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PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (September 29, 2000 - The National/PINA Nius Online)---Copra growers in East New Britain have threatened to stop producing and selling copra until the Copra Marketing Board and the government come clear on the recent fall in prices.

The Small Growers Association is organizing a series of protest marches.

Copra Marketing Board regional manager Leslie Lalui declined to comment on the threats, apart from confirming that production was falling.

Small Growers President Henry Lote said because the politicians and the Copra Marketing Board had only been down playing their concerns over the years, their growers who represent a large percentage of the producers have decided to turn their backs on the crop.

They had been drumming up support from the Bitapaka, Kokopo/Vuna-mami and Toma/Vunadidir LLG’s, three of the biggest copra producing areas in the Gazelle Peninsula.

"What we are organizing will be different from the...

MAJURO, Marshall Islands (September 29, 2000)---U.S. and Marshall Islands officials kicked off two days of economic talks in Majuro this week Tuesday (September 26).

Terry Breese, the Director of the State Department’s Office of Australian, New Zealand and Pacific Island Affairs, headed the U.S. delegation, which included Compact negotiator Al Stayman, Interior and Defense officials.

Breese said the consultation was important for a number of reasons, including that it was the U.S.’s first face-to-face economic discussion with the new government. He said the two days of talks, mandated by the Compact, would help the U.S. to understand the RMI’s planning mechanism, which in turn will help the U.S. in its efforts to support greater self-sufficiency for the RMI.

The Marshalls public sector reform efforts are essential economic improvements he said, adding that he was particularly interested to hear more about the work of the Task Force on Accountability.

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NEW YORK, New York (Sept. 30, 2000 - UNDP/PINA Nius Online)---A journalist from French Polynesia, a mother from Malawi, a Nicaraguan psychologist, and a Polish priest - all of whom have been leading the fight against HIV/AIDS in their communities - will receive UNDP’s Fourth Annual Race Against Poverty Awards. It will come during a special ceremony at the United Nations.

The event, marking the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP) under the theme, "Breaking the Silence on HIV/AIDS," will take place on October 23 in the UN General Assembly Hall.

The award winners are Maire Bopp Dupont (French Polynesia), Catherine Phiri (Malawi), Rita Arauz Molina (Nicaragua), and Father Arkadiusz Nowak (Poland). Each was selected by UNDP¹s IDEP Awardees Selection Committee following a global search for individuals who are making a difference in the fight against poverty and its underlying causes, specifically HIV/AIDS.

The four activists will be introduced by...

PAPE‘ETE, French Polynesia (September 29, 2000 – Oceania Flash/SPC)---French Polynesia has consigned its first shipment of recyclable waste to Asia, RFO-radio reports.

The French territory's waste management company, SEP, said the first consignments, totaling 268 tons of waste, were sent to Hong Kong and Djakarta (Indonesia), where they will be recycled to the Asian markets.

The waste has been carefully selected, sorted out and packaged for shipment in the past four months.

"This is a satisfying achievement. For a long time we have been trying to set up this new market," SEP General Manager Karl Meuel said.

Metal waste is being sent to Djakarta. Plastic and aluminum is going to Hong Kong.

But this trial shipment is so far not profitable. It cost SEP some 871,000 French Pacific Francs (about US$ 8,000) per ton to collect and send the waste to Asia.

"The market is definitely out there, but our waste quantities are limited. Also, we are far...