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Poverty critiques central to Samoa ombudsman report

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, August 31, 2015) – Samoa's Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi has described a report into human rights in the country as foolish.

He told the Samoa Observer the report's observations on poverty come from "palagi" thinking and the report's writers have based their ideas on African countries.

The first State of Human Rights Report for Samoa was compiled by the Office of the Ombudsman in Samoa and says one in five people in Samoa lives below the poverty line. Tuilaepa says there is no one walking around without clothes in Samoa, nor has anyone died because of a lack of food.

He says not being able to afford school fees is also a sign of poverty but he says with free education in Samoa people are lying if they say they have no money to send their children to school.

Concerns over implications for drug trafficking

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, August 31, 2015) – Australia's prime minister Tony Abbott has rejected a Papua New Guinea plan to review the Torres Strait Treaty.

The PNG prime minister in July signalled his intention to renegotiate the treaty to allow his citizens easier access to Australian islands and for longer periods.

Peter O'Neill also said he wanted a restoration of traditional access rights to Trans-Fly communities who he claimed had been denied their hunting and fishing rights in the Strait.

However the Cairns Post reports that the Abbott Government fears any move to make it easier for Papua New Guineans to travel across the Torres Strait could increase drug trafficking and the spread of diseases.

Tony Abbott said he would treat any request from PNG with appropriate respect and courtesy but insisted there was no plan for change.

He also dismissed calls for a...

Redundancy reduction to boost efficiency

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, August 31, 2015) – The Honiara City Council in Solomon Islands has announced plans to cut the size of its workforce.

The Honiara mayor, Alfrence Fatai, says his administration is set to undertake a massive redundancy exercise, which aims to get rid of unproductive workers.

He says the council has a big workforce, but its output has proved to be below par, with Honiara called the dirtiest city in the Pacific by visitors.

The mayor says the city's residents deserve a council that can effectively deliver services.

He would not reveal the exact number of workers to be made redundant, but he says by 2016 the Honiara City Council should be left with a highly productive workforce.

Threats to power systems drove unusual payout

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, August 31, 2015) – The Cook Islands Government has revealed threats from some Manihiki landowners drove it to pay them out early.

In a highly unusual process, 10 Manihiki landowners were given about $US26 thousand dollars from the government's contingency fund - a reserve of public money meant for emergencies.

Manihikans, who were in Rarotonga for the Te Maeva celebrations, had expected compensation to be paid at that time for their lands that have been used for solar power plants on Tukao and Manihiki.

The prime minister's chief of staff Elizabeth Wright-Koteka says the landowners wanted to buy goods in Rarotonga before returning to Manihiki.

But with the Land Court still to determine who the rightful owners are, it was not ready to make the payout.

The landowners then threatened to turn off the islands' power systems and re-...