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SCIENTISTS OBSERVING WHALES IN NEW CALEDONIA

Submitted by admin on Tue, 07/02/2002 - 00:00

NOUMÉA, New Caledonia (July 1, 2002 - Oceania Flash)---"Operation Whale" begins this week in New Caledonia in a continuing effort to better understand the migratory movement of the marine mammals through the French Pacific territory, the daily newspaper Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes reports.

In New Caledonia, whales spend some weeks each year south of the main island.

This year’s study is expected to provide information that will lead to regulations for whale watching, an increasingly important industry in New Caledonia, as well as in Tonga, Fiji and other Pacific island countries.

Another Pacific territory, French Polynesia, recently declared its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) a whale sanctuary. It also has introduced regulations for whale watching vessels in efforts to reduce disturbing the mammals.

Scientist Claire Garrigue said whales in the South Pacific usually spend the first quarter of the year in the Antarctic Ocean, where they feed on small...

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Tue
02
Jul
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MAJOR CONSERVATION CONFERENCE IN RAROTONGA JULY 8-12

Submitted by admin on Tue, 07/02/2002 - 00:00

APIA, Samoa (July 1, 2002 - PINA Nius Online)---Preparations for the year's biggest regional conference on nature conservation are well under way, according to one of the organizers of the Cook Islands meeting.

More than 300 delegates -- representing governments, businesses, and non-government groups -- are expected to gather on Rarotonga later this month.

They will attend the Seventh Pacific Islands Conference on Nature Conservation and Protected Areas, July 8-12.

Sam Sesega, of the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), who is overseeing the conference, said in a statement that the theme is "Mainstreaming Nature Conservation."

This, he said, is now a key issue to improving the Pacific islands approach to caring for its biodiversity, which is under increasing threats.

Although some headway to sustain the Pacific biodiversity over the years has been made, still more needs to be done, he added.

SPREP director Tamari'i...

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Tue
02
Jul
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FIJI DROPS AIRPORT FUEL PRICES TO ATTRACT AIRLINES

Submitted by admin on Tue, 07/02/2002 - 00:00

SUVA, Fiji Islands (July 1, 2002 - Fiji Times/PINA Nius Online)---The price of fuel at Fiji's Nadi International Airport has been reduced to encourage more planes flying the South Pacific to land there.

"From being the highest priced fuel in the region the reduction will make us one of the lowest," Airports Fiji Limited chief executive Jone Koroitamana said.

"We will continue to explore ways in which to expand Nadi’s use by international aircraft. The reduced fuel prices is just one of those initiatives."

Mr. Koroitamana said the campaign to make Nadi user friendly has been "enthusiastically received" by the airlines.

Nadi was once the major crossroads for trans-Pacific aviation and is the South Pacific's most developed international airport.

But it has lost traffic because of the over flying of the region by long-range airliners and the development of other South Pacific airports.

More aircraft using Nadi will mean increased revenue from...

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Tue
02
Jul
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TUVALU MEDIA TOLD TO BE MORE VIGILANT

Submitted by admin on Tue, 07/02/2002 - 00:00

FUNAFUTI, Tuvalu (July 2, 2002 – PACNEWS/Pacific Media Watch)---Non-government organizations insist the Tuvalu government's tight control over the local media industry is stifling the freedom of expression in the country, the PACNEWS news agency reports

NGOs and media representatives at a national workshop on democracy said government dictated to the sole radio outlet in Tuvalu, the Tuvalu Media Corporation (TMC), which also publishes the country's monthly newspaper.

They said the TMC's predicament was often misunderstood by the outside world and was similar to the media industry situation in Niue, where the government had full control over its media industry.

A former TMC journalist said she was reprimanded a number of times because of negative reports about the government.

Workshop participants said the media was not independent and free enough to publish reports deemed to paint a bad picture of the government.

A reporter said journalists were...

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Tue
02
Jul
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AKOITAI RETURNED TO PNG PARLIAMENT FOR CENTRAL BOUGAINVILLE; OGIO AHEAD IN

Submitted by admin on Tue, 07/02/2002 - 00:00

NORTH BOUGAINVILLE, ALSO MOMIS IN BOUGAINVILLE REGIONAL

BUKA, Bougainville, Papua New Guinea (July 1, 2002 – Post-Courier)---Central Bougainville MP Sam Akoitai was declared winner last night at 9:50 pm.

Mr. Akoitai, contesting on a United Resource’s Party ticket, polled 2,670 votes to beat People’s Democratic Movement’s Jim Mirintoro, who polled 2,055 votes.

This will be Mr. Akoitai’s second term in Parliament.

In the North Bougainville seat, Deputy Prime Minister Michael Ogio jumped to the lead after trailing from the start of counting on Saturday evening to lead with 2,704 votes at 8:00 pm.

Mr. Ogio, a PDM candidate, is running for his third term.

National Alliance’s and long-serving MP for Bougainville Regional John Momis was leading the count for that seat at 8:00 pm. He had polled 11,068 votes with former Bougainville premier and Telikom’s most recent former chairman Leo Hannett second with 7,751 votes.

Mr. Hannett, a PDM...

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Tue
02
Jul
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FIJI BRACED FOR SEA DISASTER

Submitted by admin on Tue, 07/02/2002 - 00:00

SUVA, Fiji Islands (July 2, 2002 – New Zealand Herald/Reuters)---Fiji went on high alert last night as a storm and huge seas approached the island chain.

Coastal villagers were told to head for higher ground.

Home Affairs Minister Isimeli Cokanasiga warned people to brace themselves for "Fiji's worst sea disaster."

"The country is on national alert as of midnight tonight," he said. "Waves and flooding are expected to be about six meters (about 20 feet) in height."

The severe low-depression storm, which developed off Australia's southeast coast and battered Sydney beaches with big waves, was expected to hit the southern islands of Kadavu, Bega and Vatu Lele about midnight New Zealand time.

For additional reports from The New Zealand Herald, go to PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT News/Information Links: Newspapers/ New Zealand Herald.

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Tue
02
Jul
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PEOPLE FIRST NETWORK IN SOLOMONS, USP COMBINE TO TAKE CLASSES TO REMOTE AREAS

Submitted by admin on Tue, 07/02/2002 - 00:00

VIA E-MAIL

HONIARA, Solomon Islands (July 1, 2002 - PINA Nius Online)---The pioneering Solomon Islands People First Network (PFnet) and the University of the South Pacific (USP) have launched a project using e-mail to deliver courses to students in remote areas.

Monday students were due to begin USP courses using PFnet facilities set up at Sasamungga Community High School, South Choiseul, a PFnet news release said.

The latest project is expected to lead to:

§ better access to distance learning courses in rural areas,

§ better delivery and supervision of the students by USP administrators and tutors, and

§ the USP Center in Honiara developing course variations specially designed for delivery by e-mail.

The development is supported by US$ 9,000 in funding from the Pan-Asia Networking Grants Committee of the Asia Pacific Development Information Program (APDIP).

PFnet was initiated by the Solomon Islands Development...

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Tue
02
Jul
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CNMI AND PALAU WELCOME CEBU AIR FLIGHTS

Submitted by admin on Tue, 07/02/2002 - 00:00

By Liberty Dones

SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands (July 1, 2002 – Marianas Variety)---Palau and the CNMI welcome the establishment of a connecting flight with Asian destinations, including a possible Cebu Pacific Air flight from Manila.

Northern Mariana Islands Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente met with Palau President Tommy Remengesau last week to discuss the possibility of a Manila-Koror-Saipan route.

"Cebu Pacific is interested in pursuing the Manila-Koror flight so I made it a point to visit my good friend, Palau President Tommy Remengesau, and offer an opportunity for joint cooperation on making that route a reality," Benavente said in an interview.

Benavente was in Palau to attend an Environmental Protection Agency-sponsored conference.

He said he and Remengesau believe that the new flights will make international travel to the CNMI and Palau more convenient and affordable.

"All of us in the leadership here in Micronesia are pushing for...

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Tue
02
Jul
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LOVE AND SEX IN THE SOUTH SEAS MORE THAN JUST HOT NIGHTS, HUNKY GUYS AND

Submitted by admin on Tue, 07/02/2002 - 00:00

DUSKY MAIDENS

By Michael Field

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (July 1, 2002 – Agence France-Presse)---Nights are warm and the bodies dusky and hunky but South Seas sex and love, thanks to Christian missionaries and misguided anthropologists, is more than a little confused.

American Margaret Mead and her 1928 bestseller, Coming of Age in Samoa, created an image of highly sexually active Samoan teenage girls, devoid of love and real emotion. Some academics have extended this view to question whether Polynesians feel sadness or loss of a loved one.

But where once it might have been an amusing topic the Pacific History Association is planning in December in Samoa a much closer look at love and sexuality in Oceania.

For co-convener Victoria University Pacific studies lecturer Teresia Teaiwa the motivation for it is stark: two friends got Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

"One of them died last year, and I'm personally convinced that the...

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Tue
02
Jul
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TWO SURVIVE HELICOPTER ACCIDENT IN PAPUA

Submitted by admin on Tue, 07/02/2002 - 00:00

JAKARTA, Indonesia (July 1, 2002 - Jakarta Post/Kabar-Irian)---Two of five military officers aboard a missing military helicopter in remote Paniai regency in Timika, Papua province, were found alive on Sunday.

They managed to reach the nearest settlement, Kobae village, a two-hour walk from the crash site, Antara news agency reported.

The spokesman for the Trikora Reginal Military Command, which oversees the province, Maj. G.P. Situmorang, said the two -- First Lt. Ikhwan and First Lt. Tedy -- were suffering serious injuries, while the fate of the other three Army officers and the Army's Bell BO-205 helicopter remained unclear.

"Since losing contact with the helicopter, we have been searching for the passengers and the exact crash site.

"But, we have yet to detect the precise location," Situmorang said, adding the Army, together with the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), would continue the search on Monday.

The missing officers are the...

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