NEWSROOM 06 July
2009

(Photos: Opeloge Apulu Ah Sam)

NEW ZEALAND: Ben Makisi to star in Opeloge Ah Sam's latest production

(Photos: Electric Power Corporation)

SAMOA: Cash Power vending services back to normal
Source: Electric Power Corporation Press Release

As of Thursday (July 02, 2009) all cash power vending services resumed as normal, at all of the Electric Power Corporation outlets at Fugalei, Tamaligi, Vaitele and Salelologa following a break down of the Cash Power System early Wednesday morning.

“Due to a computer memory problem of our main server, our Cash Power Vending System ceased to function” said General Manager, Muaausa Joseph Walter.
 

By Wednesday evening, the problem was rectified.

“To ensure that such problem would not occur again and to cater for the increased number of cash power consumers, we are finalizing purchasing of a higher specification server, that has enough capacity to handle the voluminous cash power transactions” he said.

He said that the Corporation is also developing an off-line computer system to provide further back-up, to be used in the interim, when the main server encounters problems. This means that customers can still purchase cash power vouchers at all outlets, even if the main server is down.

“Another option we are developing is using Prepaid scratch cards that can be purchased from local outlets, including the rural areas. This option will improve customer access and convenience, when buying electricity. The Corporation is also exploring the use of ANZ’s Phone and Internet banking services to improve accessibility to purchasing power”.

The Corporation wishes to thank our cash power customers and the public, for their support and patience during this difficult time.

Photo Captions: Electric Power Corporation General Manager, Muaausa Joseph Walter.
 

(Photo: Q. Failauga)

AMERICAN SAMOA: ASCC Institutional Planning Committee presents progress report
Source: American Samoa Community College Press Release

The Institutional Planning Committee (IPC) at the American Samoa Community College (ASCC) reached another milestone in its mission of applying the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) model of Integrated Planning to the College when it presented its first progress report to the Board of Higher Education (BHE) last week. As reported recently in the local media, since the beginning of summer the IPC has made accelerated progress on fulfilling the recommendations made this past September by a visiting team representing the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC), a division of WASC, including the recommendation that ASCC show evidence of Integrated Planning.

“As we near the point in our work where the role of the Board in the Integrated Planning process comes into play, we wanted to bring them up to speed on our progress thus far, as well as set the stage for their own participation,” said ASCC President Dr. Seth Galea’i.

Prior to the IPC presentation, Dr. Galea’i gave an introduction to place in perspective the role of the BHE in Integrated Planning, based on the terms and concepts in the report submitted by the ACCJC/WASC team who visited the College this past October. Dr. Galea’i prefaced his introduction by recalling some statistics shared by Dr. Barbara Beno, President of the ACCJC, during a meeting this past April. According to Dr. Beno, of the 22 colleges on sanction under the ACCJC/WASC umbrella, as of January 2009, the top three areas of deficiency are Program Review; planning using assessment; and board roles and responsibilities. With rapid progress being made by ASCC in the first two areas of concern, Dr. Galea’i defined the purpose of the presentation as “to collaboratively develop and define Board roles and responsibilities consistent with US accreditation standards” to enable the BHE to “positively contribute to the established, ongoing process for institution wide, broad based integrated strategic planning.”

Dr. Galea’i went on to discuss the role of the President as defined by the ACCJC/WASC, as well as the concept of “shared governance”. As Dr. Galea’i explained, “Shared governance is embedded in the language used in Recommendation 1 from ACCJC/WASC. This recommendation sets the foundation from which most of the others are presented.” ACCJC/WASC Recommendation 1 states, “That the college redefine its planning model to include greater broad based participation by designing a group of college constituents to oversee planning activities and to promote broader participation, provide more coordination, ensure greater integration of functional plans, and establish a clearer link to resource allocation.” The ASCC President discussed how ACCJC/WASC defines a board’s role in strategic planning, citing the main goals of staying focused on strategic priorities; crafting a vision to guide strategic thinking through shared governance; facilitating strategic decision making through established key performance indicators; and using board meetings to monitor the progress of the institution’s strategic agenda.

Dr. Galea’i next turned the floor over to the core members of the IPC, who presented the BHE with a summary of their progress so far in formulating institutional plans for ASCC based on ACCJC/WASC guidelines. The IPC first reviewed all 10 of the ACCJC/WASC recommendations, and then discussed their multi-phase approach to the Integrated Planning process. The IPC has identified its four Strategic Areas of Focus as 1) Academic Excellence; 2) Technology; 3) Staffing; and 4) Physical Facilities and Maintenance. Subcommittees for each area continue to meet daily to work on strategic objectives, performance indicators and activities, budget drafts, and a draft of the plans.

Rosevonne Pato, Director of the ASCC Office of Institutional Effectiveness and also chair of the IPC, described the response of the BHE to the presentation as “very positive,” and said, “It gave them a clearer understanding of what has taken place in terms of planning over the past month.” At present, she explained, the IPC is finalizing subcommittee drafts of the plans in the four strategic areas, in preparation for submitting the plans for budget review. The next step in the process will involve a Community Review, followed by further review by the President and BHE, who will work together on the final form the plans take. “Once the community, the President and the BHE have had the opportunity for input, these plans will determine the direction ASCC for the next three years,” explained Pato. “Moreover, we’ve carried out the entire process following the ACCJC/WASC guidelines to the letter.”

For future Institutional Planning activities, ASCC has chosen to follow a three-year cycle of evaluation, planning, and implementation. Following this initial effort to meet ACCJC/WASC guidelines, in which the College intends to complete the entire process within a timeframe of approximately nine months, Institutional Planning will continue on a less accelerated but nonetheless continuous basis. “Institutional planning does not stop,” said Pato. “Completing planning drafts for the four strategic areas, which will happen shortly, will indicate that we’ve turned a major corner in the process. However, once these plans get implemented and evaluated, the cycle will start all over again.”

Photo Caption: Members of the Board of Higher Education (foreground) met with the ASCC Institutional Planning Committee last week to hear a presentation on the progress made by the committee in formulating the College's plans for the next few years in accordance with ACCJC/WASC guidelines.

(Photo: Ewan Smith)

COOK ISLANDS: Air Rarotonga connects Northern Cook Islands

Source: Travel Agent Central

Air Rarotonga will be adding Penrhyn, Manihiki and Pukapuka in the northern Cook Islands to their routine flights starting in December and January.

The airline is going to connect with the atoll islands through Apia, which will give travelers easy access to communities in Australia and New Zealand.

Adding the new flights will make traveling easier for the islanders since the airline currently services the islands from the Cook’s capital, Rarotonga, which is 1,400 kilometers away.

Although the airline expects mostly former residents of the islands to be filling the 15-passenger plane, it is hoping for some tourist interest.

"We do get constant interest from overseas visitors wanting to visit the North however the cost and distance from Rarotonga is prohibitive for many, although dedicated island collectors make it up there," Airline head Ewan Smith said, according to Stuff.co.nz. Smith told Stuff.co.nz that Air Rarotonga hopes to develop adventure tourism into the Northern Group from Samoa on a fairly regular basis.

"It's unlikely to ever support large numbers and no-one will make a fortune, however its a potential niche market for travelers wanting to experience life on remote Pacific atolls without the travel being to arduous,” Smith said.

Air Rarotonga, established in 1978, is based in Rarotonga Cook Islands and operates flights among the islands. Passenger, cargo and charter services operate between nine island destinations.

With the airline growing from having a five-passenger to a 34-passenger plane, Air Rarotonga is adding new destinations to help attract more travelers. Along with new destinations, the airline offers scenic flights over the island of Rarotonga that operate daily as well tours to the outlying islands including the Aitutaki Day Tour, Aitutaki und Atiu Combo and the Northern Atolls Adventure.

Photo Caption: Aitutaki from the air.

(Photo: Fiji Times)

VANUATU: New strategic focus for audio commission
Source: Fiji Times

The Fiji Audio Visual Commission aims to become the audio visual hub of the Pacific.

In her speech at the 2009 tfl Kula Film Awards, FAVC chairperson Sharon Smith-Johns said they have developed a new strategic focus for the commission since their appointment to the board earlier in the year and were very optimistic about improving the event. "We were acutely aware of the outstanding achievements already reached by the commission in establishing this new industry. Our role is to move the industry to another level," she said.

"Our vision and mission is for Fiji to be the audio visual hub of the Pacific. One thing is clear and that is the enormous potential the audio visual industry can offer Fiji locally and internationally. We need to build a solid foundation of the industry on which a vibrant infrastructure can grow and thrive."

The dance competition, which has been expanded to include the Fijian Bulawood and the English Hollywood, began on Friday night where St Vincent College in Tailevu scooped two major awards.

for the night - the most entertaining and most popular dance group as well as the best dancer in the Bollywood category which was given to Vilimoni Tukana.

College teacher Aisea Rinakama said they have been talking to one of the judges and the feedback was positive given that we maintain our performance.

The other best dancers in the Hollywood and Bulawood categories were Xavier College and Sila Central High School respectively.

The overall winner of the dance competition for each category and the winner of the Kula Film Awards were yet to be announced when this edition went to press last night.

FAVC marketing and public relations officer Florence Swamy said in organizing the event the Commission was very mindful of the suppressed talent in our youth in the areas of dance and music.

Ms Swamy said the idea was to encourage school leavers from the 15 participating schools to further develop their natural gift of talents into possible career options.

"We have found this to be an important platform to unleash these young talents in a live five-minute dance sequence based on popular English, Fijian and Hindi songs," she said.

Ms Swamy said FAVC was very pleased with the quality of the entries received this year for the Kula Film Awards.

"This reflected the awareness that youths had of the issues affecting them. The films were an outlet for them to voice their opinions on some very topical issues and the manner in which these views were articulated and presented through the short films showed the ability of our youths to channel their views through creative media.

Ms Swamy said this would augur well for the future development of the film industry in Fiji, as it still is, to a large extent, dependant on the availability of creative talents locally.

The main Award is the 2009 TFL Kula Best Film.

Other categories in which prizes will be awarded are the Best Actor, the Best Actress, the Best Director, Best Script, Best Original Music and the TFL Most Popular Film.

This year Air Pacific is sponsoring the Best Director, Best Script and Best Original Music categories and will be providing a round trip tickets to the winners to their destinations in Australia and New Zealand.

Photo Caption: Performers take stage at the Kula Film Awards.

WORLDWIDE: Global economy impact high on agenda for Pacific health leaders

Source: WHO/SPC Joint Press Release

The impact on nutrition and the health of reduced household incomes in the global economic downturn is among the important issues to be tackled by Pacific Island health ministers at a meeting in Madang, Papua New Guinea, from 7 to 9 July.

The eighth biennial Meeting of Ministers of Health for Pacific Island Countries aims to develop strategic plans of action to control and prevent escalating diseases in the region and is in line with continuing efforts to improve people's health in island nations.

The issues to be tackled include:
* food security
* aid effectiveness
* climate change
* health systems strengthening and primary health care
* maternal and child and adolescent health
* access to essential medicines
* control of noncommunicable diseases
* the Asia Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases, including preparedness and response to the current Pandemic H1N1 2009
* human resources for health
* HIV/AIDS

The meeting will be attended by Dr Shin Young-soo, the World Health Organization's Regional Director for the Western Pacific and Mr William (Bill) Parr, Director of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s (SPC) Social Resources Division.

The meeting, jointly organized by WHO and SPC, is a follow-up to seven other meetings held in various island countries to strengthen action and collaboration among the 21 nations.

The first ministerial conference on health for the Pacific Island countries was held in Yanuca, Fiji, in March 1995 in response to the rapidly changing social and economic situation affecting the quality of life and health in Pacific Island countries. This meeting adopted the Yanuca Declaration, which introduced the concept of "healthy islands" as the unifying theme for health promotion and health protection in the Pacific.

"The Pacific Islands have very special health challenges and I am confident that this meeting will help address these issues," Dr Shin said. Pacific Island countries, in collaboration with WHO, SPC, and partner agencies, will seek to boost activities to address health problems specific to the Pacific region, such as lymphatic filariasis elimination, tuberculosis, health-promoting schools with a focus on helminth control, nutrition and sanitation, food safety and obesity control, and health care management.

Mr Parr said the meeting comes at a critical time when the world is feeling the impact of the global economic crisis. Gains that have been made in addressing health issues in the Pacific could easily be slowed or even reversed under the current economic climate, he said. Reduced incomes placed some families in the situation of having to compromise on their health by purchasing cheaper food of lower nutritional value, deferring visits to doctors in times of illness, or adopting risky behaviours to supplement income.

“Pacific Island countries have specific conditions and vulnerability that need to be addressed through renewed engagements from development partners and enhanced solidarity across all sectors to help safeguard progress and keep promises," he said.

The health ministers meeting is seen as an important opportunity to articulate the priority needs of the region for the next few years, and having issues such as food security and climate change in this year’s agenda is viewed as being of strategic significance.

Pacific Island countries and territories include American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Wallis and Futuna.