NEWSROOM 06 April
2009

(Photos: Event Polynesia News)

NEW ZEALAND: Pacific health and Samoan culture come together
Source: Event Polynesia News Press Release
 

(Photos: Tauapai Laupola)

SAMOA: Private Fist Class Daniel Maga Graduates Basic Training
Source: Tauapai Laupola

Private Fist Class (PFC), Daniel Maga, Finance Specialist (44C), graduated from Basic Training at the US Army Basic Combat Training Center of Excellence, Ft Jackson, South Carolina, Friday, 27 March 2009.

PFC Maga completed the first 9 weeks of Basic Training, where he was taught soldiering skills, and will continue for the next seven weeks of Advanced Individual training with classroom instruction in accounting techniques that dealt with accounting principles and procedures, preparation and maintenance of financial reports and budgets, statistical analyses in order to help interpret financial data, computation of pay and deductions.

As a finance specialist, 44C, PFC Maga’s duties and responsibilities consist of computing payroll and other allowances, auditing accounting records, preparing payments for Army personnel, recording details of financial transactions on accounting forms, auditing financial records and disbursing cash, checks, advance pay and bonds.

Immediately after the graduation, Mrs Mele Hunkin, SFC Pele Hunkin-Tajalle and SSG Sivailoa Uso-Macon hosted a luncheon for PFC Maga, Reverend Mana'omia Tauanuu and those who attended the graduation.

PFC Maga is the son of Moana Salaia Ailua Maga of Fagaitua. He is a 2004 Fagaitua High School graduate and a pianist for the Fagaitua, Congregational Christian Church, AS. When asked of his thoughts, PFC Maga thanked the Lord for his blessings, sent his love for his spiritual parents, Reverend Johnny & Pinto Fano, his mother Moana S. A. Maga and his families in Samoa for their prayers and support.

He also extend his heartfelt appreciation to Reverend Mana’omia Tauanuu and MAJ Laupola of the Ekalesia Kerisiano Amerika Samoa Ft Bragg & Fayetteville for taking that long trip to attend his graduation as well as his sponsored families at Ft Jackson,SC, SFC Pele Hunkin-Tajalle and SSG Sivailoa Uso-Macon. In a telecon with PFC Maga’s mother, Moana Maga, she thanked Samoans at Ft Jackson, SC and Ft Bragg, NC for the love and support for her son and confirms her beliefs that there are Samoans in the military that look out for the interest of Samoan service members. Your outreach program has lifted a heavy burden since my son departed, “Thank-you for everything you are doing for the sons and daughters of Samoa.”

Photo Captions:

Photo 1 - Picture taken at a luncheon at SFC Hunkin-Tajalle’s residence after PFC Daniel Maga’s Basic Training graduation at Ft Jackson, South Carolina, 27 March 2009. PFC Maga hails from the village of Fagaitua and is a 2004 graduate of Fagaitua HS. Back Row L-R: SSG Siaosi, Mele Hunkin, PFC Daniel Maga, SSG Sivailoa Uso Macon, Reverend Mana’omia Tauanuu, MAJ Laupola; Front Row L-R: Misi Brown, SFC Pele Hunkin-Tajalle and daughter Victoria Pele Tajalle, SGT Gabriel Hunkin Faiivae.

Photo 2 - Picture taken at a luncheon at SFC Hunkin-Tajalle’s residence after PFC Daniel Maga’s Basic Training graduation at Ft Jackson, South Carolina, 27 March 2009. L-R: SSG Siaosi (Olosega), PFC Maga (Fagaitua) SFC Pele Hunkin-Tajalle (Nuuuli), SSG Sivailoa Uso-Macon (Vailoatai), MAJ Laupola (Afonotele).
 

(Photos: Australian High Commission)

AUSTRALIA: Australia and Samoa agree on WTO membership terms
Source: Source: Australian High Commission Press Release

Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean has welcomed the completion of bilateral market access negotiations between Australia and Samoa as part of Samoa’s bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Mr Crean signed the agreement with Samoa’s Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon Misa Telefoni, on 3 April 2009 during his official visit to Samoa.

Mr Crean is visiting Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Tonga and New Zealand to consult on a range of trade and development issues - particularly the prospective PACER Plus agreement.
The agreement with Samoa was developed in accordance with special WTO guidelines for the accession of Least Developed Countries.

The deal will provide security of market access for a range of Australia merchandise exports including meat and dairy products, grains, and some electrical equipment.
"The outcomes will improve trading conditions for Australian exporters and help provide a secure basis for expanding exports," Mr Crean said.

On services, Samoa has made a range of commitments, including educational services, financial services, and legal advisory services. A number of Australian companies are pursuing investment interests in Samoa’s banking sector.

In 2007, Australia was Samoa’s largest export destination and fourth largest source of imports. Total merchandise trade between Samoa and Australia in 2007-08 amounted to A$119 million.

Australian imports from Samoa in this period were A$91 million and Australian exports were valued at A$28 million. Key exports included electrical apparatus for switching electrical circuits, malt, milk and cream.

The agreement will take effect when Samoa joins the WTO.

Samoa is still negotiating the overall terms of its WTO membership.

Photo Captions:

Photo 1 - Joe Keil, Matt Anderson, Bob McMullan, Misa Telefoni and Simon Crean.

Photo 2 - Misa Telefoni and Simon Crean signing the WTO agreement.

Photo 3 - Bob McMullan with students from Senese and Faatuatua schools.

Photo 4 - Simon Crean with Matt Anderson at the APTC.
 

PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Pacific Islands Forum joint working group chair steps down
Source: Fiji Times

Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum joint working group Peter Eafeare has stepped down.

Mr Eafeare, who is also Papua New Guinea's High Commissioner to Fiji , withdraws less than a month away from the Forum's deadline that Fiji announce an election date by May 1.

When asked if Mr Eafeare's resignation would be a setback for the Joint Working Group, a Forum spokesman who did not want to be named said, "the Joint Working Group is still waiting on Fiji to sort itself out".

"I suggest you contact the Fiji Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ask them if they are ready for the Joint Working Group to resume."

Foreign Affairs permanent secretary Peceli Vocea said he had only started work on Thursday and was yet to be briefed.

Media director of the Prime Minister's department in PNG, Kora Nou said their Government felt Mr Eafeare had contributed to the working group.

"We were pleased with his work, which was always consistent with Sir Michael's views (keeping engaged with the Fiji interim Government and others) to find a way forward," Mr Nou said.

Mr Nou said Mr Eafeare's resignation had nothing to do with former PM Sir Rabbie Namaliu's withdrawal as chair of the President's Political Dialogue Forum.

"Sir Rabbie's case came months later and it really had nothing to do with PNG asking Eafeare to step down, he was told in January," he said. "Let's not connect the two issues here."
 

(Photos: Renewable Energy World)

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Solomon Islands Solar: a new microfinance concept takes root
Source: Renewable Energy World

Those most in need of new renewable technologies are often least able to raise the finance necessary to fund such development. Now, a new commodities exchange scheme is bringing renewables to the South Pacific using a novel rural payment method. Binu Parthan explains how the scheme works.

Cash, a precious resource in the Solomon Islands, runs through villagers’ hands as quickly as water from the archipelago’s beautiful lagoons. Saving money is virtually unheard of, bank accounts are unusual and borrowing is rare, certainly for individual families.

Under these circumstances, installing new solar power units - viewed as a luxury in even the richest countries - might seem a utopian and far-fetched venture. However, a team of renewable energy developers working for the Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) and funded by the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), have hatched an unusual scheme that enables these communities to access renewable energy, such as solar, without raising substantial sums of ready cash. The team has developed a unique new financing mechanism that has the potential to be applied across various rural communities, not only in the Solomon Islands.

If the islanders were not able to pay for solar lanterns with cash, reasoned the project developers, why not pay with crops? Bartering is quite commonplace in the region and crops are often exchanged for fish, for instance. Through simple lateral thinking, an innovative microfinance scheme has been invented in which crops are exchanged, not for food, but for another commodity - electricity.

‘The giving of crops is virtually the same as giving cash,’ states Paul Fairbairn, SOPAC’s Community Lifelines Programme manager. Indicating how this new formula dodges weaknesses inherent in previous experiments, Fairbairn adds: ‘Many other similar schemes have failed. For example, when funds were collected at a central point sometimes they were misappropriated.’

Renewable energy is already available on the islands with some micro hydro sources up and running. More is possible due to the abundance of hydro power resources. However, the use of decentralized solar power eliminates two or three hour walks to collect kerosene and allows more time for other, more productive work. Because the technology is installed where the energy is required, there are power distribution savings and more widespread potential.

Villagers make a small deposit on the cost of the system prior to the installation, which is a prerequisite to joining and eligibility for a solar LED lighting system.

To pay for the investment, the local people, most of whom are farmers, plant enough cassava, dalo, banana and other crops as is necessary to make the planned monthly repayments. They take the crops to a cash-for-crops exchange which arranges to repay the banks.

Ideally it is envisaged that the system is paid off within 24 months. Though recipients are encouraged to pay half or full costs upfront through discount incentives.

Purchasers who are not consistent with monthly repayments have their systems removed after two consecutive months (eight weekly payments) of non-repayment. This is in line with the credit sales agreement between the solar entrepreneurs and the purchaser, which evolved after extensive community consultations.

Integrating with local business

Introducing a foreign system into communities can be challenging, particularly if it is a completely new business. However, this project builds on the existing well-established solar power business of Willies Electrical and Solar Power. Many villagers are familiar with solar power and its advantages, even if they may not be able to afford it. As Melbourne, Australia-based Eva Oberender from REEEP’s Southeast Asia and Pacific Regional Secretariat observes, interweaving the new system with an existing enterprise is more likely to lead to success. ‘By encouraging an entrepreneur to add a renewable energy component to established businesses, this project has the ability to tap into an existing network of customers, making it easier to create the market for renewable energy and energy efficiency in this country,’ she says.

Fairbairn confirms the importance of this feature of the project, saying: ‘The solar entrepreneur has a good solid business going. Hence this is an opportunity to further expand an already successful business - there has been a lot of goodwill provided in supporting this project.’

However, integrating the system is not a straightforward process. While the communities may understand renewable energy benefits, they may not be accustomed to working with commercial business concepts, this stimulates the need to partner with local, ingrained companies which are recognized by the Solomon Islanders.

Oberender explains: ‘It can be difficult to infiltrate some very traditional communities and introduce them to private entrepreneurship.’ But to be successful, the project developers need to go one step further than liaising with local energy experts. ‘It is crucial that the project involves the local community from the very beginning. Besides obvious advantages of community consultations, Pacific communities function in a very traditional sense. Without the involvement and leadership of the villages’ chiefs, the project would not be as successful,’ she says.

While it is a simple idea, the cash-for-crops centre, the hub of this pilot project which affects 35 properties in three villages in the Solomon Islands, has not been tried elsewhere on a major scale. As Fairbairn explains, it has other practical advantages too: ‘The centre’s advantage also comes from the fact that the village producing the crops is also far from the solar sales point. Hence it is a little like using a middleman or a truck to carry goods to a market or auction point.’

As the project finished in January 2009, Fairbairn admitted that solar LED lighting in the islands was still very much at an embryonic stage. The success of the cash crops system needs to be proven across a wider range of inhabitants while the solar units themselves need to be reliable. ‘There is currently no guarantee in regard to the life of the various components - hence in setting up this pilot there also needs to be consideration given to the installer having a number of spare parts that will be available if the lanterns fail during the warranty period,’ he says.

Potential for other communities

The managers involved hope to see the concept expanded not just in the Solomons, but also elsewhere. For the Solomons, this may be more likely given the support of the island authorities during the first phase. The government requested the project for access to better lighting in rural and remote communities as part of its development objectives.

Pun intended, SOPAC believe the seeds for a successful microfinance model have been sown with the use of an existing enterprise in tandem with a less vulnerable payment system. They believe that, if the right combination of businesses are in place - with appropriate financial returns, a robust system with a good reputation, and affordability for the purpose of meeting the rural communities’ needs - then the project should be successful and replicable.

There is confidence that the project can be rolled out and the solar entrepreneur in the Solomon Islands intends to install at least 5000 systems within the next three years, states Fairbairn. But to encourage it to take root, local banks need to engage with the project, which in this example currently co-operates with ANZ Bank in the Solomon Islands.

That the project creates jobs is another bonus: local technicians are responsible for the installation of the systems while those who operate the micro energy service company at the heart of the project also receive monthly income for this work.

As Oberender remarks, ‘it can have an enormous impact.’ So much so, that plans have already been sketched for a new phase. ‘The success of the pilot showed that barter is a viable and most needed financial mechanism where access to cash is limited. Allowing for this innovative approach has the potential to impact many communities. Plans have already been sketched for a new phase,’ she says.
 

(Photos: Secretariat of the Pacific Community)

WORLDWIDE: Pacific whale watching guidelines now available
Source: Secretariat of the Pacific Community Press Release

Pacific guidelines for whale and dolphin watching have been launched on the eve of the first International Conference for Marine Mammal Protected Areas in Maui, Hawaii.

The Pacific Regional Guidelines for Whale and Dolphin Watching have been developed through a partnership of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and Operation Cetaces.

They will be presented to the country members of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) at the 2009 annual meeting for endorsement from the Pacific region.

The Guidelines aim to minimise the potential impacts of tourism activities on whales, dolphins and their environment. Their development was a priority action for SPREP under the 2008 - 2012 Whale and Dolphin Action Plan.

“These are guidelines targeted at assisting member countries and territories to develop their own national guidelines as well as conditions and regulations relevant and appropriate to their own situation. The best thing we can do is have the guidelines available so that as the industry grows, Governments can adopt what is relevant and appropriate to them to ensure a more responsible and sustainable environment for us all,” said Lui Bell, SPREP’s Marine Species Officer.

There is a growing potential for whale watching as a tourist attraction in the Pacific Islands region. A review of Pacific islands whale watch tourism in 2005 indicated a tenfold increase of tourists and Pacific islanders watching whales and dolphins in the region within a seven-year period from 1998.

The review also estimated that more than 110,700 visits were made to watch whales and dolphins compared to 1998, when 10,300 visits were made, with an estimated total expenditure (direct plus indirect expenditure) on whale watching tourism over USD 21 million for the region, up from USD 1.2 million in 1998.

"The Pacific Regional Guidelines for Whale and Dolphin recognise several successes. The availability of working tools to strengthen sustainable development of the whale and dolphin watching industry in the Pacific, both for the industry and for the marine animals involved."

"The guidelines also celebrate a successful working collaboration and partnership between those who combined efforts. This is a very significant document in the work of Marine Species and is testimony to the strength of partnerships and cooperation."

The Pacific Regional Guidelines for Whale and Dolphin Watching are available at:
http://www.ifaw.org/assets/Media_Center/Press_Releases/asset_upload_file92_53765.pdf

For more details please contact SPREP’s Marine Species Officer, Lui Bell:

Email: [email protected] Telephone: (685) 21 929 Fax: (685) 20231 Website: www.sprep.org