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A FAILED STATE -- OR A POLITICALLY MOTIVATED UPRISING IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS?

Submitted by admin on Wed, 07/31/2002 - 00:00

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

July 30, 2002

Australian academic Mark Otter, from the School of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Queensland, recently argued that Australia isn't taking East Timor-style action to help solve the crisis in the Solomon Islands.

In his opinion piece, which was first broadcast on the ABC's Radio National program, he mentioned among other issues the fact that the two countries share long historical ties that influence Australia's foreign policy, including providing aid for poverty alleviation and the socially disadvantaged. The full text of Mr. Otter's thought provoking article can be viewed by referring to: http://www.goasiapacific.com/focus/pacific/GoAsiaPacificFocusPacific_607591.htm on 7/15/02.

Reaction to Mr. Otter's comments prompted several responses by contributors to the Asia Pacific...

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Wed
31
Jul
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PAPUA SEPARATIST LEADERS FEAR POLICE "PEACE PLAN" SIGNALS CRACKDOWN

Submitted by admin on Wed, 07/31/2002 - 00:00

By Chris McCall in Jakarta

JAKARTA, Indonesia (July 30, 2002 – South China Morning Post/Joyo Indonesian News/Kabar-Irian)---West Papua's separatist Presidium fears it will be declared illegal and its members arrested under a new "peace" operation ordered by the region's police chief.

On July 17, police chief Inspector General Made Mangku Pastika issued a statement announcing operation "Adil Matoa."

The 60-day operation, beginning from an unspecified date yet to be announced, is purportedly aimed at creating a "peace zone" and keeping the restive province within Indonesia.

"The aim of this special operation is to form and maintain Papua as a zone of peace and an integral part of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia," the statement read.

It has gone hand in hand with increased military activity in parts of the province. The statement came just as the pro-independence Papuan Presidium Council was arranging to declare its own "peace zone" in...

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Wed
31
Jul
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DISCIPLINE GOVERNMENT MINISTERS, FIJI PM QARASE TOLD

Submitted by admin on Wed, 07/31/2002 - 00:00

SUVA, Fiji Islands (July 31, 2002 – Daily Post)---The Citizens Constitutional Forum has written to Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase challenging him to show the moral strength of Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara and discipline his ministers for making racist comments in Parliament.

Executive Director Reverend Akuila Yabaki told Mr. Qarase that the statements contradict his statements of reconciliation and are racist.

"As Prime Minister you should not condone statements in Parliament that would constitute an offence if spoken publicly outside," he said.

Reverend Yabaki said when Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara was Prime Minister he did not tolerate his then Assistant Minister for Commerce and Cooperatives Sakeasi Butadroka making racist statements inside and outside Parliament.

Mr. Butadroka was expelled from the Alliance Party and police laid charges against him under the Public Order Act in 1997 and was jailed.

"Politicians criticisms of each other in Parliament...

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Wed
31
Jul
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PALAU STATES SPLIT OVER SHIFT TO UNICAMERAL LEGISLATURE

Submitted by admin on Wed, 07/31/2002 - 00:00

By Bernadette H. Carreon For Variety

KOROR, Palau (July 30, 2002 - Palau Horizon/Marianas Variety)---States are split on whether to support President Tommy Remengesau’s proposed constitutional amendments creating a unicameral national legislature and requiring a single ticket for the candidates for president and vice president, according to a report of the House Committee on the Judiciary and Government Affairs.

The panel said half of the states in Palau supported a shift to a unicameral legislature while 10 states supported a single ticket for the president and the vice president.

The majority of the states also supported changes in the Constitution allowing dual citizenship.

States that prefer a unicameral national legislature cited reduced spending and expedition of the passage of laws. Those against it said a unicameral legislature will not have a check and balance mechanism and may result in an inequality of representation on the part of states...

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Wed
31
Jul
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CNMI AUTHORITIES SAY ERADICATION OF PROSTITUTION IS NOT AN EASY TASK

Submitted by admin on Wed, 07/31/2002 - 00:00

By Liberty Dones Variety News Staff (1st of a Series)

SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands (July 31, 2002 – Marianas Variety)---CNMI authorities acknowledge that sex for a fee, which is illegal here, happens right under their noses.

They know where it happens. They know how it happens. They know, more or less, who are involved.

In early 2001, the government, upon the urging of the Marianas Visitors Authority, formed an inter-agency task force with the ambitious goal of eradicating prostitution in Western Garapan.

According to MVA, tourists, particularly those traveling with their families, were complaining about the "boldness" of ladies literally grabbing male Japanese.

"The task force is supposed to terminate prostitution in Western Garapan. Well, it also covers other places, but mainly it was created because MVA was concerned about the annoyance when girls are out in the streets soliciting customers," said Charles Ingram, former commissioner of...

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Wed
31
Jul
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LAW AND ORDER WORRIES CLOSE SOLOMONS TREASURY AGAIN

Submitted by admin on Wed, 07/31/2002 - 00:00

HONIARA, Solomon Islands (July 30, 2002 - SIBC/PINA Nius Online)---The Treasury Division in the Solomon Islands Ministry of Finance is closed again due to continuing law and order problems in Honiara.

Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation understands that there were incidents of threats, harassment and intimidation last week against staff by people trying to get payments.

Just two weeks ago the division was closed for a week amid similar problems, and because government no longer has the money to meet payment demands.

The government faces a worsening economic crisis amid law and order problems despite a peace agreement ending more than two years of ethnic conflict. Key export industries remain closed or only in limited operation.

In other news:

* The government has been warned not to terminate 1,300 public service workers under its reform program, the Public Employees Union said.

The government recently announced plans to terminate the...

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Wed
31
Jul
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NEW CALEDONIA’S MARIE-CLAUDE TJIBAOU AWARDED THE LEGION OF HONOR

Submitted by admin on Wed, 07/31/2002 - 00:00

NEW CALEDONIA’S MARIE-CLAUDE TJIBAOU AWARDED THE LEGION OF HONOR

NOUMÉA, New Caledonia (July 29, 2002 - Oceania Flash)---Marie-Claude Tjibaou, the widow of slain Kanak leader Jean-Marie Tjibaou, last week was made a Chevalier in the Legion of Honor, the highest decoration in France, the daily newspaper Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes reported.

Tjibaou, who currently is chair of the Board of Directors of the Cultural Agency for the Development of Kanak Culture (ADCK), received the honor from Alain Christnacht (a former High Commissioner in New Caledonia and more recently special adviser to former French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin), at a ceremony at the Tjibaou Cultural Center near the capital of Nouméa.

Tjibaou, 53, is also an elected member of the Economic and Social Council of New Caledonia from her municipality of Hienghène (northwestern coast of the main island) and a member of the Board of Directors of the French overseas broadcasting network RFO.

In...

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Wed
31
Jul
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MARSHALL ISLANDS, FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA

Submitted by admin on Wed, 07/31/2002 - 00:00

EDITORIAL

Marshall Islands Journal Majuro, Marshall Islands

July 12, 2002

LOSE U.S. POSTAL BATTLE, MUST KEEP FEMA

At least 47 dead, hundreds injured and 1,500 homes damaged or destroyed. Tropical storm Chata‘an (which turned into a typhoon by the time it hit Guam) devastated Chuuk State in the Federated States of Micronesia with heavy and unrelenting rains earlier this month. The state is facing possibly its greatest disaster ever.

Five years ago, Typhoon Paka wreaked havoc on western atolls in the Marshalls before blowing its way to Guam, where it set world wind speed records. The El Ninno-inspired drought of 1997-1998 also caused significant, though possibly less dramatic, results.

It is in this context that concerns by the Marshall Islands and the FSM over U.S. plans to terminate U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance to the islands is obvious and understandable.

Neither country has anything like the...

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Wed
31
Jul

NEW REPORT DESCRIBES POPULATION TRENDS BEHIND ASIA'S DEVELOPMENT

Submitted by piradmin on Wed, 07/31/2002 - 00:00

"The Future of Population in Asia," a special report by East-West Center staff members Tim Brown, Minja Kim Choe, Andrew Mason, Vinod K. Mishra, Robert D. Retherford, and Sidney B. Westley, 150 pages. The PDF files can be seen at http://www2.ewc.hawaii.edu/pop/pop59000.htm. 

HONOLULU, Hawai‘i (July 30, 2002 – East-West Wire)---Rebellious teen-agers, polluted mega-cities, changing family values, an expanding HIV/AIDS epidemic, growing numbers of elderly and fluctuating economic growth. These are just a few of the trends in Asia today that are linked to dramatic changes in the size and structure of the region's population.

Asia's economic transformation since World War II, plus breakthroughs in health and family-planning technology, resulted in an unprecedented pace of population change. And population change is a key story behind many of today's news stories from the region.

"The Future of...

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