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SUVA, Fiji (Fiji Times, Mar. 1) - The Fiji Visitors Bureau says Fiji needs to open a 400-room hotel every year for the next 10 years at the rate tourism was growing.

Chief executive Viliame Gavoka said the expected growth rate was 7 percent for the next five to ten years in terms of visitor arrivals.

"For 2007 we expect to see 576,000 visitors and we should see some 750,000 by 2010. Tourism has a bright future. It proved to be resilient in spite of the natural disasters and political upheavals," he said.

Gavoka said the past five years did not see many hotels open.

"The significant growth in visitors resulted in a furious pace of construction," he said.

Gavoka noted the opening of Golf Terraces and Sofitel hotel at Denarau. Coming up is the Hilton at Denarau, the Marriott in Momi and the Intercontinental hotel at Natadola.

He said more big-name hotels were on the drawing board and they would be come realities if visitor numbers kept...

FIJI’S HISTORIC NAVALA IS A STEP BACK IN TIME

SUVA, Fiji (Fiji Times, Mar. 1) - They say when you visit Navala village in Fiji you feel like you are going back in time.

The village, in the interior of Ba Province [on the northwest coast of Fiji’s Viti Levu island], has a rich history, which the people are proud of.

Navala is a national heritage site. It is full of history and legends. One of them is about the caves overlooking the village.

Village elder Josefa Tubi, 69, said the caves, halfway up a steep mountain, were a refuge during tribal wars in the dark ages of Fiji's history. The caves are near the old village (koro makawa).

It was where the women and children hid while their men guarded outside.

Tubi said the caves were in a strategic location and anyone approaching could be seen.

When villagers moved to the present location, the caves became empty.

The caves became taboo ground. The only time people would go up the...

SUVA, Fiji (Fiji Times, Mar. 1) - The Native Land Trust Board has given the Fiji Electricity Authority a 50-year lease to develop a wind farm.

Native Land Trust Board spokesman Nimilote Naivalumaira said approval for the land at Butoni, in Sigatoka, came into effect last month.

[PIR editor’s note: Sigatoka is located on the southwest coast of Fiji’s Viti Levu island.]

Naivalumaira said the annual rent for use of the land was FJ$18,500 [US$10,577] and a premium of FJ$150,000 [US$85,761] was payable.

"The area leased is 51.3145 hectares [126 acres] subject to survey and de-reservation. In addition to the annual rent, a payment of one per cent annual generation gross receipt will be paid by the company," he said.

He said the authority had already paid out the amount to landowners in Sigatoka.

Minister for Works and Energy Savenaca Draunidalo said the Fiji Electricity Authority was embarking on becoming a 100 percent renewable energy power...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands (Solomon Star, March 1) – A total of 50 international election observers are expected in the Solomon Islands to monitor the April 5 polls.

In a circular issued yesterday by the Election Observer Coordination Team, current indications are that the Commonwealth Secretariat will send 12 observers, including four staff; the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat will send six to eight observers; the Government of Japan will send about five observers; Australia will send some 10 observers; New Zealand intends to send some 10 observers; and a few observers will come from the United States.

The United Kingdom will not send anyone on a bilateral basis, but is providing support for the delegation organized by the Commonwealth Secretariat.

"In almost all of these delegations, there will be a mix of current or former Members of Parliament, some of them...