shortage

Headlines

Vanuatu

Operation Prema

Relief assistance has been arriving in Vanuatu for people in areas worst hit by Cyclone Prema in late March. The worst hit parts are North Efate and the Shepherds and Epi region in Central Vanuatu.

Australia has donated USS83,000 worth of disaster relief supplies while the British government gave USS40,000 to buy food. British high commisioner in Port Vila, Thomas Duggin has offered more help after details of the damage has been assessed by the Disaster Office.

The United Nations Development Relief Organisation and Disaster Humanitarian Assistance have pledged USS20,000 towards the relief operation code named ‘Operation Prema’.

The Chinese Red Cross Society, through the Chinese Embassy in Port Vila presented a cheque of USS10,000 to the Prime Minister’s office towards the operation.

The Japanese government are providing goods and services totalling USS 132,000. This includes water tanks, water containers, plastic sheets, tents, medical kits and the dispatch of a person to assess damage and assist with relief distribution.

The disaster relief supplies are being distributed to the affected areas by Vanuatu’s patrol boat, RVS Tukoro assisted by a New Zealand air force Andover aircraft.

Cook Islands

Japanese interested in minerals

The Japanese government has expressed interest in developing the deep sea mineral resources of the Cook Islands. The Japanese ambassador to New Zealand, Kateo Iguchi, said once the minerals were brought to the surface, the country could be one of the richest in the South Pacific.

Cook Islands Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Henry sees the possibility of putting up a joint venture with the Japanese as highly likely. He said other countries had also expressed interest in developing deep sea resources. ***

Vaccine

shortage

A shortage of Hepatitis B vaccine is reported in the Cook Islands. Director of Public Health Roro Daniels says an expected shipment from the non-government New Zealand body, the Hepatitis Foundation, will only be sufficient for treating new-borns. Meanwhile, there are fears dengue fever may have hit Cook Islands again.

Australia

Pacific

minister

Australia has named Gordon Bilney as the Min ister for Pacific Islands Affairs. Bilney will also assume responsibility for

development assistance.

The ministry will be part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, headed by Senator Gareth Evans.

Bilney has previously

served as Minister for De fence Science and Person nel. An Australian govern

ment statement said the appointment reflected the importance Australia attached to its relationships with its Pacific island neighbours.

The Forum

Japan rejects Forum request

Japan has rejected a request from the 15-nation South Pacific Forum to fund a South Pacific trade office in Tokyo.

The secretary general of the South Pacific Forum Secretariat, Iremia Tabai, said he would continue to pursue the idea. Tabai said the Forum believed a trade office would increase the Pacific’s links with Japan and promote economic development in the island nations.

Japan is understood to have rejected the proposal on the grounds that it was too expensive.

American Samoa

Tax increase proposed

American Samoa’s governor AP Lutali wants the excise tax on all imports increased from three per cent to five per cent to raise revenue for a new hospital. Governor Lutali proposes that two per cent would go towards construction of a four-storey hospital, two per cent towards general operations and education, and one per cent is to be used to repay the US

Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Bilney: Minister for Pacific Island Affairs

Tonga

Kingdom in mourning

The Kingdom of Tonga was in mourning and there was sombre quietness in the capital Nuku’alofa as Tongans prepared for the burial of Princess Tupaimoheafo on March 19. The princess

died at Auck land Hospital on March 16 after after be ing treated for cancer for sev eral weeks.

Her hus band, Prince

Tui’pelehake,

is the brother

of King

Taufa’ahau Tupou IV, and was

Prime Minister of Tonga for 26 years before resigning because of ill health last year.

The government declared a 10-day mourning period following the burial of the princess. The declaration means no festivities in the kingdom no dances, socials, or sports, no music other than Christian tunes and no guitar playing during kava sessions.

This is the first death in the Tongan royal family since the death of the immensely popular Queen Salote in 1965 when a six-month period of mourning was observed.

Papua New Guinea

Blow to investor confidence

Resource analysts say investor confidence in Papua New Guinea has been dealt a blow by CRA’s withdrawl from the troubled Mount Kare. CRA said it had ended exploration of the hard rock gold deposit, amid problems with landowners and the government.

Stuart Shelley from Melbourne brokerage JB Were and Son >aid the investment community would not want to see too many riore things go wrong in PNG. Shelley warned that one more aegative would be pretty bad and would put people off PNG

lignificantly.

CRA’s departure follows the Porgera goldmine dispute, vhich sliced nearly US$l billion US dollars of PNG-related locks last year.

Rex Adams from Hambros Equities said “anyone who innounced they were putting money into exploration in PNG vould see their share prices drop like a stone”.

Solomon Islands

New goods tax

The Solomon Islands government’s new eight per cent Goods Sales Tax came into effect on April 1, after its implementation was postponed from March 1. The Ministry of Housing and Government Services has registered over 100 wholesalers and manufacturers who will collect the tax. And permanent secretary Mathias Pepena said the GST will be collected by the government from the wholesalers who are expected to pass it on to the retailers who in turn pass it on to the consumers.

The government said the idea behind the GST was to broaden the country’s tax base so that not only those engaged in formal employment carry the tax burden. In return the government has reduced personal income.

Marshall Islands

Symons jailed

Australian Gregory Symons has been sentenced to 90 days in jail in the Marshall Islands in connection with his scheme to sell Marshall Islands citizenship. He has also been ordered to pay back US$l.25 million to six Taiwanese who paid him in expectation of becoming citizens.

Symons pleaded “no contest” to 15 counts of forging official documents as part of an agreement with the Marshall Islands attorney general’s office. The agreement requires him to serve three months in jail and places him on probation for 10 years while he pays off his debts to the Taiwanese. It also involves the Australian government agreeing to give the Marshall Islands the right to extradite Symons if he does not comply with the terms of the agreement.

New Zealand

Abuse program

New Zealand’s social welfare minister Jenny Shipley has agreed to fund a pilot program to fight sexual and physical abuse in the Samoan community in that country.

Members of the community met Shipley at a workshop to discuss sources of funding to prevent abuse. Pacific island affairs minister Don McKinnon also attended. They wanted Shipley’s commitment to programs aimed at raising awareness, stopping violence and preventing child abuse.

Bill Morton Mourners: Women take food to the funeral