Page 6 - IB May 2024

Briefs Briefs

American Samoa French Polynesia
American Samoa is working to establish and record physical The minimum wage has increased in French Polynesia to
addresses. Talanei News reports that the absence of official US$9.20 per hour, French Polynesia’s Council of Ministers said
physical addresses or location identifiers for streets, in a release. This is an increase of 2.38% compared to the
households, business, government and private facilities, limits previous rate and it came into force on May 1.
access to federal programs, financial and banking services,
essential services, business opportunities and effective
disaster response capabilities.
Guam
Reconstructing military facilities on Guam that were heavily
damaged by Supertyphoon Mawar last year may come with
Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands a price tag of US$10 billion, according to defence officials.
The Northern Mariana Islands Ports Authority has lowered its “There’s no ability for the Air Force baseline budget to
landing fees. After Jeju Airlines threatened to pull out from absorb the magnitude of the disaster that happened from
the CNMI due to a 90% increase in airport landing fees, and this typhoon,” according to Lt. Gen. Tom Miller, Deputy Chief
pressure from Governor Arnold Palacios, the Authority decided of Staff for Logistics, Engineering and Force Protection at
to revert to the old rates. the US Air Force. Miller said the Air Force has so far spent
US$300 million on immediate requirements for repairs at the
Andersen Air Force Base.
Cook Islands
Cook Islands Parliament has passed a bill banning the
manufacture, importation, sale, distribution, and advertising Kiribati
of imitation tobacco products like e-cigarettes. The bill also Kiribati’s sovereign fund, the Revenue Equalization Reserve
raises the smoking age to 21. Any breach of the regulations Fund (RERF) has exceeded AU$1.523 billion. Vice President
by individuals will result in a fine of US$67,000 or up to three and Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Dr Teuea
months in prison, while businesses caught importing imitation Toatu said that the RERF value is a record-breaking milestone.
tobacco products face a US$670,066 fine. This record surpassed the target written in the Government’s
20-year vision (KV20), which aims to increase the RERF value
to AU$1.4 billion before the end of 2036. The RERF was
Federated States of Micronesia created in 1956 to act as a store of wealth for the country’s
Parts of the Federated States of Micronesia such as Yap Proper earnings from phosphate mining.
and Ulithi continue to experience drought, according to the
US National Weather Service. Residents from islands across
Yap State have reported taro patches drying up and coconuts Marshall Islands
drying out, and many reports of yellowing crops. In its Drought SV Juren Ae will be Marshall Islands’ newest sailing cargo
Information Statement dated 10 May, the Weather Service said vessel. The government says the new vessel stands
locations with extreme to exceptional drought could see at as a “pioneering prototype—a hybrid vessel not only
least another month of below-normal rainfall.
for cargo transit, but also as a beacon of hope for a
more environmentally sustainable future”. Minister of
Transportation, Hilton Kendall urged Korea, Germany, and
Fiji other stakeholders to commit to the US$150 million Pacific
Former Fijian Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama has Blue Partnership initiative at the ship’s launch. This initiative
been sentenced to one-year imprisonment and suspended aims to procure vessels similar to the Juren Ae in the near
Police Commissioner, Sitiveni Qiliho will serve two years. future.
Bainimarama was found guilty of one count of attempting
to pervert the course of justice in a case relating to the
University of the South Pacific (USP), while Qiliho was found
guilty of one count of abuse of office. Acting Chief Justice Nauru
Salesi Temo quashed the sentence that was handed down last Two boatloads of asylum seekers intercepted off the
month by Magistrate Seini Puamau. Lawyers for the pair are Australian coast this month were reportedly being kept at sea
appealing the sentence. rather than being sent immediately for offshore processing in

6 Islands Business, May 2024