Pacific Beat

Friday, 16 May 2008

Pitcairn rapists out by ChristmasAudio

Updated 16:14:44

RAA group of men convicted of raping and sexually assaulting girls on the Pacific island of Pitcairn are expected to be free by December, after serving less than two years in a prison.Six of nine men convicted received jail sentences of two to 6½ years, to be served on the island.The imprisonment began in late 2006 after the men lost lengthy appeals in both Britain and New Zealand.Now, only three of the men - Randy Christian, and brothers Terry and Brian Young - remain incarcerated prison on the island, but reportedly spend their days working outside of the prison.

Another death threat delivered to Australia's commission in SuvaAudio

Updated 16:14:59

The Australian High Commission in Fiji has received a second death threat.While the first was targeted at High Commissioner James Batley, it's not known if this second was targeting him, or all staff at the mission.The threat was received in a letter which arrived in the High Commission's mailbag - more conventional form of delivery than last week's threat, which was delivered by taxi.Fiji's Police believe the two threats are linked, and they've increased security around the High Commission in Suva.At the same time the Australian government has requested Fiji's interim government to allow Australian Federal Police to enter the country, and provide extra security to staff and facilites.The two threats have led to updated travel warnings to Fiji.

Challenges in family planning and safe motherhoodAudio

Updated 16:15:05

RASolomon Islands is experiencing enormous challenges in the areas of family planning and safe motherhood.Director of Reproductive Health Division, Doctor Junilyn Pikacha says the importance of family planning has still not been widely accepted or understood.She says the lack of resources and capacity to deal with reproductive health issues is further compounded by the country's very high population growth rate.

New Zealand's Immigration Service Pacific division under fire and undeAudio

Updated 16:14:44

For many Pacific islanders, New Zealand is regarded as the land of employment and opportunity.

Thursday, 15 May 2008

NIUE considers asbestos sea dumpAudio

Updated 16:15:50

Four years on from cyclone Heta, and the island of Niue is still trying to decide what to do with sheets of asbestos which were damaged in the storm.Some of it has been temporarily stored near the airport, but there are still many houses around the island with asbestos roofs that need removing.The government says it won't make any decisions until all the asbestos has been gathered and safely stored.But an opposition MP has called for Niue to follow the Cook Islands lead, and dump it at sea.

Australia and New Zealand should pay training costs of Fiji's nursesAudio

Updated 12:08:51

The Fiji Nursing Association has called on developed countries to contribute to the training costs of Fiji's Nurses.The Association says the exodus of skilled Fijian nurses to countries like Australia and New Zealand is a drain on the economy.It says Fiji faces a severe nursing shortage if the exodus continues.

Budget reaction across PacificAudio

Updated 12:08:58

With Australia the major provider of aid in the South Pacific, how is this budget, the first by a Labor Government since 1995, likely to be recieved.Jenny Hayward Jones is the Director of the Melanesia Program at the Lowy Institute for International Policy, and she spoke to Pacific Correspondent Campbell Cooney.

Big sugar deal for FijiAudio

Updated 12:15:17

The Fiji Sugar Corporation has signed its biggest ever deal with Europe - a seven-year agreement worth at least 1 billion Fiji dollars, or just over 710 million Australian dollars.The contract will see 250,000 tonnes of Fiji raw sugar shipped, each year, to Europe's largest sugar refining company, Tate and Lyle.Fiji's Finance Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry, has called on all sugar stakeholders to ensure that contract quotas and quality are met.

Wednesday, 14 May 2008

Australia's Pacific aid budget boostedAudio

Updated 16:20:30

Australia's aid budget for the South Pacific has been boosted by 121 million dollars.In Tuesday night's budget,Treasurer Wayne Swan announced new funding which will take the annual aid budget for the region to 814 million dollars.Special emphasis is being placed on helping island nations with clean water, climate change and customary land rights.

Guam ready to be US supply base for Burmese reliefAudio

Updated 10:55:25

America's Pacific territory of Guam looks set to become a key supply hub for disaster relief efforts in cyclone-ravaged Burma.

Is the Pacific vunerable to a major quakeAudio

Updated 10:55:25

Hard on the heels of the Burma cyclone, there has of course been a major earthquake in southwest China, and substantial loss of life.And geologists say many Pacific nations, sitting as they do where the earth's tectonic plates converge, have the potential to experience quakes as large, or even larger than the Sichuan disaster.

Vatukoula mine set for first gold since coupAudio

Updated 10:55:25

First gold is expected to be poured within days at Fiji's Vatukoula gold mine, which was shutdown in December 2006, after the military coup.In the past,the mine has been one of Fiji's top export earners.

Palau to ban the export of live reef fishAudio

Updated 10:55:25

Palau has moved to protect some of its key natural resources while at the same time showing considerable care for its unique environment.

Tuesday, 13 May 2008

Effectiveness of the UN's AIDS programme questionedAudio

Updated 12:41:34

The United Nations is being accused of treating HIV and AIDS as an exclusive disease at the expense of the rest of the world's health sector.

Greenpeace discovers a pirate tuna fishing vessel in the PacificAudio

Updated 12:41:33

Greenpeace has discovered a pirate tuna fishing vessel in a pocket of international waters between Papua New Guinea and the Federated States of Micronesia.

Solomons Prime Minister says reconciliation must be all encompassing.Audio

Updated 12:41:33

Solomon Islands Prime Minister, Derek Sikua says that Correctional Services is not going to engage in a separate reconciliation process with concerned communities on North Guadalcanal.

The abolition of slavery and the French Pacific.Audio

Updated 12:41:33

This weekend, France celebrated the 160th anniversary of the abolition of slavery.

Concerns expressed about law and order in FijiAudio

Updated 12:41:33

Fiji's military leader had to give an assurance this week that the country is still a safe place to visit following a recent wave of hate crimes committed against women as well as foreign nationals.

Niue explores tourism optionsAudio

Updated 12:41:34

The New Zealand Tourism Research Institute at Auckland University of Technology has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Niue Government to develop tourism in the country.

PINA to stay in FijiAudio

Updated 12:41:34

The Pacific Islands News Association will stay in Fiji, despite a call by one of the organisation's founders that it ought to leave.

NGOs told to deliver results or get out of Eastern HighlandsAudio

Updated 12:41:33

Non government organisations, United Nations agencies and international consultants operating in Papua New Guinea's Eastern Highlands province will be told to leave if they don't start delivering results.

Friday, 09 May 2008

Pure coconut oil powers diesel engines in ApiaAudio

Updated 15:11:57

The budding biofuel industry has stepped up a gear in Samoa, with a group of backyard inventors pioneering the use of pure coconut oil to power their cars.Matatauali'itia Arthur Lesa and Papali'i Panoa Tavita Moala have been running their Toyota 4-wheel-drives for three weeks on oil produced at Mr Lesa's factory in Vaitele.The experiment comes as crude oil prices surge to record highs, topping 120-dollars a barrel this week.

Deposed Fiji prime minister says the truth will prevailAudio

Updated 15:11:57

Deposed prime minister Laisenia Qarase says he is not worried about being investigated by the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption.FICAC invited Mr Qarase to interview to discuss allegations of corruption during his time as Minister of Fijian Affairs and Chairman of the Native Lands Trust Board.

Hospital runs out of foodAudio

Updated 12:44:48

Papua New Guinea's largest hospital,Port Moresby General is well known for running low on drugs and beds -but now it's run out of food.Children in particular are going for days without milk and other necessary supplies in a hospital that's reached breaking point.

Indigenous activists oppose US military build upAudio

Updated 12:44:42

The proposed redeployment of 8,000 US Marines from Okinawa to Guam is being opposed by indigenous Chamorro activists.US military plans to move the Marines and their 9,000 dependents to the US territory have been welcomed by many Guamanians, including the Governor and the Chamber of Commerce.As well as Guam, the Marines are likely to establish bases on Tinian and Pagan islands in the neighbouring Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

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