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Locals ‘do not see any benefits for Vanuatu’

PORT VILA, Vanuatu (Vanuatu Daily Post, Feb. 27, 2012) – A meeting on Thursday this week at the Chamber of Commerce recommended a temporary suspension of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Trade Agreement (TA).

The meeting was held by members of the local manufacturers and the Vanuatu Chamber of Commerce to address trade issues affecting the local manufacturers and exporters.

Despite numerous meetings with the government trade officials, there was no sign of progress.

"We do not see any benefits for Vanuatu and the local manufacturers. There are a lot of products coming in through this trade agreement that do not satisfy the rules of origin. Some of these products are very cheap, and obviously not from our MSG partners, but have been imported through the MSG trade agreement."

"It is affecting our businesses and also the people and farmers we work with. If this continues, unemployment will rise. We...

Slowdown in purchases leads to frustration at Pure Pacifica

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, Feb. 27, 2012) – The nonu association in Samoa is calling on farmers not to waste a surplus of the fruit.

The association says there is an over-supply of nonu fruit as the company, Pure Pacifica, which encouraged an expansion in production, stopped buying large volumes from the end of last year.

The President of the Nonu Association Garry Vui says his company, Nonu Samoa Enterprises Limited, can sell the extra fruit as sun-dried chips.

"We have ordered up to 20,000 pounds from my company per month for the next six months, so let’s advise the public out there not to get angry, that there is a positive. Use the fruit that you’re not using, chop it up and dry it in the sun, and then we’ll buy the chips off you."

Garry Vui says Pure Pacifica has not explained why it ceased purchasing nonu but it has expressed confidence it will start...

Striking workers lash out employees who won’t-strike

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, Feb. 27, 2012) – The huge gold mine in Indonesia’s Papua shut down operations late last week, citing a campaign of violence and intimidation by employees against workers who did not join last year’s strike.

In a press release a Freeport McMoRan spokesperson, Ramdani Sirait says some returning workers have engaged in acts of violence and intimidation against non-striking workers.

He says the company is working with union officials and government authorities to resolve the ongoing issues.

The statement did not detail the nature of the violence but three workers have been arrested and are being held in police custody.

Virgo Solossa, the head of the Mimika chapter of the All-Indonesian Workers Union told the Jakarta Post that employees stopped working because the company had failed to fulfill part of an agreement signed in late December.

Government ‘has its priorities wrong,’ living cost remains high

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, Feb. 28, 2012) – A union group in the Cook Islands is strongly critical of the government’s supplementary budget.

The Cook Islands Workers Association’s president, Anthony Turua, says the government has its priorities wrong.

He says the spending on airline subsidies, the sports agency CISNOC and the Civil List, ignores the impact of a deficit budget on the Cook Islands’ workers.

Mr. Turua says workers are crying out for additional purchasing power to combat the increase in the cost of living.

He says the government should invest in the country’s people first through instruments that will provide quality workers who will become more productive.