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Editorial

GUAM CAN’T AFFORD SPECIAL ELECTION ON CASINOS

HAGATNA, Guam (Pacific Daily News, Oct. 3) - A Wednesday public hearing clearly showed that Guam residents have strong feelings about an initiative to legalize casino gambling, whether they are for or against it.

A legislative committee heard testimony on whether there should be a special election to decide the gaming question. The initiative has garnered enough signatures to guarantee its placement on the General Election ballot next year.

In answering the special election question, we have to ignore the arguments for and against legalized gambling. Instead, the sole focus must be on the feasibility and practicality of a special election. And the bottom line is that it's neither practical nor feasible to hold it now.

The financial condition of our government remains dire. Despite the passage of a fiscal 2004 budget, senators and the administration both have recognized that there isn't enough...

Editorial

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (PNG Post-Courier, Oct. 2) - Revelations by the Minister for Labor and Industrial Relations Peter Yama of some 10,000 illegal immigrants living in Papua New Guinea comes as no surprise.

PNG authorities charged with the responsibility of ensuring no foreign citizens enter this country illegally have failed to do their jobs.

Anyone can enter PNG at any time and Customs and Immigration officers at ports of entry will not detect anything wrong with them. This is scandalous and totally unacceptable.

The Government must explain why these people are in PNG and what steps, if any, are being taken to remove them from PNG — let alone charge them for being illegally in this country.

The notorious passport scam which still remains a mystery and now this revelation by Mr Yama are scandals which the Government must face up to deal with as a matter of urgency.

At a time when governments around the world have taken...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands (SIBC, Oct. 5) – The Legal Adviser for the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Dr Transform Aqorau, says culture and traditional knowledge are very important for the region.

Dr Aqorau's was speaking last week at a meeting for legal experts on the protection of traditional knowledge and expressions of culture in Noumea.

He said in a cultural and anthropological sense, culture and traditional knowledge define people, they tell them who they are, where they come from, and link them to the past that teaches, and shapes people today.

Dr Aqorau added that "these cultural expressions empower people and make them different from others," saying it is these unique characteristics that people want to protect.

He said however that the challenges confronting the Pacific Islands are complex and require concerted effort.

Pacific Islanders and Pacific island communities are undergoing enormous changes because western influences brought...

By Colin Taimbari

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (The National, Oct. 3) – Parliament has agreed on voices to refer Clerk of Parliament, Ano Pala, to the Ombudsman Commission over allegations of financial mismanagement.

It has also agreed to refer to police for criminal investigations senior managers within the Parliamentary Services.

The referrals stem from the Report of the Public Accounts Committee on its investigations into the financial and administrative affairs of the Parliamentary Service.

The report, which revealed widespread anomalies in nearly all aspects of Parliamentary Services, was tabled in Parliament last week by PAC Chairman John Hickey.

Morobe Governor Luther Wenge yesterday moved a motion for the referrals following debate in the House.

Soon after Question Time, Leader of Government Peter O'Neill opened debate on the PAC Report, saying many MPs wanted to debate it because of the seriousness of the findings.

MPs...