Articles Search

HONIARA, Solomon Islands (Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corp Jan. 4) – The Solomon Islands Government has appointed a committee to look at ways of assisting Asian Tsunami victims.

A 16-member Asian Tsunami Support Committee met for the first time today.

The Government Communication Unit says the committee is made up of people from Government, Non-government, Civil Society and Government Statutory Authorities.

The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat recently approved grant assistance totaling SI$80,000 (US$10,896) to the Forum Dialogue Partners directly affected by the devastating Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami - India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

Solomon Islands is a member of the 16-member nation Forum Secretariat in the Pacific.

East Timor, a small poor country, has contributed about US$400,000 towards the emergency fund and Japan about JPY$4 billion (US$38,955,980).

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, plans...

By Len Garae

PORT VILA, Vanuatu (Vanuatu Daily Post, Jan. 3) – Vanuatu Prime Minister Ham Lini and Chinese Ambassador Bao Shusheng signed an agreement at the Prime Minister's Office yesterday morning formalizing an agreement for the Peoples Republic of China to build two ships for the country.

The agreement, to be funded by an existing 1 billion vatu (US$9.4 million) grant from the Chinese government, follows a request originally made by former Prime Ministers Edward Natapei and Serge Vohor.

"What we have witnessed now is a formalization of that process which is very important because this is what the Chinese Government have been waiting for from Vanuatu," First PA to the Prime Minister's Office, George Bogiri explained.

With the document now signed, Bogiri said the two ships, approximately 34 meters long, would take about ten months to build.

Asked how they will be used, the Bogiri said they are Government ships such as the Alize II and will be...

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (PNG Post-Courier, Jan. 4) - Papua New Guinea’s oil production is on the decline and new production wells have to be found to avoid unplanned shutdowns.

Oil Search Limited managing director Peter Botten told the Sydney Mining and Petroleum Conference last month that current projections suggested "unless there was change, the Gobe Main Field would need to be shut-in within the next few years. Field closure forces further acceleration of unit operating costs," Botten said. "We need to break the cycle but it needs to be done quickly before we lose the opportunity."

He said since Oil Search took over operations of PNG oil and gas assets from ChevronTexaco in 2003, they have sought new sources of crude oil.

The company’s exploration program has been going on actively as they firm up new drilling targets.These targets, all located in the Southern Highlands, include the Northwest Moran which was discovered in 2003 and is due online in...

By Agnes Donato

SAIPAN, CNMI (Saipan Tribune, Jan. 6) – The battered Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands economy claimed another victim yesterday as the Saipan Laulau Development Inc. bared plans to sell the company to United Micronesian Development Inc. at a loss of about $50 million.

Saipan Laulau Vice President Hiroyuki Saito said the company has invested a total of $61 million to the Laolao Bay Golf Resort in Kagman. However, Saipan Laulau is now negotiating to sell the company to UMDA for an amount between $8.5 million and $10 million.

Saito explained that the company has been operating the golf resort at a substantial loss in since the Asian economic crisis hit the tourism industry in 1997.

He said that the company's annual gross revenue now reaches only about half the $11 million SLDI used to earn before 1997.

"It's been difficult for us to continue investing in this business because the shareholders would not allow this. At the...