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PAPEETE, Tahiti (Tahitipresse, Jan. 30) – Some 500 people attended funeral services Monday for Edouard Maamaatua, considered the "father" of French Polynesia's outrigger canoe racing community who had an international reputation. He was 73 years old.

French Polynesia Government President Gaston Tong Sang was among the many political figures that paid their final respects to Maamaatua, who died over the weekend. The funeral services were held in the St. Trinity Church in Tahiti's Commune of Pirae, followed by burial services in Pirae, which borders Papeete on the north side of the capital.

As the mayor of Bora Bora, Tong Sang yearly witnesses the fruit of Maamaatua's pioneer efforts in outrigger canoe racing because that is where the finish line is for the Hawaiki Nui Race through four of the Leeward Islands.

Among other political figures that worked with Maamaatua over the many years of growth in outrigger canoe racing in French Polynesia as well as the Pacific...

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (The National, Jan. 31) – A tertiary institution in Papua New Guinea has been warned to watch out for students using fake certificates to enroll at the college.

The Balob Teachers College has already caught one person trying to use another person’s name to enroll, and will launch a full investigation next week after registration of new intakes are completed.

An education official from the Enga province claimed yesterday that many Grade 10 "drop-outs" were buying Grade 12 certificates from other students to enroll at tertiary institutions around the country.

Education Secretary for Gutnius Lutheran Church in Enga Mark Beto told The National in Mt Hagen yesterday that he had just returned from Lae’s Balob Teachers’ College, where he saw 11 Grade 10 dropouts from Enga province lining up with other students to enroll at the college on Monday.

Mr. Beto said he learnt that they were trying to enroll as self-sponsored students....

SUVA, Fiji (Fiji Times, Feb. 1) – The 36 new cases of HIV infection in Fiji last year has taken to 236 the number of confirmed sufferers in the country since 1989, the Fiji Ministry of Health said yesterday.

Interim Health Minister Doctor Jona Senilagakali said the statistics showed Fiji had passed the slow burning stage of the disease in the first 10 years of the HIV epidemic.

He said 31 new HIV positive cases were confirmed in 2003, 29 in 2004 and 29 in 2005.

Dr Senilagakali said 82 per cent of cases were made up of Fijians. Some 88 per cent contacted the virus through heterosexual transition. Of these, 43 per cent were women, and 44 per cent were between the ages of 20-29 years.

He said 31 per cent of those affected were between the age group of 30-39 years while 10 per cent of those with the disease ranged between the age group of 40-49 years.

He said a certain group had been identified in the Fiji National HIV Strategic Plan 2007-2011 with...

KILLINGS, DANGER DON’T DETER SCAVANGERS AT PNG MINE

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (The National, Jan. 31) – Illegal mining is still going on at the Porgera mine on Papua New Guinea despite the dangers posed to those involved, leaders from the Enga province were told.

[PIR editor’s note: According to their website, Barrick is the owner of a 75 percent joint venture interest and is the operator of the Porgera gold mine located in Enga Province in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. The mine is located about 130 kilometers west of the established town of Mount Hagen and about 680 kilometers by road from the coastal port of Lae on the central north coast of the mainland peninsula from which all materials are freighted.]

Deputy Prime Minister Don Polye and Inter-Government Relations Minister Sam Abal were told this by Porgera Joint Venture (PJV) officials and security personnel during a visit to the mine and its surroundings last week.

The two ministers were...