NEWSROOM 15 June
2009

(Photo: Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts)

NEW ZEALAND: From studio to gallery, artists demarcate their Pacific existence

(Photo: Samoa Government)

SAMOA: Parliamentary Updates
Source: Government Press Secretariat Press Release

Head of State travels to Tonga

His Highness the Head of State and her Highness the Masiofo are currently in Tonga to attend the funeral services for Baron Vaea.

The delegation left the country after receiving official confirmation from the Government of Tonga that Mr. Baron Vaea passed away at the end of last week. The former Prime Minister was laid to rest at Nukualofa on Saturday 13th June 2009, at 11:00am.

The Samoa delegation include Vaosa Epa (ACEO Ministry of the Prime Minister and Cabinet) and the official entourage Papalii Talamesi Fitisemanu.


Report on the Number of Right Hand Drive Vehicles

Cabinet has approved the report on the number of Right Hand Drive Vehicles imported into the country from February 2008 - May 2009.

As reported by the Customs Division, a total of 2345 RHD vehicles have been imported into Samoa since February 2008 - May 2009.
 

An increase in the number of RHD vehicles by 29 has been recorded for the month of May 2009 (214) when comparing to April 2009 (185).

Some families have received more than one vehicle and have put them into good use. One is for private use, the others have been used as taxis or are earmarked for farming purposes.


Samoan High Commissioner to take up post in Australia

Cabinet approved Friday 12th June 2009 for His Excellency Lemalu Tate Simi to leave the country in preparations for his new post as the High Commissioner for Samoa to Australia.

Lemalu will replace Leiataua Dr. Kilifoti Eteuati former Samoa High Commissioner to Australia. Dr. Kilifoti is appointed as the Samoa Ambassador to Japan and the first Samoan to hold this position.

Lemalu will be the Samoa High Commissioner for Australia for the next three years. He was the CEO for the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labour. Lemalu hails from Lefaga. His Samau title is of the village of Fagalii. He is married and has four children.
 

Report on the Pacific Forum Leader’s meeting with the Japanese Government

Cabinet has approved the report by the Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi on the PALM 5 that was held in Japan on the 22 - 23 May 2009 in Hokkaido, Japan.

According to the report, the Government of Japan has offered 50billion yen (US$500 million) for the Pacific Forum Islands for three years of the PALM 5 2009-2012, to assist them in developing different areas stated in the Pacific Plan. These areas include:

• Economic Growth
• Sustainable Development
• Good Governance
• Security
• People to people Exchanges

The Government of Japan also came into an Agreement with the Pacific Forum Leaders, for a collaborative movement in protecting the Environment. This movement which is called “Pacific Environment Community” aims to create ways to effectively minimize harmful effects on the Environment.

A meeting will be held in 2010 to review the outcome and plans for the Pacific Environment Community. Another meeting will be held earlier for putting together documents for the 2010 event.

Japan has put aside 6.8billion yen for the Pacific Forum Islands under the “Cool Earth Partnership” Program which was supported by Samoa last year (2008).
 

AUSTRALIA: Australia's Pacific Wings sourcing 737 from Nauru's Our Airline
Source: Flightglobal

Geoffrey Bowmaker, the former CEO of Nauruan carrier Our Airline is working to establish a new carrier in Australia called Pacific Wings using a wet-leased Boeing 737-300 from his former employer.

"We are looking closer to October to start flying and tickets will potentially go on sale in July," Bowmaker tells ATI.

He says Pacific Wings will be wet-leasing a 737-300 from Our Airline, the carrier where he was CEO up until about 12 months ago.

Pacific Wings' official company address is in Melbourne but the business will actually operate from Brisbane where Our Airline has its aircraft based, he adds.

The plan is to launch services from Brisbane to Noumea in New Caledonia and from cities in Australia to secondary cities in New Zealand, says Bowmaker.

He declines to name the routes but confirms Pacific Wings will launch on trans-Tasman routes that Air New Zealand has abandoned in recent years.

New Zealand ciries that, in recent years, have lost their last international air services include: Dunedin, Hamilton and Palmerston North.

"There is a lot of interest and discussions going on" with the relevant local governments in New Zealand, says Bowmaker.

When asked if Pacific Wings may later seek to get an air operator's certificate and dry-lease aircraft, Bowmaker says: "I wouldn't rule anything out but in this early stage" it is better to utilise resources that are already in place.

The Australian International Air Services Commission says in a statement today that Pacific Wings has applied for the traffic rights to New Caledonia and New Zealand.

Pacific Wing's application says the start-up is 100% Australian owned and that, besides Bowmaker, the other non-executive directors include Manish Sundarjee.

Bowmaker says Sundarjee is from Melbourne accounting and financial advisory firm Kidmans Partners.

He says Sundarjee has been a special advisor to the Nauru Government and "was also involved in the early days of Virgin Blue".

He has "good knowledge of aviation finance matters," he adds.

Pacific Wings has yet to appoint a CEO but is looking to appoint someone probably on "a corporate service contract basis", he says.

(Photo: Andrew Alphonse, The National)

PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Doctors doing wonders in Tari
Source: The National

The presence of international medical organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) or Doctors without Borders, at the Tari Hospital in Southern Highlands province is doing wonders for the local Hela population in terms of emergency surgeries.

“Some medical services especially emergency surgeries never performed before in Tari can now be done,” Tari Hospital chief executive officer Dr Bravy Koensong said.

Dr Koensong commended the MSF team for restoring vital medical services at the hospital.
He said patients were flooding into Tari from throughout the Hela region and the neighbouring Enga province for the services, something that has not been seen for a long time at Tari hospital.

MSF Tari project coordinator Harry MacNeil in an interview with The National yesterday said MSF was proud to serve the people of Tari, Hela and the neighbouring communities.

Mr MacNeil said since MSF came to be based in Tari mid last year, they had operated on patients only with emergency surgeries.

He said the MSF surgical team was always busy with about 10-15 major and minor surgeries, mostly from bullet wounds, knife wounds, drunken brawls and fractured bones.

Mr MacNeil said the MSF team provided free medical surgeries to anyone, who sought their assistance, irrespective of their ethnicity, colour, religion or culture.

He said since their establishment in Tari, the MSF team had conducted 90% of all emergency surgeries in the area and referred only three cases to Port Moresby General Hospital in the past six months.

He said most surgeries could be done in Tari except neuro- surgery and major heart operations.
Mr MacNeil said the MSF team had also developed a good working relationship with the hospital staff and management, and the Hela people were very appreciative of their presence and service.

“Our expatriate MSF officers always find it hard to leave the place and people when their term in Tari expires,” he said.

He said currently, they had a staff strength of 23 people with 11 directly employed by MSF.
Mr MacNeil said there was an expatriate surgeon and a nurse running the operating theatre.
They are supported by the other nurses in the hospital.

Today, an anesthesiologist surgeon joins the team.

Mr MacNeil said that, on Wednesday (June 10, 2009), the team welcomed their new project manager Claire Chenot from France.

Ms Chenot will be replacing Mr MacNeil, who came in last March for a three-month stint, to fill in the project coordinator’s position left vacant by Shannon Lee from Australia.

Another nurse will be joining the team next week.

Apart from providing surgical services, the MSF team has also provided a new 88kVA generator for the hospital recently, and another 22kVA generator on standby.

These two generators have been bought to counter the prolonged power blackouts experienced in the town which could affect the doctors’ work.

Mr MacNeil said MSF had also carried our major electrical repair work on the wards in the hospital.

Photo Caption: The Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders) team in Tari, Southern Highlands province is doing wonders for the local Hela population, carrying out emergency surgeries never before done in Tari. MSF logistician Myron Burkholder (third from left), from Virginia in the United States of America, donned traditional Huli attire along with other locals to welcome the MSF’s new Tari project coordinator, Claire Chenot (third from right), from France, at Tari airport on Wednesday.
 

(Photo: Solomon Star)

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Filipinos celebrate independence away from home
Source: Solomon Star

The Filipino community in Solomon Islands joins more than seven million overseas Filipino workers around the world to celebrate their 111th Independence with food, cultural dances and Queens and Princes show at Seeking Restaurant last Friday night.

The celebration started off with a flag raising ceremony around 8am in the morning at the Bulacan Office compound followed by parade before the main celebration at at Seeking Restaurant in the evening.

Among guests attending are government officials, business houses representatives and members of the diplomatic corps.

The national theme for the celebration is “Kagitingan at Kasipagan Tungo sa Tunay na Kalayan”. It reminds all Filipinos that freedom is not bestowed but is something they must together achieve.

President of Filipino Community in Honiara Leo Ramil said the Philippines, since gaining its Independence in 1898, had gone a long way to resolve and overcome its problems.

“Today the Philippines, as a nation is enjoying an economy set to take off next year based on forecast.

“As a country facing problems common to other developing countries, we continue to overcome these obstacles to become an attractive investment destination.

“Tourism arrivals are at an all-time high. Also, we can never underestimate the contribution of the more than seven millions overseas Filipino workers in the keeping the Philippine economy afloat with their income.

He said the positive outlook for 2009 is a result of the accumulation through the years of sound and consistent macro-economic policies.

Secretary of Foreign Affairs His Excellency Dr Alberto G. Romulo in a message to all Filiponos said indeed the birth of their nation was marked by the great sacrifice of Filipinos.

“Those who fought for our independence risked and placed everything they had-their fortunes, their families, and their lives on the altar of freedom.

“Fueled by their ardent vision of free and independent nation, propelled by their love of country and driven by faith in the Filipino people, our forebears proclaimed to the world the Pillipines, a nation born,” he said.

He said as the country successfully won the struggle for national independence more than a century ago, it must not be forgotten that it is only one of the many freedoms they continue to aspire in the modern times.

He said as the Philippines marches forward, the men and women of the Department of Foreign Affairs, guided by the three pillars of Philippines foreign policy-national security, economic diplomacy and assistance to national remain steady in advancing the interest of the Philippines and Filipinos in the world community.

The Philippines was declared Independent on June 12,1898 in Cavitee el Viejo led by General Emilio Aguinaldo from the colonial rule of Spain.

The Filipinos as part of celebrating their Independence also donate money to Solomon Island Red Cross and Selwyn College.

Photo Caption: Filipino beauty queens Katherine Buncab, Dynalyn Fizando and Julie Lacap.
 

WORLDWIDE: Workshop to help turn national youth policy into action

Source: Secretariat of the Pacific Community Press Release

Following requests from Pacific Island countries and territories to have their national youth policies reviewed, the Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s (SPC) Human Development Programme have organised a workshop on formulating national youth policies and action plans.

The four-day workshop, which began on Wednesday (10 June) and ends on Monday (15 June), is being held at the CYP Centre in Honiara, Solomon Islands. It aims to tackle the challenges associated with designing and reviewing a national youth policy. Step-by-step training in policy development is a core component of the workshop.

The need for national youth policies is highlighted in the Pacific Youth Strategy 2010, the regional framework for youth development. Most countries now have a national youth policy. However, few have developed an action plan for implementing it.

‘The workshop will help national youth officers work more closely with regional and international organisations to ensure that their youth policies are in line with international and regional mandates, while still addressing national youth priorities,’ says Rose Maebiru, SPC’s Human Development Adviser for Youth.

‘It focuses on the process of developing a youth policy, translating a national policy into an action plan and engaging stakeholders in coordinating and implementing youth programmes,’ Ms Maebiru says.

The workshop will also help participants understand the roles and responsibilities of youth ministry workers in implementing, coordinating, monitoring and evaluating national youth policy action plans.

After completing the workshop, youth ministry representatives will be expected to lead the review and development of their national youth policies and action plans and to develop partnerships with national, regional and international agencies to support these actions.

To assist them in this process, CYP and SPC, in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia-Pacific (UN ESCAP), are developing a policy toolkit based on the workshop that can be used by youth development workers to guide them in developing appropriate policies and action plans. The toolkit will also be helpful in ensuring that realistic national plans are developed.

Paul Peteru, CYP Programme Manager, says participants will be able to use the toolkit as a resource to conduct similar workshops in their home countries.

‘This will be a further output of the Honiara workshop and will enable youth and youth stakeholders alike to enhance their knowledge of policy development and implementation processes.’

‘Ideally, technical assistance provided to countries on national youth policy development and implementation plans should also be a capacity building exercise for local youth leaders, officers and other youth stakeholders,’ Mr Peteru says.

During the course of the Honiara workshop, facilitators will gauge the requirements of participating delegates for other technical assistance.

Workshop participants include youth ministry representatives from Marshall Islands, Cook Islands, Tuvalu, Samoa, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, Tonga, Solomon Islands and America Samoa.

For more information please contact Rose Maebiru, SPC Human Development Adviser for Youth, tel: +687 26 01 97 or e-mail [email protected]

or Tione Chinula, SPC Human Development Programme Advocacy and Communications Officer, tel: +687 26 01 57 or e-mail [email protected]