Drought affects Vanuatu crops
JACKSSON Kalses describes himself as a small-time farmer in east Efate, the island in which Port Vila, the national capital of Vanuatu sits. From the income he gets from his vegetable farm of mainly cabbage, tomato and
Samisoni Pareti
Masitabua the central banker
By Mereseini Marau-Totoka Growing up in a settlement just on the outskirts of Fiji’s capital Suva, the newly appointed Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of Fiji Esala Masitabua saw the 18-storey building located on
Shake up for Radio Australia
New voices for Pacific broadcasts By Nic Maclellan in Melbourne The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is once again making changes that will affect broadcasting into the Pacific. From 22 January, ABC’s Radio
Fiji Government sets up its own credit bureau
By MERESEINI MARAU – TOTOKA The Fijian Government will set up a new credit bureau by next year to replace a privately owned data bureau which the government closed down in 2016. This was a key recommendation of a
Fiji Government sets up its own credit bureau
The Fijian Government will set up a new credit bureau by next year to replace a privately owned data bureau which the government closed down in 2016. The new data bureau plan was revealed by the International Monetary
Time for compromise
Fiji calls for understanding By NETANI RIKA, Pasay City, the Philippines AS the self-nominated representative for Small Island Developing States, Fiji has found itself in a position where it may have to fight a lone
Bad Boy
Vietnam earns villain status By NETANI RIKA, Pasay City, the Philippines DESPITE its promise to address the issue of illegal fishing in the Pacific, Vietnam has found itself out in the cold at the Western and Central
The Flip Side of RAMSI – Some Observations
My frame of reference for RAMSI always goes back to June 2003 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Sydney, Australia when I listened carefully to Minister Lawrey Chan described how bad things had become in Solomon Islands and
Fiji looks North
Kiribati, Tuvalu on Fiji’s tuna radar By NETANI RIKA, Pasay City, the Philippines FIJI will seek approval to conduct exploratory tuna fishing in Kiribati and Tuvalu waters for the next five years. The move comes as
Race for FFA job
Pacific lawyers to replace FFA chief By NETANI RIKA, Pasay City, the Philippines A TWO-WAY race is on for the position of Director-General of the Forum Fisheries Agency. With the contract of incumbent James Movick
Embracing a Better FAD for the World’s “Tuna Belt”
A marine scientist who studies a common fishing device’s impact on the world’s oceans – and how to minimise that impact – and a fisheries policy expert urge immediate action to adopt proven innovations. By
Japan, here we come
Flights open By NETANI RIKA, Pasay City, Philippines DIRECT flights from Fiji to Japan are expected to boost sales of tuna from the Pacific and create larger profits for regional exporters Fiji Airways is expected
Closing the fisheries loop holes
Authorities battle with e-monitoring By NETANI RIKA, Pasay City, the Philippines WHEN the Pacific met its international partners at the 12th Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission in Bali, Indonesia in
Hard decisions now
Fiji sets sights on distant water fishing nations By Netani Rika in Manila. PACIFIC tuna is under threat from the world’s largest fishing nations including China, Japan and South Korea. And the inaction of the
Blue boats unacceptable – New Caledonia
French navy intercepts Vietnamese fishermen By Netani Rika in Manila. THE French Navy has intercepted two Vietnamese blue boats fishing illegally in New Caledonian waters. This is the second
Struggle on the high seas
Small nations suffer huge burden By Netani Rika in Manila. KIRIBATI already faces the huge burden of rising sea levels which threatens its very existence. With little land resources on which to grow food,
Cop-out in Bonn
WITH Fiji’s hosting of COP23 in Germany last month, I invited a Pacific negotiator to give me her take on the climate change talks and her views are republished below. “THE COP in Bonn appeared to be two meetings
Whispers
Melanesia blues IS the big boss of the secretariat of the Melanesian Spearhead Group in trouble over his decision to be seconded again to his former employer in Fiji after taking up the Port Vila-based position? Rumours
Pacific Entity of the Year
RAMSI is our choice “MY brother wanted to escape down to the river but they chased him down and got him. They partly cut his head and dragged him back to where he was. They took him close to where we were and they cut
The flip side of RAMSI
MY frame of reference for RAMSI always goes back to June 2003 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Sydney, Australia, when I listened carefully to Minister Lawrey Chan described how bad things had become in Solomon Islands and
Social media way to campaign in Fiji
WITH less than a year left for Fiji’s 2018 general election, registered political parties are whole-heartedly embracing a new weapon to take their message to voters – the social media platforms of Facebook, Twitter
Independence movement prepares for referendum
Remembrance Day, November 11. French soldiers, sailors and police stand in ranks near Noumea’s war memorial at Bir Hakiem, to remember the fallen. Across town, at Ko We Kara, members of the Union Calédonienne Party
Manus under siege
Asylum seekers fight for survival at former refugee centre “THE situation in Manus is critical. We are thirsty and have been waiting for rain in past few days. We have some water we’re rationing but it’s not