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By Peku Pilimbo

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (The National, Oct. 1) - An understanding has been reached between the Papua New Guinea Communication Workers Union and the Independent Public Business Corporation over the partial sale of Telokom PNG Ltd., according to IPBC managing director Masket Iangalio.

Mr Iangalio said in a press statement yesterday evening that five meetings had been held so far with the PNGCWU and a further meeting has been scheduled at 10am today morning. 

In a letter issued to the union earlier, Mr Iangalio said that there would be no redundancies because of the partial sale and more jobs would be created.

He also said that employee equity participation date had lapsed and issues like home ownership scheme, suspension of loan payout, concessional taxation packages and a late expression of interest were internal Telikom agreements.

He said that the sale of Telikom was different from that of PNGBC where many employees...

HAGATNA, Guam (Pacific Daily News, Oct. 1) - Gov. Felix Camacho met yesterday with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing to discuss Guam's application for The People's Republic of China's Approved Destination Status, according to a press release from the governor's office.

The status would allow Chinese tourists, students and business people to visit Guam. Camacho hopes to secure the special status and then gain a visa waiver from the United States on travel from China to Guam to build up the island's tourism industry.

"I'm grateful for Minister Li for his enthusiasm toward our (Approved Destination Status) request," Camacho said in the press release. "Based on my meetings today, I am extremely optimistic about Guam's chances for receiving (Approved Destination Status) approval."

The press release said that Michael Morin, U.S. Deputy Ambassador to China, also attended the meeting, and that the U.S. Embassy has been supportive of Camacho's attempt to garner...

PAPEETE, Tahiti (Tahitipresse, Sept. 29) - An Air New Zealand Boeing 767-300 aircraft was chartered on Sept. 27 for 130 passengers stranded in Tahiti by a strike against New Caledonia airline AirCalin.

It was the first of two chartered flights necessary to return the passengers to Nouméa.

The passengers became stranded when AirCalin cancelled a Sept. 27 flight from Nouméa to Papeete due to the strike by navigation personnel, said Pascal Redon, AirCalin’s regional representative in French Polynesia.

The Air New Zealand flight left Tahiti at 8:05 p.m., less than an hour later than AirCalin’s normally scheduled Saturday night departure of 7:45 p.m.

"AirCalin decided to assure its Papeete-Nouméa flight by chartering an Air New Zealand Boeing," Redon said. "It arrived at 7:05 pm on the Tahiti-Faa’a International Airport runway. It left an hour later."

Although the chartered flight left Tahiti less than an hour later than the regularly scheduled non-...

MELBOURNE, Australia (Radio Australia, Oct. 1) - A new laboratory at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji can now test for viruses causing diseases in one of the major Pacific Island root crops, taro.

The testing is the result of a collaborative effort involving scientists from two universities, the South Pacific Community's Plant Protection Service, the European Union and AusAID.

The new laboratory is at the Institute of Applied Science at the University of the South Pacific's Laucala Campus in Suva.

The testing has been developed by a team from the Queensland University of Technology which has been working of the problem for four years.

Associate Professor Rob Harding of the QUT's Plant Biotechnology Program says transferring the technology into the Pacific was one of the aims.

"We are at the stage now where we have characterized five viruses infecting taro; we've developed some very sensitive and specific diagnostic tests for those...