NEWSPAGE 02 November
2009

(Photo: New Zealand Ministry of Defence)

NEW ZEALAND: Labour leader to visit Samoa and Tonga

(Photos: Tupuola Terry Tavita)

SAMOA: No way ‘truckloads full of goods’ can be sold at shops, says DMO
Source: Tupuola Terry Tavita

There is no way that ‘truckloads full off goods’ can be diverted and sold at shops as alleged by Porirua Assistant Mayor Litea Ah Hoi, said Disaster Management Office chief executive Taulealeausumai Mailo Laavasa Malua.

During a visit yesterday to DMO headquarters at Tuanaimato, Taulealeausumai showed the controls procedures in accounting for goods stored at the compound and how the office keeps track of goods distributed to affected families at all hours.

All goods that come into the compound are recorded by Treasury officials who have a desk at the entrance. All moneys that are handed over to the DMO office are also receipted by Treasury and go through their system of controls, checks and balances instruments as is the case in treasuries in New Zealand , Australia or the United States .

Any container cannot be opened, nor items removed or loaded onto delivery vans and trucks without the presence of Customs official, DMO officials and Police officers.

Every delivery, every item and every good that departs the compound is again recorded by Treasury officials. Every delivery is accompanied by an audit officer and a policeman. There are also onsite officials at the affected areas who double check these deliveries.

Every family that receives goods has to sign up to what they had received. A few days later, a team of audit and DMO officers follow up on the deliveries visiting recipient families if indeed they received the goods they signed up to.

“The system is working very well and every item, every delivery has been accounted for,” said Taulealeausumai.

“ There have not been any irregularities. Because it goes through a number of control measures there is very minimal chance an item, least a whole delivery, cannot be accounted for.”

There are many stories making the rounds out there, said Taulealeausumai, “but if you scratch through the surface then you’ll find a completely different one.”

“I don’t want to accuse our people of telling untruths as Lord knows they’ve suffered enough, but in any situation anywhere in the world, some people will take advantage of it to their benefit.”

It’s only natural, he said, that some will deny receiving any aid so they can get more aid.

“Some of those who have complained of not getting anything, upon double checking with our records, indicate that they’ve been getting aid regularly. Upon questioning, they’d come up with another excuse.”

Taulealeausumai also asked if Mrs Ah Hoi could produce any evidence that “truckloads full of good” are being sold at shops.

“We really want to know because the law is very clear. Anybody found to be doing that will immediately be arrested and charged by Police. We’d go out of our way to nab somebody doing that.”

Residents of affected areas that have moved elsewhere in the country, Taulealeausumai said, are urged to go to their village to get their aid provisions.

“We do not want a situation where victims are farmed out to families in Apia so their provisions could be distributed to their relatives not affected by the tsunami. That has already happened. There are dubious ways to get around the system and we want to plug those loopholes.”

DMO officials are puzzled that despite ‘wild stories’ running around out there, no local media has ever bothered to come to see for themselves if such an incident was possible.

‘We are more than happy to explain to them our procedures,” said Taulealea.

“In fact they are nothing new as the mobilization of government agencies in the event of a national disaster are clearly spelled out in the National Disaster Management Plan.”

While this publication was there, Tagata Pasefika of New Zealand was also there to interview Taulealeausumai whilst doing a piece on Samoa ’s recovery efforts.

“If you see our local media around, tell them our door is always open to them.”


Lalomanu issues decree banning sale of tsunami goods

The village of Lalomanu has issued a decree to its residents punishing anybody found selling tsunami relief goods.

“These goods were given to us out of people’s kindness and generosity,” said their Member of Parliament Taua Kitiona Seuala.

“They are precious to us and we owe it to these good Samaritans to make full use of it. It’s the least we can do.”

Therefore, Taua said, anybody from Lalomanu found to be selling tsunami goods, in the act of selling tsunami goods or receiving or in the act of receiving tsunami goods will be severely punished by the council.

“Anybody trying to sell goods at a shop will be banished, any shop that receives tsunami goods will immediately cease operation,” said Taua.

“Any bus found to be carrying tsunami goods destined for somewhere else and the culprit, the bus driver and the bus company will be punished. The village council has unanimously agreed to those rules.”

Other villages such as Saleaumua and Saleapaga is understood to have also put down similar rules.

Taua said that aid distribution in his village is going smoothly.

“We just opened this morning a container of goods from New Zealand . Every family was called to come down and take their portion. And every family did. Go up to any family up there to find out for yourselves. Other media should come here and find out the truth for themselves instead of printing rubbish stories circulating in town.”

This publication visited several families relocated deep in the bush at Lalomanu and all of them had adequate supplies in storage. They were more than happy to show us around.


Aid is getting here, say Lalomanu residents

Lalomanu residents Onolima Tino and Suiama Samuelu don’t know where stories about assistance not getting to Lalomanu come from.

With their homes destroyed by the tsunami, their families of about twenty people now live in an encampment right up the top of the mountain, the furthest inland relocated families at Lalomanu have moved to.

The duo were more than happy to show us their aid provisions, they say are being supplied regularly by government, Red Cross and other development partners.

“We have our tools, bush knives, spades, crow bars, axes and whatnot,” says Onolima.

“We have plenty of food. Bags of rice, boxes of chicken and tin fish, cooking oil, a sack of potatoes, milk, onions and noodles. Plenty of clothes, in fact, many of these things we could not afford before the tsunami.

“We also have mattresses, pillows and pillow cases, mosquito nets, towels and bed sheets.”

The water trucks, they said, had been coming up regularly.

“We also have a 10-gollon plastic water tank at the front and since the rains are here, we can manage at the moment.”

The families have also built lavatories and are keeping an eye on good sanitation.

Asked about stories that Lalomanu residents are not receiving any aid, the duo appear surprised.

“As far as we know all the families here are getting the same supplies as we do.”

The upland road at Lalomanu is being developed by Ott Construction making it much easier for residents up to commute to the coast.

“If anything, what we need now is a power supply so we can get our fridge (donated by families in New Zealand ) and our tv working.”

Photo Captions:

Photo 1 - DMO CEO Taulealeausumai explains delivery procedures at DMO headquarters Tuanaimato.

Photo 2 - The Peresia family of Satitoa thank government and aid donors for the supplies they have been receiving (displayed). The family now live some four miles inland under a tent, at one of the remotest areas in the Aleipata region. But food, water and other supplies are getting up there regularly, they said.

Photo 3 - Onolima Tino and Suiama Samuelu show off their food supplies and tools they’ve received through regular aid deliveries far up at Lalomanu.
 

AUSTRALIA: ACTU to call for Tamils to be brought to Christmas Island
Source: The Australian

The union movement will today demand Kevin Rudd adopt a softer approach to asylum-seekers and allow 78 people in limbo on board the Oceanic Viking to enter Australia for processing.

Unions that contribute millions of dollars to the ALP's election war chest through membership fees will urge Mr Rudd to end the standoff by ordering the Customs vessel to head for Christmas Island to process the asylum-seekers' claims.

The ACTU has also taken out an advertisement in The Australian today, calling on the government to take a more humane approach to asylum-seekers.

The union push comes amid claims that Indonesian authorities restricted water supplies on the weekend to another wooden refugee boat with 255 Australia-bound asylum-seekers anchored off the Indonesian port of Merak in a bid to force them off the boat.

Three people had been hospitalised and more than 30 asylum-seekers, including sick children, are suffering from conjunctivitis.

ACTU president Sharan Burrow said blue-collar workers would back Mr Rudd if he showed leadership on asylum-seekers rather than "blind adherence to hardline border security policy", adding that it was time for Australia to "do the right thing".

"The government should demonstrate Australians' strong humanitarian values by stepping in and bringing these people to Australia," Ms Burrow told The Australian. "Everyone deserves a fair go. These unfortunate people have been through enough. Their ordeal should be brought to an end and they should be given immediate shelter and proper care by Australian authorities.

"It's absolutely legally accurate they were rescued in international waters. Technically, this is Indonesia's responsibility. But that's not the point. You can't have 78 asylum-seekers floating around indefinitely.

"Working Australians will respect strong political leadership that shows a humane response rather than a blind adherence to hardline border security policy."

Ms Burrow said that, as more asylum-seekers were fleeing Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and the Middle East, the Rudd government should work with other leaders in the region to establish humane facilities for people seeking safety from conflict zones. Unions NSW secretary Mark Lennon is leading the push to form a coalition with church groups to call on Mr Rudd to show greater compassion.

Australian Workers Union boss Paul Howes was the first to break ranks to urge Mr Rudd to change tack, calling on him to show leadership and saying to change the debate would be "real Labor hero stuff".

Despite fears children could be held behind the razor wire of Indonesian detention centres, the Rudd government's caucus has remained largely silent, with MPs Michael Danby and Julia Irwin the only ones to publicly question elements of Mr Rudd's approach.

The asylum-seekers refusing to leave the Oceanic Viking are entering their third week on the vessel after they were rescued by Australian authorities in Indonesian waters following a request for help from Indonesia.

As the Indonesians are refusing to remove the asylum-seekers by force, the Rudd government has been locked in a standoff with local authorities who have accused Australia of using the region as a dumping ground for asylum-seekers and the people on the boat who do not want their claims processed in Indonesia.

A refugee advocacy group said yesterday that 37 of the 78 Tamils on the Oceanic Viking had been assessed as refugees by UNHCR.

Mr Rudd said he was unaware whether the asylum-seekers had already been declared refugees.

The Prime Minister conceded lack of access to Sri Lankan detention camps by international aid agencies such as the UNHCR was a factor in Tamils opting for the people-smuggling route to a better life in Australia.

Mr Rudd said his policy on asylum-seekers was clear cut: "We believe that in the national interest what's required is a responsible policy on immigration, hardline on people-smugglers, humane on asylum-seekers."

Refugee advocates in touch with the Tamil boatpeople in Merak told The Australian yesterday more than 30 asylum-seekers, including children, were infected with conjunctivitis. That boat was intercepted in Indonesian waters following a tip-off from Australia.

Saradha Nathan of the Australian Tamil Congress said the Merak asylum-seekers had just one communal toilet to share between more than 250 people.
 

(Photo: Rugby League International Federation)

PAPUA NEW GUINEA: PNG claims Four Nations spot
Source: ABC News

Papua New Guinea has claimed a place in next year's Four Nations rugby league tournament with a comprehensive 42-14 victory over the Cook Islands in the final of the inaugural Pacific Cup in Port Moresby.

The Kumuls can dream of playing Australia, New Zealand and England next year after running in eight tries before more than 10,000 fans at Lloyd Robson Oval.

Gold Coast Titans flyer David Mead was man-of-the-match for the sixth-ranked Kumuls with a hat-trick of tries.

"It means so much to all our boys and everyone in this country," PNG captain John Wilshere said.

"Rugby league is our national sport, we love it, and next year we're going to be playing in the Four Nations and that's a massive boost for Papua New Guinea."

The Kumuls won their way into the final with a convincing 44-14 win over Tonga last weekend, while the Cook Islands upset World Cup semi-finalists Fiji 24-22.

"I thought our defence was outstanding today, and it has been for the last two weeks," said Kumuls coach Adrian Lam, who will be an assistant coach to Wayne Bennett at St George Illawarra next year.

"I don't think it's really sunk in yet that we're in the Four Nations, but we're excited about it and we'll get our heads around it soon enough."

Cook Islands coach David Fairleigh said he was proud of the efforts of his 14th-ranked team to get past Samoa and Fiji and reach the tournament final.

"No one gave us a chance to do anything, but what they've shown in these two weeks hopefully gives the Cook Islands Rugby League something to build on," the former North Sydney Bears forward said.
 

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Youth group ready for peace training
Source: Solomon Star

The Avaiki Cultural Youth Group will benefit from a peace training workshop next month.

Non Government Organisation (NGO) Live and Learn will conduct the training.

The workshop is scheduled to take place at White River community from 9-10 November.

Acting Secretary of the Group’s interim committee, Thinking Nguisanga Maitaki told the Solomon Star yesterday they are all excited about the training.

“The training will help us to promote peace in the community,” he said.

“It will also equip us with new knowledge in order to mould us when we want to carry out peace programmes in the area.”

Mr Maitaki said White River is populated with people of diverse ethnic groups.

During the workshop, Mr Maitaki said they will also elect a committee to look after the group’s affairs.

The Avaiki Cultural Youth Group was formed this year.

It made its first appearance during the International Youth Day celebration held in Honiara on 12
August.

The group has a constitution that legally binds them together.

The Group aims to join the global collective effort in achieving the United Nations Millennium
Development Goal;

preserve the unique culture of Rennell and Bellona;

join the collective effort as to sustain the good relationship amongst respective cultures of Solomon Islands and abroad;

and engage Youths into income generating activities.
 

(Photos: U.S. Embassy)

WORLDWIDE: US reaffirms continued assistance with second relief grant
Source: U.S. Embassy Press Release

In reaffirming the United States continuing commitment to assist the Government of the Independent State of Samoa’s relief work, one month to the date after the September 29 Tsunami, Chargé d’Affaires Robin L. Yeager presented to the Chairman of Disaster Advisory Committee (DAC) and CEO of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Taulealeausumai Laavasa Malua, a second relief grant.

In making the presentation to Mr. Laavasa, Ms. Yeager stated the grant of WST $629,750 (USD $250,000), the second allotment of funds given so far, is to help meet the operation costs of DAC’s National Coordination Center, transportation of relief supplies and disaster risk reduction programming in affected areas.

“The United States Government is continuing to support the Government of Samoa’s recovery efforts” said Ms. Yeager. The first relief aid grant was presented to the Honorable Prime Minister on Oct. 6, 2009. That check was for of USD $100,000.

Ms. Yeager further stated that U.S. Government have also awarded two grants of USD $250,000 to Samaritan’s Purse, a U.S. based NGO with an operations office in Apia. Samaritan’s Purse is a frequent partner in USAID relief and development projects. The grants will allow Samaritan’s Purse to continue its on ground relief efforts by providing hand tools, hygiene kits, water and other supplies to people in tsunami affected areas. Another USD $250,000 is in the process of being transferred to the Samoa Red Cross Society to continue its current relief programs.

“The total USD $1.1 million worth of grants for relief work is only part of our commitment. The U.S. Government have funded transportation of some relief goods by the Samoan community in the U.S. and is in the process of upgrading computer software for tsunami warnings, and purchasing tsunami warning system of air horns for the people of Samoa” said Ms. Yeager

The grant is an outcome of consultations between USAID and Embassy Apia officials, and members of the DAC and MNRE Disaster Management Office (DMO) on ways to further support current efforts.

Mr. Laavasa expressed on behalf of government and people of Samoa appreciation for the kind donation, stating that the funds will surely go a long way in supporting DAC’s work.

“Not only have you assisted NGO’s and also community based organizations, but also help in particular parts of government” Mr. Laavasa said.

Chargé Yeager stated the latest grant was a reflection on the belief in the work and commitment of DAC members who worked tireless hours to provide aid to those in need.

Photo Captions:

Photo 1 - Chargé Robin Yeager, DAC Chairman Taulealeausumai Laavasa Malua and members of DAC’s National Disaster Coordination Center. Photo courtesy of U.S. Embassy Apia.

Photo 2 - Chargé Yeager with Principal Disaster Management Officer Filomena Nelson.
 
Photo 1 - Mr. Laavasa expressing gratitude to Chargé Yeager on U.S. government assistance.

Photo 2 - Media at the check handover presentation.