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U.S. EPA FUNDS $2.9 MILLION WATER TANK PROJECT IN CNMI

Submitted by admin on Fri, 05/04/2007 - 00:00

By Gemma Q. Casas

SAIPAN, CNMI (Marianas Variety, May 4) – Thanks to funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Saipan will get a million more gallons of water early next year when the new water reservoir in Kannat Tabla is completed.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Program Manager Patricia Young and Barry F. Pollock, a professional engineer with Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Division, joined Commonwealth Utilities Corp. Executive Director Anthony Guerrero, Rep. Manuel A. Tenorio, R-Saipan, Rep. Francisco S. Dela Cruz, Covenant-Saipan, and other public officials, in a groundbreaking ceremony for the Kannat Tabla 1 MG Tank and Waterline Project yesterday afternoon.

The US$2.98 million project is expected to be completed by March 2008.

"This is a million gallon tank. We do give allocations to all the states for this type of drinking water infrastructure project. Commonwealth Utilities Corp decided that this is how they wanted to...

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Fri
04
May
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PALAU COMPACT REVIEW TEAM TO MEET WITH U.S. OFFICIALS

Submitted by admin on Fri, 05/04/2007 - 00:00

By Bernadette H. Carreon

KOROR, Palau (Marianas Variety, May 4) – Palau Compact Review Commission members will fly to Washington to meet with United States government officials for discussion of the Compact of Free Association.

The meeting with officials is expected to complete the commission’s preparation to complete its recommendations for the Compact renegotiating team.

At the same time the commission said that it is now reviewing the Compact and all 12 Subsidiary Agreements.

In a press statement the Compact Review Commission said that commission is now in the middle of its review of the Compact.

The commission is also reviewing the recommendations from the National Economic Symposium , the meetings with government officials and agencies and public sectors including other numerous documents.

The statement added that last year, the commission conferred with the governments of Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall...

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May
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FIJI TEACHER SHORTAGE CRAMS 50 STUDENTS IN CLASSROOMS

Submitted by admin on Fri, 05/04/2007 - 00:00

SUVA. Fiji (Fiji Times, May 5) – The shortage of teachers employed by the ministry continues to plague education delivery, says Fiji Teachers Union secretary Agni Deo Singh.

He called on the ministry to promptly fix the situation.

He said in some schools the teacher-student ratio was too much for a teacher to handle.

Such situations need to be remedied so the teachers and the students did not suffer in terms of quality of education, said Mr Singh.

"The demand for education has increased and we need more teachers in the system," he said. "In the urban centres, class sizes are very large.

"A reasonable size for a class would be 30 to 35 students but now we have classes with 45 to 55 students. The same applies in the rural and island schools, where one teacher could teach more than one class. We also do not have any provision for relieving teachers," he said.

Attempts to get comments from the Education Ministry were unsuccessful as questions...

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Fri
04
May
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GUAM PORT AUTHORITY SUES ARAB SHIPPING COMPANY

Submitted by admin on Fri, 05/04/2007 - 00:00

By Steve Limtiaco

HAGATNA, Guam (Pacific Daily News, May 4) – A distressed United Arab Emirates ship allegedly damaged a pier at the Port Authority of Guam several years ago, and the port this week sued the shipping company and its insurer for failing to pay for nearly US$800,000 in damage.

The port alleges that the shipping company allowed an un-seaworthy ship, the "MV AJMAN 2" to set off from Mexico to HongKong, sometime around August 2004, according to a complaint filed Wednesday in District Court by the Office of the Attorney General.

The complaint alleges that the ship was owned and operated by Marwan Shipping and Trading Company and chartered and operated by Five Seas Shipping Company, both of the United Arab Emirates. The companies allegedly were insured by Navigators Protection & Indemnity and Al-Buhaira National Insurance Company.

The distressed ship on Aug. 20, 2004 was allowed to enter the port and moor at Pier F-5, according to the...

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Fri
04
May
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PNG WOMEN’S GROUP CONDEMNS SOMARE GAMBLING BILL

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PNG WOMEN’S GROUP CONDEMNS SOMARE GAMBLING BILL

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (PNG Post-Courier, May 3) – Women leaders have condemned the Government for legalising casinos and online gambling in Papua New Guinea.

The National Council of Women and a Southern region women’s group said a lot of Papua New Guineans were getting hooked on gambling, leaving their families desolate and hungry.

The women’s groups were responding to yesterday’s front page article in the Post-Courier on Parliament passing the new Gaming Control Bill 2007 to introduce new forms of gambling,

"What service is Government providing for those who are now addicted to gambling through poker machines?

"There are mothers and fathers who spend every day in front of the magic machines or horses or pack of cards for magic moments to strike," said the Papua Hahine Social Action Forum (PHSAF).

NCW president Schollar Warai warned casinos and online gambling would only exacerbate...

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04
May
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COOK ISLANDS MULL CONTRACTING FOR PUBLIC SERVICES

Submitted by admin on Fri, 05/04/2007 - 00:00

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, May 3) – The Public Service Commissioner in the Cook Islands says he hopes a review of the Ministry of Works can ascertain what core functions of the ministry should be maintained by government, and what could possibly be commercialized.

The Public Service Commissioner, Navy Epati, says a decision on who will carry out the review is expected to be made this week, with six companies, four local and two from New Zealand, having expressed interest.

Mr. Epati says having some parts of the ministry privatized is in line with global thinking as well as the country’s own public sector reform philosophy.

He said, "It’ll be good to see those areas of the ministry that can be and should be privatized, be privatized. And those areas in the interest of the public to manage then that remains. But yet, there needs to be a clear identification of what needs to stay and what needs to go."

Navy Epati says the...

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Fri
04
May
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ASIAN SPIRIT ADDS NEW PALAU-PHILIPPINE ROUTE

Submitted by admin on Fri, 05/04/2007 - 00:00

By Bernadette H. Carreon

KOROR, Palau (Marianas Variety, May 4) – Asian Spirit is reducing its flight to Davao to once a week and instead will start flying to Cebu six times a day starting on May 4.

According to the airline’s new flight schedule, Asian Spirit will leave Koror to Cebu and Manila on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

[PIR Editors Note: According to PIR files, Asian Spirit started operations in 1996 with flights to Caticlan, the jump-off point for travelers to the world-famous Boracay Island [south of Luzon Island where the national capital city of Manila is situated]. The airline made its inaugural Palau-Davao flight in April 2006, and is looking at expansion into other parts of Micronesia.]

Flight from Manila to Cebu then Koror is scheduled on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays

The flight to Davao is scheduled every Wednesday and had been changed to a daytime flight of 9:45 a.m.

Earlier Asian Spirit management said that the Cebu...

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Fri
04
May
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ECONOMIST OPTIMISTIC ABOUT GUAM, CNMI

Submitted by admin on Fri, 05/04/2007 - 00:00

By Gaynor Dumat-ol Daleno

HAGATNA, Guam (Pacific Daily News, May 4) – The chief executive officer and president of First Hawaiian Bank said yesterday he's optimistic about Guam's economic future -- even given a cash-strapped government of Guam.

"Consumer confidence seems to be strong," said First Hawaiian President and Chief Executive Officer Donald G. Horner while on Guam yesterday.

He's expected to visit Saipan today.

But while Guam's economic indicators are overall positive, Horner said he's concerned about a rapid rise in real estate values because that could squeeze middle- to low-income residents out of the homebuying market.

Before the increased real estate activity within the two most recent years, Guam's real estate went flat for about a decade.

That long slump released pent-up demand, which has helped to stir the Guam homebuying activity, he said.

But Horner cautioned: "You don't want the price appreciation to be too rapid...

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Fri
04
May
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TAIWAN PUTS $1 MILLION INTO 8 PACIFIC ORGANIZATIONS

Submitted by admin on Fri, 05/04/2007 - 00:00

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, May 3) – Taiwan has provided funding of just over US$1 million for eight Pacific regional organisations.

The beneficiary organisations are the Forum Fisheries Agency, the Fiji School of Medicine, the Pacific Islands Forum, the Pacific Community, the South Pacific Board for Education Assessment, the Pacific Applied Geoscinece Commission, and the University of the South Pacific.

The money is for projects which come under the priority areas of the Forum’s Pacific Plan.

The Forum Secretariat has also received US$177,000 from Taiwan for scholarships.

This scheme has been in place for six years and this year 11 scholarships have been awarded for students from around the region to study education, medicine, law, commerce, engineering, carpentry, agriculture and tourism.

There are already 27 awardees under the scheme, mostly studying at local and regional institutions.

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Fri
04
May
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COOK ISLANDS WOMEN GATHER TO DISCUSS INEQUALITY

Submitted by admin on Fri, 05/04/2007 - 00:00

RAROTONGA, Cook Islands (The Cook Islands Herald, April 28) – Amongst the singing, colorful head ei’s, island humor and good fun times at the National Conference of Women, the serious work to help improve the standard of living for Cook Islands women is taking place.

There are 16 different ways in which the Cook Islands Government is to make an extra special effort so that the women of our nation are not discriminated against. It must do so because it is a party to CEDAW—the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

During the National Conference of Women this week, women from throughout the Cook Islands told their stories of how gender inequality still exists, despite the general thought that the Cook Islands is "quite modern."

These stories came through in recommendations to be made to Government, ways that they can make changes so that Gender equality can be a reality here.

The Conference of Women began by each group on...

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