You are here

Home › 2003 ›

Articles Search

Search results

Thu
09
Jan

NEW ZEALANDERS FLOCK TO BALI DESPITE WARNINGS

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 01/09/2003 - 00:00

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (Radio Australia, Jan. 9) - New Zealanders are continuing to travel to Bali despite warnings from government in the wake of the Kuta nightclub bombings last October.

Radio Australia says tourists are taking advantage of cheaper accommodationS.

Like Australians, New Zealanders have been advised by their department of Foreign Affairs to defer all non-essential travel to Bali.

But New Zealand's largest travel agency says bookings to Bali over the past three months have increased nearly 50 percent over the same period last year.

Foreign Minister Phil Goff says while he wishes New Zealanders would follow the government’s advice; he can't force people not to travel.

January 9, 2003

For additional reports from Radio Australia, go to PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT News/Information Links: Radio/TV News/Radio Australia. 

+ continue reading
Thu
09
Jan

BOUGAINVILLE LANDOWNERS TO SUE MINING COMPANY

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 01/09/2003 - 00:00

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (Radio Australia, Jan. 9) - A group of Bougainville landowners is waiting for a clearance letter from the Papua New Guinean government to proceed with a lawsuit in the United States.

The lawsuit, which is seeking compensation for human rights abuses and environmental damages from Australian mining company Rio Tinto, was stopped by the former Mekere government on the grounds of national interest.

The landowners have appealed against the decision to cancel the case.

PNG's Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare has already overruled the decision by the former government, giving his consent for the case to go ahead in the US.

January 9, 2003

For additional reports from Radio Australia, go to PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT News/Information Links: Radio/TV News/Radio Australia.

+ continue reading
Thu
09
Jan

SCIENTISTS FIND NEW MARINE SPECIES OFF RAPA

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 01/09/2003 - 00:00

RAPA, French Polynesia (Tahitipress, Jan. 9) - An international team of scientists has turned up as many as 20 new species of marine life in a scientific survey off Rapa, a remote island of French Polynesia, 770 miles south of Tahiti.

The scientific mission, led by University of French Polynesia (UFP) professor Claude Payri, spent about a month on the island, turning up a multitude of rare species.

Fourteen scientists from France, Italy (Genoa university) and the United States of America (Smithsonian Institute in Washington) studied fish, algas and corals.

Rapa is a former volcano. About 500 persons live on this quiet island where tradition still means a lot.

A first scientific mission had been carried out in 1984 with specialists from the French nuclear testing sites. Then, in 1990, J. Randall, from Hawaii, also studied fish in Rapa.

This island is located at the limit of what is the tropical area in this part of the Southern hemisphere. That is...

+ continue reading
Thu
09
Jan

US$3 MILLION JETTY NEARS COMPLETION IN KAYANGEL

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 01/09/2003 - 00:00

KOROR, Palau (Palau Horizon/Marianas Variety, Jan. 9) - A docking and fishing facility being built in Kayangel State is nearing completion and may be finished by March.

Theo Isamu, director of the Bureau of Marine Resources, said the completion of the $3 million jetty will provide Kayangel residents easy access to and from the state.

"This will greatly enhance the development of the state. It will contribute to its economic progress. It will provide ease for visitors going to Kayangel because it is a good docking facility," said Isamu.

The construction of the jetty, which is 100 meters long and five meters wide, was made possible through a Japan fisheries grant.

The project includes dredging of a channel on the way to Kayangel and the installation of navigational lights to serve as aids for incoming vessels, Isamu said.

He said he has also requested funding for the improvement of docking facilities for the states of Angaur and Peleliu. He said...

+ continue reading
Thu
09
Jan

BORDALLO SWORN IN AS GUAM DELEGATE IN D.C.

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 01/09/2003 - 00:00

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Pacific Daily News, Jan. 9) - Madeleine Bordallo was sworn in Tuesday as the new delegate for Guam, the fourth delegate to represent the island since it was given a non-voting role in Congress in 1972.

With her daughter, Deborah, and her granddaughter, Nicole, watching from the gallery above the House floor, Bordallo took the oath of office from House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.

"You're here in the nation's capital, the nerve center of our government, and you're a part of it," Bordallo said. "It's awesome to be here."

Bordallo, the island's former Democratic lieutenant governor, will have little time to enjoy the moment. She said she will appeal to the federal government for help in dealing with the devastation caused by Dec. 8's Supertyphoon Pongsona as well as assistance for the island's continuing economic problems.

She promised to work closely with Guam's new Republican governor, Felix Camacho, to overcome any partisan...

+ continue reading
Thu
09
Jan

CNMI BRISTLES OVER "CRITICAL HABITAT" PROPOSAL

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 01/09/2003 - 00:00

SAIPAN, CNMI (Marianas Variety, Jan. 9) - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service critical habitat proposal on Rota would cover nearly 30 percent of the island—or 2,462 hectares—and would adversely affect its economic status, according to acting Marianas Public Lands Commissioner Frank Eliptico.

Fish and Wildlife wants the land designated for the protection of the Mariana crow, an endangered bird species. Rota and the CNMI government are opposed to this proposal.

In a letter to Dr. Paul Henson, field supervisor of the Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife office, Eliptico said part of the requested property covers vital thoroughfares such as homesteads, airport expansion, compulsory landfill and other economically necessary projects.

"We hope the Service will realize that basing the designation of 29 percent of the entire island of Rota on a draft, unfinished economic analysis and recovery plan seems overly presumptuous," Eliptico said.

"Secondly, we believe the...

+ continue reading
Fri
10
Jan

BANK OF HAWAII SUES CNMI COUPLE FOR UNPAID LOAN

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 01/10/2003 - 00:00

SAIPAN, CNMI (Marianas Variety, Jan. 10) - Bank of Hawaii has filed a lawsuit against former Board of Education chairman and businessman Anthony Pellegrino, his wife and their company for failing to pay $404,049 in loan plus interest.

The bank, through counsel John D. Osborn, sued Anthony Pellegrino, Eileen O. Pellegrino and Marine Revitalization Corp. It also named as co-defendants Bank of Saipan, the CNMI government, the Department of Finance and the Division of Revenue and Taxation which have claims or interest in the mortgaged property or collateral.

Bank of Hawaii asked the Superior Court to order the Pellegrinos and MRC to pay the bank $384,972 in principal amount plus $19,077 in accrued interest.

The bank sought for an order determining the validity and priority of the tax lien of the government as well as Bank of Saipan’s claim on the mortgage.

Bank of Hawaii requested the court to foreclose the security interest and mortgage and forever bar...

+ continue reading
Fri
10
Jan

GUAM HEALTH RULES TOUGH ON FOOD INDUSTRY

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 01/10/2003 - 00:00

HAGATNA, Guam (Pacific Daily News, Jan. 10) - Drinks no longer come with ice and in super-size cups at many fast-food places. Some convenience stores no longer serve brewed coffee. Some restaurants now serve dinner on Styrofoam plates.

Guam's problems with unreliable water service and contaminated water supply have taken away some conveniences for island consumers.

And food-service businesses that invested as much as tens of thousands of dollars each in water purification systems just several months ago now face added costs stemming from another layer of government recommendations.

A Dec. 10, 2002, guideline signed by then-Director Dennis Rodriguez of the public health department says all restaurants, caterers, food booths, stores, warehouses and cold storage facilities that use tap water for cooking or preparing food must follow either requirement:

- Boil water vigorously for one minute; or

- Inject one tablespoon of chlorine for every five...

+ continue reading
Fri
10
Jan

COOKS STAYS ON MONEY LAUNDERING BLACK LIST

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 01/10/2003 - 00:00

AVARUA, Cook Islands (Cook Islands News/PINA, Jan 10) - Time is running out for the Cook Islands to convince the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that it should be removed from its money laundering blacklist at a February meeting.

The Cooks is one of 11 countries which still remains on the blacklist of FATF, a Paris-based body whose full name is Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering.

The list also includes Egypt, Grenada, Guatemala, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nigeria, Philippines, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Ukraine.

The Cooks listing follows a crackdown on countries with international finance and offshore banking centers and increased concerns about money laundering. This is now seen as being used to finance both criminal activities and terrorism.

Meanwhile, the Cook Islands is waiting the visit of an International Monetary Authority assessment team.

Cook Islands Money Laundering Authority chairman Kevin Carr said...

+ continue reading
Fri
10
Jan

PNG GOVERNMENT DOWNPLAYS BORDER INCURSIONS

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 01/10/2003 - 00:00

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (RNZI, Jan. 10) - The Papua New Guinea government is downplaying alleged border incursions by Indonesian soldiers going after Papuan separatist rebels.

The Defense Minister, Kappa Yarka says that reports of Indonesian troops crossing into PNG to chase after Free Papua or OPM rebels carried no credence and that there was no conflict between Jakarta and Port Moresby.

However, PNG Border officials were reportedly investigating claims that Indonesian troops had driven several kilometers into the PNG border town of Wutung last week.

Joe Sungi, the Administrator of PNG’s border province of Sandaun has criticized the government for downplaying security breaches from both sides of the border.

Sungi says the PNG government needs to take clashes between OPM rebels and Indonesian troops seriously and improve border security

"We have reported time after time it's time to pay special attention to the border. We seem to be talking...

+ continue reading

Pages

Filter by article category: