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PNG Post-Courier

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (Nov. 30) – Papua New Guinea Internal Security Minister Bire Kimisopa is hosting a public forum in Goroka in January to address issues related to squatter settlements.

The forum will bring together provincial authorities, the business community, churches, non-government organizations, squatter settlers and their leaders and community interest groups to discuss and find ways for all Goroka people to live together in peace and harmony.

This is the most positive stand to come from a national leader on the issue of squatter settlements anywhere in Papua New Guinea.

Kimisopa has opted for peaceful means to deal with a growing and serious problem facing Papua New Guinea instead of calling in bulldozers to destroy the homes of people squatting illegally on government land.

Political leaders must realize the seriousness of the squatter settlement problem and take the lead in finding answers...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, Dec. 1) – An Australian economist says Pacific island nations could have higher standards of living within a generation if they adopted policies that promote growth.

Professor Helen Hughes, a frequent critic of Pacific aid spending and the way it is used by governments, has produced a report called "The Pacific is Viable," for the Sydney based Centre for Independent Studies.

Professor Hughes says unless the countries become viable there is a risk of a flood of illegal migrants into Australia.

She says to be viable Pacific nations need to start to work and to earn an income.

"And they can all do that. I mean there is tourism, for the larger islands there are agricultural exports, there are many ways of earning a living, but you just can’t sit and not earn a living."

Professor Hughes says there is no reason why the Pacific cannot be dotted with islands as successful as Norfolk, which she says...

By Oyaol Ngirairikl

HAGATNA, Guam (Pacific Daily News, Dec. 1) – Damage appears to have been light in the Micronesian state of Yap in the wake of Typhoon Nanmadol, which swept the islands with 60-mile-per-hour winds.

No injuries have been reported. The state's power and water services have been restored.

Nanmadol passed north of Yap islands in the Federated States of Micronesia around 8 p.m. Tuesday.

According to the National Weather Service, the highest winds recorded at Yap proper were tropical storm strength at about 60 mph.

Officials have said there were no reported injuries caused by the typhoon.

Moses Moglig, director of the Office of Outer Island Affairs, yesterday said preliminary assessment reports of Yap proper show some minor damage to crops, several homes and buildings.

"During the height of the typhoon, power went down island wide, but was restored to residents by early this morning," Moglig said yesterday.

The...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands (Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corp., Dec. 1) – A purported medical school advertising itself as King’s University School of Medicine, Solomon Islands Campus, has resurfaced in the Solomons, with emails claiming the nonexistent school is legitimate.

The memo, from a "consortium" representing the school, expressed regret at the way negative publicity has been made about it by certain quarters in Solomon Islands.

The email says that media reports about the university have been unfair. It says that efforts to establish the university have not ended and will restart in Solomon Islands shortly.

The email requested that approval for its operation in the country by the Foreign Investment Board not be cancelled, but rather be suspended, and reviewed when efforts restart for the University campus in Solomon Islands.

But SIBC News understands that the Foreign Investment Board has cancelled the approval earlier granted to establish a Kings...