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SUVA, Fiji (RNZI, Feb. 6) - The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies says life hasn’t returned to normal for those living in the northern and eastern parts of Fiji, which were hit by Cyclone Ami last month.

Food shortages remain a major concern.

According to the Fiji Times, there are fears that more than 8,000 victims of Cyclone Ami could die from starvation because food rations are running out.

The Times reports that villagers in some areas of Vanua Levu also say they could not depend on food rations because it was not the kind of food they were used to.

The newspaper quotes one villager as saying that the rations given out to them last only a week and they are worried they may not have anything to eat afterwards.

The villagers are pleading with the government to urgently distribute farming equipment and seedlings so they can start planting.

They say they might not have died from the cyclone but fear they will...

SUVA, Fiji (Fijilive, Feb. 7) - A senior artist at the University of South Pacific’s (USP) Oceania Centre for Arts and Culture (OCAC), Lingikoni Vaka‘uta, has won a prestigious 2003 Commonwealth Arts and Crafts Award.

Mr Vaka‘uta, a former USP student, has been an artist with the University’s Oceania Centre, since 1998.

He was one of ten artists selected from 250 applicants from the 54 Member Countries of the Commonwealth Foundation, for the biennial award and the award to Vaka‘uta is a $9,000 special ‘development’ award, which will allow him to spend the second semester of 2003 as a visiting artist with the Manukau School of Visual Arts, at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

"I feel relieved that the contemporary Pacific artwork we are doing at the Oceania Centre is being recognized," Vaka‘uta said.

"This award will help me to create a network with other artists in the Pacific Region and the Commonwealth. During my attachment, I intend to learn...

SAIPAN, CNMI (Marianas Variety, Feb. 7) - Thirteen alien workers have filed labor complaints against a garment factory for not paying their wages since December and for not providing them with cooking facilities.

The complaints were filed with the CNMI Department of Labor and Immigration and the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Federal Ombudsman’s Office.

The complainants want to collect their unpaid wages and liquidated damages from their employer, NET Corp.

The workers said the San Antonio-based garment factory, which is managed by Mr. and Mrs. K. W. Lee, has not paid their wages since last Dec. 6, which is equivalent to three to five paychecks.

NET’s attorney, Robert O’Connor, said if his client has failed to pay the workers he is sure that management is willing to sit down with them and pay them.

O’Connor said if the corporation is late in paying the wages, it is because it has a lot of sub-contracting jobs. He added that his client is doing...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (RNZI, Feb. 6) - The Marshall Islands government says an independent report supports its claim for increased compensation for damage caused by U.S. nuclear weapons testing at Bikini and Enewetak atolls more than 50 years ago.

The report, commissioned by the Marshall Islands and carried out by a Washington law firm, says the compensation fund set up by the U.S. was manifestly inadequate to compensate Marshall Islanders for damages caused by the 67 U.S. nuclear tests, which began in 1951.

The Marshall Islands hopes the report will add impetus to a petition lodged more than two years ago with the U.S. Congress asking for more than US$2 billion in additional funding.

The U.S. Congress asked the Bush administration to review the petition nearly a year ago but Marshall Islands officials says there has been little progress on the matter.

February 7, 2003

For additional reports from Radio New Zealand International, go to PACIFIC...