Page 6 - IB April 24

Briefs Briefs

Paris 2024 Olympics in late July, are now complete. The tower
had been at the centre of an ongoing controversy over fears
American Samoa of environmental damage the construction would cause to
Concerns have been raised over conditions at Tafuna Prison. coral reefs. This forced the Olympic organising committee
Samoa News reports that a hearing of the Senate Public and local authorities to submit new plans for a leaner, lighter
Safety/Homeland Security Committee heard that the buildings structure. The tower will receive its first test May 22-31,
are unfit for human habitation. Former warden, Senator during the annual World Surfing League event in Teahupoo.
Malaepule Saite Moliga noted: “This is the only prison in the
world where I have observed inmates whose misdemeanour
cases are pending, mingling and confined together with
convicted murderers and convicted drug dealers.” Authorities Guam
say there is a huge backlog in cases stemming from pandemic The recovery of Guam’s tourism industry post-pandemic
restrictions. The committee has urged the Governor to act on continues to be slow, with arrivals in the first half of the
the matter. 2024 fiscal year still half what they were prior to COVID-19.
Guam’s main tourism markets are Korea and Japan, and both
have been slow to recover. While tourism remains far from
full recovery, Guam’s construction industry, buoyed by the
Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands military buildup and other federal dollars, continues to help
The CNMI government has signed an agreement with Google to keep the local economy afloat.
land the first-ever fibre-optic cable in the Northern Marianas.
Named ‘Proa’ after a traditional CNMI sailing vessel, the cable
will be laid directly from Japan. Governor Arnold I. Palacios Kiribati
said: “It paves the way for economic growth, enhances Kiribati’s Ministry of Health and Medical Services on Kiritimati
disaster resilience, and solidifies the CNMI’s position in the says a child has died from rotavirus. Health Representative,
digital age.”
Aritu Iotia told Radio Kiribati in late March that more than
100 people on the island had symptoms of the virus. The
public have been asked to wash their hands, eat well-cooked
Cook Islands food while it’s still hot, and visit the nearest clinic or hospital
Cook Islands’ fisheries revenue is projected to double if they develop symptoms. Symptoms include vomiting,
following the signing of a Tuna Treaty between Pacific Island diarrhoea and fever.
States and the United States this month. The US government
will inject US$60 million into the Pacific annually for the next
10 years (2023-2033), on top of industry contributions. Cook
Islands alone is set to receive around US$4 million of that. Marshall Islands
Majuro Mayor, Ladie Jack, has again raised the alarm about
criminal behaviour involving Marshallese deported from the
United States, saying the “impact of these deportees on our
Federated States of Micronesia local community has been nothing short of devastating”.
Extreme drought conditions in Micronesia have forced Over the past three years, Marshallese deported from the US
residents to limit their water usage, with 300 people affected have been convicted of a murder, a knife assault, and rape,
in Yap. The US Drought Monitor has upgraded drought while two additional assaults that occurred last month are
conditions in FSM from severe to extreme. The NOAA Climate under investigation. In a letter to President Hilda Heine dated
Prediction Center and various climate models predict that El 1 April, the mayor sought significantly stepped-up action
Niño conditions are expected to persist through to May 2024. by the Marshall Islands national government on the issue of
deportations.

Fiji
Fiji’s new national minimum wage rate will be implemented Nauru
on 1 August 2024, says the Minister for Employment and President David Adeang concluded a six-day visit to China at
Industrial Relations, Agni Deo Singh. Singh says authorities are the end of March with a final meeting and banquet hosted by
working together to revise the current minimum wage rate, the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee. Discussions centred
which stands at FJ$4/hour across ten industries.
on cooperation in agriculture, health care service, and
commerce. In a speech earlier in the visit, President Adeang
said the relationship between the two nations puts Nauru “on
the right side of history”. During the visit, he also called on
French Polynesia two Nauruans undergoing medical treatment in China.
The final stages of the new aluminium judges’ tower at
Teahupoo in Tahiti, which will host the surfing events of the

6 Islands Business, April 2024