where 68 percent of all Pacific skipjack tuna was caught last year.
 

(Photo: Matangi Tonga Online )

TONGA: Columbian-led drugs pipeline exploits weak Tonga
Source: Matangi Tonga Online
 
A Colombian-led crime syndicate is the second international crime group to have set up in Tonga during the past 18 months, in what the Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday, December 17, reported has been a trend for organized criminals to use nations with weak institutions and corruption.

An article headlined: "Tongan Speaker helped drug team, say police", illustrated the "Tongan Pipeline", showing how Colombian cocaine is smuggled into Australia and China via Tonga.

The Assistant Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police's anti-organised crime operations Kevin Zuccato told the Herald that, ''The fact that you see an organised crime group from Colombia and Peru actively engaged in places like Tonga and then moving that narcotics to Australia . . . . is just another example of how large and sophisticated these groups are.''

The Herald went on to reveal that an Australian Federal Police-led inquiry, Operation Stair, had uncovered a global trafficking operation that allegedly used yachts to sail cocaine from South America to Tonga, before allegedly smuggling the drugs onto container ships to be transported to Australia and China.

Columbian drug boss

Under Operation Stair, the Herald reported that late in 2010 the criminal syndicate allegedly bribed the then Speaker of the Tongan Legislative Assembly, Lord Tu'ilakepa, to sponsor a Colombian drug boss to come to Tonga.

The drug boss, Obeil Antonio Zuluaga Gomez wanted to direct an alleged operating hub from Tonga and to oversee cocaine shipments. Tapped phone calls revealed that the Colombian-led group sought the help of Lord Tu'ilakepa late last year to help Gomez get a visitor's visa.

In a letter to the head of Tonga's Immigration Department, Lord Tu'ilakepa allegedly wrote: "I, Lord Tu'ilakepa, Noble of the Realm and Speaker of he Legislative Assembly of Tonga would sponsor the visa of Obeil Antonio Zuluaga Gomez. I guarantee that I will be providing the necessary housing and financial support to this person (Gomez) and take full responsibility for him during the duration of his stay.

Tu'ilakepa's letter allegedly stated "I can also vouch that the aforementioned is an honest, trustworthy and law abiding person."

The Herald reported that Gomez had been previously imprisoned for drug trafficking.

Shipments

Operation Stair arrested and charged four people in Australia last year over an alleged conspiracy involving two alleged shipments, 190kg and 500kg of cocaine. Several members of the syndicate were also arrested in Tonga and in China, but no cocaine was recovered.

A number of police raids in Tonga, prompted by Operation Stair resulted in the Lord Tu'ilakepa being charged with drugs and weapons offences this year although, until now, Lord Tu'ilakepa's alleged role in the global conspiracy has remained a secret, but he remains a member of the Tongan Parliament.

Just last week Lord Tu'ilakepa appeared in court to face these charges, but the hearing was deferred to next year.

Business as usual

Representing Tonga last month, Lord Tu'ilakepa led a four-members delegation from the Tongan parliament to Israel on November 16. During the five days that Lord Tu'ilakepa and his delegation were in Israel they visited Jerusalem, and they also met Israeli President Shimon Peres.

The Tongan parliamentary delegation to Israel originally included the current Speaker of the House, Lord Lasike, but it was discovered after the delegation returned from Israel that Lord Lasike did not complete the trip that he supposedly started. The Clerk of the House Sione Tekiteiki confirmed yesterday, December 19 that the Speaker Lasike "was sick", and instead traveled to the USA to get married. The trip of the Tongan parliamentarians was jointly funded by the Tongan parliament and the Israeli Parliament.

Photo 1: Lord Tu'ilakepa, Nobles' Representative to the Tonga Legislative Assembly.

Photo 2: Lord Tu'ilakepa, Sione Taione, Israeli President Shimon Peres, Sangster Saulala, and Mo'ale Finau.

Photo 3: The Speaker, Lord Lasike did not go to Israel.
 

(Photo: www.hawaii.gov)

HAWAII: The Rain Follows The Forest 
Source: www.hawaii.gov
 
In an effort to save Hawai'i’s forests and protect our water sources, Governor Neil Abercrombie announced a comprehensive action plan titled, “The Rain Follows the Forests.”

“Hawai'i’s forests are in trouble - more than half of our forests have been overrun because they were victim to the most damaging invasive species,” said Governor Abercrombie.

“We must work to reverse the grave decline of the islands’ life-giving forests to sustain and enrich current and future generations.”

Currently, only 10 percent of the priority watershed forests are protected; a level of management that has taken 40 years to achieve. The Rain Follows the Forests, which is derived from a common Hawaiian saying (Hahai no ka ua i ka ululâ 'au) calls for necessary stewardship of natural resources.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) has made securing the future of our water supply a priority and created this action plan to meet the following goals:

* Remove or contain damaging invasive weeds that threaten priority areas; Invasive weeds degrade native forests; some invasive plants also consume more water than indigenous species. For example, a forest of alien strawberry guava trees can evaporate 27 percent more water than native 'ôhi'a forests.

*Monitor and control other forest threats including fires, predators, and plant diseases

*Restore and plant native species in priority areas and buffer areas

*Establish benchmarks and monitor success of the on-the-ground actions

*Educate residents and visitors about the cultural, economic, and environmental importance of conserving native forests

*Promote consistent and informed land use decision-making that protects watersheds

These goals aim to double the amount of protected watershed areas in 10 years. It will require approximately $11 million per year and would provide for over 150 new natural resource careers.

“I am committed to working with the Legislature on finding creative ways to fund this plan,” stated Governor Abercrombie. “Investing in the protection of fresh water sources must be the highest priority for Hawai'i’s public leaders and the Department of Land and Natural Resources."

The proposed state funding for the Plan will be leveraged by working with watershed partnerships, alliances that protect and restore our mauka forests across property boundaries. Meeting the goals of the Plan will be essential to the success of realizing the vision for sustainability provided by Governor Abercrombie’s “A New Day In Hawai'i” Comprehensive Plan.

Paul Conry, Administrator of the Division of Forestry and Wildlife, said, "Today, with a growing population, declining forests and water supplies, and climate change accelerating those declines, the need to adequately protect and expand our forests remains is even greater.”

DLNR Chairperson William Ailâ, Jr. added, “Protecting forests benefits more than our water supply. As a fisherman, I know that mauka and makai are connected. Without forests to hold the soil, heavy rains will cause erosion that pollutes our beaches, reefs, and fisheries. Everything is affected downstream.”

“Investing in our most precious natural resource makes economic sense for agriculture, environment and our future drinking source,” said Senator Donovan Dela Cruz, chairman of the Water Land and Housing Committee. “We need to be responsible and diligent in pursuing the protection of our finite water supply.”

Securing funding will also require partnerships from private, federal, and other sources.

“We must work together to ensure that we all benefit from healthy watershed forests, regardless of land ownership,” added Lisa Ferentinos, coordinator of the DOFAW Watershed Partnerships Program. “Managing mauka lands as partnerships mean threats are addressed more economically since we pool resources and expertise and reduce redundancy, while increasing the capacity and desire of landowners to protect their forests.”

Board of Land and Natural Resources member and senior scientist and cultural advisor for The Nature Conservancy of Hawai'i Sam ‘Ohu Gon III said, “Hawaiian traditions regard these mauka forests as sacred, and the plants and animals within them as our 'aumakua - our elders and ancestors. Damage and loss of these forests chips away at the foundation of our cultural identity.”

Forests also absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide, reducing Hawai'i’s greenhouse gas emissions. For this reason the Plan includes actions to increase Hawai'i’s ability to withstand hotter and drier trends in climate.

Studies have shown that since 1990, statewide winter rainfall has been 12 percent lower and continues to decline.

UH Mânoa Professor of Geography Tom Giambelluca noted, “Temperatures are steadily rising, while cloud cover lessens - meaning more water is evaporating. On the ground, this means lower stream flows and less ground water recharge. Forests are a major part of the water equation because they intercept water from the clouds and reduce direct runoff.”

According to James Roumasset, a professor of Economics at UH Mânoa who has conducted studies measuring the forests’ importance to Hawai'i’s economy, Hawai'i’s forests are huge economic assets.

“The Ko'olau mountain forests alone have been valued at up to $14 billion. Groundwater recharge is the primary factor; however the forests are also important for water quality, climate control, biodiversity, and cultural, aesthetic, recreational, and commercial values,” stated Roumasset.

Photo: Ko'olau mountain forests.