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By Aloysius Laukai

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (The National, Jan. 2) – The Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) is yet to give a safety guarantee for an environmental audit team to carry out a survey before any mining project can be established on Bougainville.

Mining Minister Sam Akoitai made these remarks a fortnight ago in Buka whilst commenting on ABG’s push to have the National Government cede to them the powers relating to mining.

The ABG wants those powers by the end of last year.

The minister told The National in Buka that environmental issues must be addressed before any discussions on opening the Panguna copper mine or any other mine can commence on Bougainville.

Minister Akoitai said that environmental issues that ignited the Bougainville conflict were real issues and that ABG must not ignore them.

Mr Akoitai said environmental laws had changed in recent years, thus, making environmental waste disposal plan a number one...

SUVA. Fiji (Fiji Times, Jan. 3) – Ousted Sugar Cane Growers Council chief executive Jagannath Sami was yesterday thrown out of his office by armed soldiers.

Two soldiers entered the CEOs office at about 3.20 p.m. and demanded that Mr Sami hand over the keys to the office.

The soldiers then escorted Mr Sami out of the premises.

But before leaving, one of the soldiers informed the council staff that if Mr Sami returned to the office and they did not inform the military, all staff would be taken to the Duke of Edinburgh Barracks in Lautoka.

"This afternoon, at around 3.20, two military officers stormed into my office and demanded that I get out of the office," said Mr Sami. "They also demanded that I hand over the keys to my office. I complied and asked for a receipt but the response from them was just get out. As I was making my way out, I heard one of them say that if I went back to the office and they did not tell them, all would be taken to the barracks...

By Aenet Rowa, Yokwe

MAJURO, Marshall Islands (Yokwe, Jan. 3) - From the Hawaiian islands, northward to the cold regions of the Yukon, then across the Continental United States to the Eastern Seaboard, a new generation of Americans is stepping forward to help a people in the Tropical Pacific who have sacrificed much in support of U.S. Defense and World Peace.

Upon learning about the nuclear legacy of their nation's Cold War nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands and hearing of the continuing challenges facing the Marshallese, some U.S. teens are investing time and energy in doing what they can to help.

In the town of Skagway, known as the Gateway to the Klondike Gold Rush, the "chilling" history of the impact of nuclear testing in the Marshalls is being retold by local students.

Shelby Surdyk, Sierra Moran and Erica Harris, members of the city school's Drama, Debate and Speech Team, performed "For the Good of Mankind," a 12-minute Reader's Theatre piece...

SUVA, Fiji (Fiji Times, Jan. 3) - The Fiji Employers Federation supports moves by the military to allow dual citizenship to reverse the steady loss of skilled workers to other countries.

Chief executive Ken Roberts said Fiji should encourage skilled workers from overseas as it would benefit the country.

He said they would bring in business, jobs and would be good for investment.

He said there should be some sort of arrangement that skilled workers from Fiji who are overseas be granted permanent residency in Fiji without losing their passport.

Roberts said there were incomplete data to verify the number of skilled people who had left since the first coup.

Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama signaled the biggest shake-up in citizenship laws since independence in 1970.

For the past 36 years, anyone who holds Fiji citizenship is barred from being a citizen of another country.

Those who take citizenship abroad are legally obliged to surrender...