From Paris, to Marrakech to the Pacific
WHILE the twenty-second Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP23) may be over, it was straight from one monumental environment event to another with the start of the thirteenth
Saint of Fiji 7s rugby
Ben Ryan, the legacy THE Free Dictionary defines a saint a person of great benevolence and virtue; a founder or patron of a movement. Many people would identify this with Englishman Ben Ryan who moved to Fiji in 2013
More work, fewer workers
Deadline looms for Northern Mariana Islands ONCE the clock turns 12 midnight on December 31, 2019, a cloud of uncertainty would hang in the air in the Northern Mariana Islands. That is the expiration date of the CNMI
Juffa stands his ground
Vocal governor an example to all THE Pacific need more legislators like Gary Juffa, Governor of Oro Province in Northern Papua New Guinea. He is a one-man army fighting to rid his country of the scourge of corruption
No place for ill discipline
Disciplined services must be held to account THE appalling behaviour by members of Papua New Guinea’s security forces this month must be condemned by every member of the community. When soldiers and police
Vanuatu learns from the Italian Alps
I MET a fascinating business woman this week, and she doesn’t much want to be identified, just to let people know of her products. It’s the sort of occupation which has since forever engrossed the natives of
Cooks leads the way
Quota system for albacore, bigeye The Cook Islands has become the first Pacific Island nation to adopt a quota management system (QMS) for its longline fishery to control catches of albacore and bigeye tuna. The Marine
Movers and Shakers On-line registration
THE Solomon Islands has introduced online registration for business applicants at the Business Registry. Launched last week with a new look, Company Haus website caters to online applications for foreign investment
Credit can increase without Government guarantees
Accessing credit is difficult for businesses in the Pacific. While there’s enough liquidity in the banking system, the ratio of private sector credit to GDP is in most cases less than 50 percent— similar to the
Water boss
Samoan heads regional body The Pacific Waters and Wastewater Association has appointed Pitolau Lusia Sefo-Leau of Samoa as its new Chief Executive Officer. Ms Sefo-Leau (inset) brings to the organization an extensive
Time to review development model
It’s more than just building roads, says Thomson DEVELOPMENT should be about more than building roads or buying air conditioners, the President of the UN General Assembly, Peter Thomson, told IPS in a recent
Connecting seafood businesses with investors
OVER 60 per cent of the enterprises gained investment, new partners or new customers from connections made during the event participating in an event that aims to connect seafood industries with investors. Founded by
First ancestry of Ni-Vanuatu is Asian: New DNA Discoveries recently published
In October a major academic paper was published in Nature, which solved many questions of the origins of Pacific peoples. Nature published “Genomic insights into the peopling of the Southwest Pacific”, based on a
Playing with space
Making a difference to climate change THE slow but certain onslaught of climate change continues to impact the lives of millions of people across the world. In the Pacific, communities in Fiji have moved to higher
New brand for South Pacific tourism
COOK Islands Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism, the Honourable Henry Puna has officially launched a new brand and identity to promote South Pacific tourism globally after it was approved at the 26th Council of
Danger – Tourists
Industry acts to protect small islands TOURISM provides close to $USD3.3billion in revenue across the Pacific each year with this figure expected to grow at a steady rate to around $USD4billion in 2019. Arrivals stood
Australia the US ally
Turnbull plays his Trump card IN his first statement congratulating Donald Trump on his victory in the US Presidential Election, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull spoke glowingly of the strength of
Demand for energy savers
Concern over lack of trained mechanics AS more and more Fijians are switching from conventional vehicles to the more fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles, the demand for properly trained mechanics something the Fijian market
The Journey of Girmit
Escape from despair to build a land of opportunity THE SS Sutlej reached Suva Harbour on the evening of November 2, 1916, some 25 days after clearing the port of Madras. It had on board 875 Indian indentured immigrants,
Paradise lost
New land laws drive foreign property owners out of Fiji “The plan had been for us to retire, live on Koro [Island] for the rest of our lives and research and film the reefs. Simple. Then two things happened.
Coach inspires the nation
WITH the world now his oyster, former Fijian sevens coach Ben Ryan has more opportunities than he can shake a stick at. Movie deals, speaking tours, a book and now the possibility of a Super Rugby franchise. Even the
Defend the right to know
VANUATU has once-again showed the region and the world how progressive it is in encouraging human rights which are integral in the maintenance of democratic institutions. Prime Minister Charlot Salwai has taken a bold
Whispers
Chinese Whispers HOW far does China meddle in regional politics? That’s the question after another vote of no confidence in a Vanuatu government. Observers have started to draw links between unrest in Vanuatu to
