NEWSROOM 20 May
2009

(Photo: Pacific Development and Conservation Trust)

NEW ZEALAND: Pacific Development and Conservation Trust turns 20

(Photos: Samoa Rugby Union)

SAMOA: New President for Samoa Rugby Union
Source: Samoa Rugby Union Press Release

In its Annual General Meeting held Tuesday, 12 May 09, the Samoa Rugby Union announced the election of Hon. Tuiloma Pule Lameko as its new President. Tuiloma takes over from Laauli Alan Grey who conveyed his unavailability for re-election. Held at the Aggie Grey’s conference room, the packed AGM meeting acknowledged the commitment and loyalty Laauli has rendered in the interest of rugby.

Tuiloma in a brief statement as he took over the Presidency said, “I would like to thank the Samoa Rugby Union and its members for electing me to this position. I will aim to use what means I have to help reinvigorate and strengthen rugby in Samoa in the coming years.”

Hon. Tuiloma added there’s a need for greater Provincial player representations in the national teams. “In New Zealand we see many players from the different unions in the All Blacks, their schoolboys and other age-groups. That can be the same here in Samoa and when that happens it’s a sign that the game is healthy and strong because it means the communities are involved at a greater level.

“However, community support can only go so far, what needs to happen is that Provincial Unions need resources and support from the mother union. Therefore, we at the SRU will be concentrating on marketing and promoting our brand of rugby to attract sponsors and commercial interest to help grow the game.

“It’s exciting times and strengthening rural area rugby is what I wish to see. The opportunity is there as our Manu Samoa team aims to qualify to the 2011 Rugby World Cup to raise our profile higher.”

The AGM unanimously re-elected its current Executive and Board Members to another term.


SRU EXECUTIVE COUNCIL: President, Hon. Tuiloma Pule Lameko; Vice President, Rev. Susuga Alesana; Chairman, Hon. Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi;

Vice Chairman, Fao Tauiliili Harry Schuster; Secretary, Fepulea’i Ameperosa Roma; Treasurer, Taimalie Ernest Betham.

OTHER AFFILIATED BODIES: President of the Samoa Schools Rugby Union: Rev. Logopati Mataafa; President of Samoa Referees Association, Tuala Karanita Enari; President of Samoa Women’s Rugby Union, Toleafoa Mara Coffin-Hunter

Honorary Solicitors: Patrick Fepulea’i; Semi Leung Wai
Honorary Auditors: Lesa ma Penn, Certified Public Accountants
 

AMERICAN SAMOA: Eni and US-DOL working together to help tuna cannery workers
Source: Office of Congressman Faleomavaega Press Release

Congressman Faleomavaega announced today that he is working closely with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to secure national emergency grant funds for purposes of assisting American Samoa’s tuna cannery workers. As a follow-up to last week’s discussions with the DOL, Faleomavaega met today with officials from the DOL’s Employment Training Administration and also wrote to Secretary Solis to thank her for her support.

For now, the DOL stands ready to help, but as Faleomavaega informed Governor Togiola last week in a letter dated May 7, 2009, ASG must make an official request for a national emergency grant. Based on ASG’s ability to meet specific guidelines, the funds may be used for job training, college tuition, and for other purposes including stipend allowances to provide basic necessities.

A full copy of Faleomavaega’s May 14 letter to Secretary Solis, which was copied to Senator Inouye, Governor Togiola, the Lieutenant Governor, the President and Senators, and the Speaker and Representatives is included below.

Dear Secretary Solis,

I am writing to thank you for your Department’s swift response to requests made by my office since last week on behalf of American Samoa’s tuna cannery workers. Your staff is working closely with my office to provide solutions for more than 2,100 workers who will be without jobs in September of this year due to Chicken of the Sea’s recent decision to close operations in the Territory, after fifty years, and relocate to Lyons, Georgia.

Given that more than 80% of American Samoa’s private sector economy is dependent either directly or indirectly on StarKist and Chicken of the Sea which employ more than 5,150 people, or 74 percent, of the workforce, and also considering that “a decrease in production or departure of one or both of the two canneries in American Samoa could devastate the local economy resulting in massive layoffs and insurmountable financial difficulties,” I want to personally commend your staff, including Senior Legislative Officer Mr. Adri Jayatatne, Mr. Greg Hitchcock of the Division of Worker Dislocation and Special Response, and Mr. Ralph DiBattista, Deputy Administrator of the Employment Training Administration (ETA), for meeting with me today to expedite my request for assistance.

As you know, I have also requested the support of Senator Daniel K. Inouye, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, who has also assigned his staff to work closely with my office and yours so that we can put a plan in place that will assist the American Samoa Government (ASG) in moving forward. Today’s meeting with your staff proved to be positive news as it is clear that discretionary national emergency funds are available from the DOL to help American Samoa’s tuna cannery workers based on ASG’s ability to meet specific guidelines.

Provided ASG meets the guidelines, your staff informed me that national emergency grants could be used to retrain our tuna cannery workers. In general terms, funds could be used to help our workers earn their GEDs, or to pay for their college tuition at the American Samoa Community College (ASCC) should they desire to study to be nurses, teachers, or pursue any other professional or vocational training of their choice. I was also pleased to learn that national emergency grant funds may be used to provide our workers with a stipend allowance for basic necessities like food, housing, etc. While these stipends will not replace their wages, the stipends will help dislocated workers feed their families for a limited amount of time until they can find a new job as a result of being retrained.

Since 87% of our affected workers are not from American Samoa, the DOL has informed my office that ASG must prove the legal status of our workers for them to obtain these benefits. I am confident that ASG, in cooperation with Chicken of the Sea, can make this information available to the DOL.

I have also been informed by the DOL that requests for a national emergency grant must be made by ASG given that the local government is the lead entity for the local business community. In a letter of May 7, I informed Governor Togiola that the DOL is on standby to assist him with the application process, and that I would send a letter of support prior to ASG’s submission of its application. To date, I have not heard from the Governor but, by way of this letter, I am offering my support and asking that you favorably respond to any application the Governor may put forward.

Because our tuna cannery workers are my first priority, I also want to thank your staff for offering to hold a conference call with my office and the office of the Governor for purposes of expediting the application process so that come September our workers are not left without resources or job training. My office is available any time for purposes of this call.

I have also contacted the House Ways and Means Committee with the intention of bringing American Samoa under the umbrella of the unemployment insurance program (UI) since ASG failed to establish a local trust fund for our workers. As you know, the federal unemployment insurance program is not a federal tax program but a federal trust fund. Under terms of the UI program, local governments send a portion of their local taxes to the federal government to hold in trust for local workers who may lose their jobs. Regrettably, ASG never sent the federal government a portion of the local taxes it has collected from Chicken of the Sea or StarKist or other local businesses. ASG also never held any taxes in trust at the local level.

Because ASG controls what is done with our local taxes and does not provide my office with an accounting, I was never informed that it had not properly provided a UI program for our workers. In fact, in April 2008, when the Governor went on his radio program and asked why ASG did not qualify for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), I issued a press release stating that the TAA hinges on the UI program, and it was at this time that it was discovered that ASG had not been sending a share of its local taxes to the UI program. What ASG was doing with its tax revenues, I do not know, as the Governor never responded to my request for information regarding whether or not it had established a local trust fund instead.

Faleomavaega concluded his letter by stating, “From ASG’s silence on the matter, I think we can now conclude that no local trust fund is in place for our workers. This is why your support of a national emergency grant is critical, and I thank you in advance for your efforts on behalf of the people of American Samoa.”
 

(Photo: Fiji Times)

FIJI: For others they serve
Source: Fiji Times

They may not have grown up in the area, but three Catholic nuns mean the world to a group of disabled children in their adopted home.

Though seas and miles away from home, the nuns of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, are both mother and father to 13 physically disabled children living in the hostel of the Lautoka Crippled School. The nuns are from Kiribati and Rabi.

The children are from within the Lautoka area. On any given Sunday, they can be seen happily attending mass with the nuns at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Lautoka.

For the nuns, it's part of their unpaid work to ensure the children know their creator. So escorting those children to church on Sunday is a must.

The three women Sister Koreti Terimoa and Sister Touna Tirinteiti from Kiribati and Sister Etera Toaia from Rabi share a passion for helping disabled children.

Sister Koreti said it was their calling.

The 42-year-old nun said she always dreamt of helping others while growing up on Maiana, Kiribati.

So when she was seconded to head the hostel in Lautoka, she didn't give it a second thought.

There were no problems blending into the environment since this is her third overseas mission.

The first one was in Australia where she worked for two years and later on in Sudan.

The Lautoka Hostel is home away from home for the three nuns as well as the 13 children.

Her congregation took over from the Marist Sisters who ran the hostel for years.

Sister Koreti said it was a blessing working with children.

She said the children's special needs meant that there would always be a lot required from whoever was caring for them.

It is something that is borne silently in the service of others. And not something to be highlighted. "We are their mother and father, we do everything any parents would do for their children," she said.

Sister Koreti said the most rewarding part of their sacrifice would be seeing those children live independently.

"We are encouraging them to chase their dreams, we want them to be good citizens in the future,' she said.

She said that most encouraging part of their calling was to see those children live happily.

Sister Koreti believes their calling is to relay God's love to the children which she said they were fulfiling.

Photo Caption: Some of the children at the Lautoka Crippled School hostel whom the three nuns look after.

(Photo: Arafura Games)

TAHITI: Athletes from French Polynesia win eight medals at Arafura Games 2009
Source: Arafura Games Press Release

Two French Polynesian athletes scored a cache of medals at the Arafura Games that finished Sunday (May 17, 2009) in Darwin.

Terani Faremiro won two gold medals and a silver medal while Oceane Lefranc won three silver medals.

Terani Faremiro defeated Australia’s Alisha Hewett to take gold in the Women’s High Jump Open with a height of 1.60m and she jumped 5.44m in Women Long Jump Open to take gold over Skye Hanson of Australia and Maria Marlina Weto of West Papua, Indonesia.

Elise Mercier received a silver medal for her 20.56m throw in the Women’s U18 Discus Throw.

For more information go to www.arafuragames.nt.gov.au
 

(Photo: Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme)

WORLDWIDE: Negotiating climate change

Source: Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme Press Release

Ensuring that the voice of Pacific Island countries is heard at the international level is critical for the success of the climate change negotiations. This was one of the many lessons stressed during a week of negotiation training and consultations at SPREP Headquarters in Apia, Samoa.

The world is now only six months away from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 15th Conference of the Parties (UNFCCC COP15) in Copenhagen, where a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol is slated for adoption. In preparation for the meeting, Pacific Island countries party to the UNFCCC received in-depth training in negotiations strategy and techniques.

Dr Ian Fry, a prominent climate change specialist and a negotiator for the Government of Tuvalu conducted sessions to help prepare participants for key issues that will be addressed at COP 15.

SPREP’s Climate Change Adviser Espen Ronneberg is pleased that this training has brought many new faces to the climate change negotiations table. He feels it will help strengthen the capacity of the Pacific at the negotiating table by providing additional trained negotiators that will have a strong understanding of the issues to be discussed.

“The training component provided valuable inputs in negotiation techniques, as well as expert knowledge on preparation for the very complex meeting arrangements at the international level. In addition, the Pacific has had an opportunity to also discuss the key issues that are still under negotiation, which will allow them to gather information back home to address concerns arising from those key issues,” Ronneberg said.

The training is an important component of activities planned during the 2009 Pacific Year of Climate Change. “Our Century’s Challenge, Our Pacific Response” is the theme of the year, which hopes to build momentum in the Pacific before December’s meeting of the COP in Copenhagen.

Ronneberg believes that strengthening the climate change negotiation skills of Pacific island country parties to the UNFCCC will also contribute to greater participation in climate related discussions at both the national, regional and international level.

In addition to the negotiations training, the Pacific held consultations with the European Commission on the implementation of the Pacific-EU climate change declaration in the Pacific Islands. This represents a new and additional financing opportunity for climate change work in the region, and could expedite action on the ground in the Pacific on responding to the adverse effects of climate change.

The training was held 11 - 15 May at the SPREP Compound in Apia.

Photo Caption: Negotiators attending training and consultations at SPREP Headquarters in Apia, Samoa.