Articles Search

By Fili Sagapolutele

PAGO PAGO, American Samoa (January 2, 2001 - PIDP/CPIS)--British Petroleum (BP) became the interim terminal operator of the government-owned Gataivai Tank Farm on January 1, according to Petroleum Officer Sione Kava.

The agreement was signed by the government’s Acting Chief Procurement Officer Pat Tervola last Thursday before it was routed for other required signatures.

Everything then was finalized last Friday afternoon, just 72 hours before the December 31 deadline and Tesoro’s departure from the local market.

Tesoro surprised the government last November with a sudden announcement that it would pull out of American Samoa completely. This prompted the government to approach BP and Mobil Oil about running the Gataivai Tank Farm.

Kava said on Friday that the government had received firm confirmation that BP would take over as the interim terminal operator at the start of the New Year, January 1. He also confirmed that the U.S...

SUVA, Fiji Islands (December 29, 2000)---Australia and New Zealand are being called on to host Fiji’s ethnic Indian refugees on a temporary basis.

The main Hindu religious organization in New Zealand, the Sanatan Dharam, says it is helping coordinate relief efforts for Indo-Fijians, but the situation is getting worse.

Spokesman Babu Gyan Singh says there are many destitute and homeless Indo-Fijians who could be looked after in Australia and New Zealand until democracy is restored in Fiji.

"In the area which I'm supposed to be looking after, which is Rakiraki, Tavua, and Ba, there are about nine thousand people who are homeless at this stage," Sing said.

"We would love see that people who are in real need of shelter, have a place to live.

"If those people are looked into straight away, if they have no place to live and we can temporarily -- if Australia and New Zealand -- can temporarily accommodate them until such time as these issues are resolved...

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (January 3, 2000 - Post-Courier/PINA Nius Online)---Papua New Guinea police on border operations said they were horrified recently at the sight of a West Papuan OPM rebel being tortured by Indonesian soldiers.

A member of Lae’s Mobile Squad 13 stationed at the border said the OPM (Free Papua Movement) rebel was forced to swallow cups of hot chili soup, and was repeatedly slashed with a knife.

He said they had never seen anything like that before and were so horrified that they quickly finished eating the noodle soup offered by their Indonesian counterparts (The Brimok) and left.

"It was torture at its worst. It’s something we have never seen before," he said.

Papua New Guinea and Indonesian forces on the Papua New Guinea-Indonesia border talk to each other daily. The Papua New Guineans are occasionally invited by their counterparts to share a few drinks or food.

Papua New Guinea policemen normally hide their weapons...

By Gaynor Dumat-ol Daleno

HAGÅTÑA, Guam (January 3, 2001) (January 3, 2000 - Pacific Daily News/PINA Nius Online)---The Guam Visitors Bureau chairman's self-evaluation of his performance the past two years went something like this: Leadership that improved tourist arrivals 10 percent and kept politics out of decisions for the tourism industry.

Chairman Tony Sgro's self-assessment, offered in a brief campaign speech, may have pleased many of the visitors bureau's mostly business members who re-elected him to the GVB board yesterday. After the election, the board of directors voted to hand Sgro a second term as board chairman.

Keeping politics out of the Guam Visitors Bureau board wasn't an easy task, Sgro acknowledged, because the board is made up of just four elected directors and are outnumbered by political appointees.

Sgro said he managed to stop not just partisan political influence, but also some businesses' agendas from influencing the visitors...