Page 6 - Islands Business May-June 2022

Briefs Briefs

American Samoa French Polynesia
Local inflation reached double digits in the first quarter of The Institute of Statistics in French Polynesia (ISPF) has
2022. The rate was 11.6%, an increase from 9.7% at the end of reported the nation’s return to pre-COVID levels in exports
2021, says American Samoa’s Statistics and Analysis Division. of seafood products in both value and in volume exported. In
Price rises were driven mainly by increases in the cost of food, a balance sheet published mid-May, the ISPF said: “Exports
transportation, housing, education and communication. of fishery products, excluding shells, doubled over one year
to 1.786 billion XPF and returned to their pre-crisis level.”
Exports of fish products accounted for 19% of local export
revenue in goods in the period.
CNMI
CNMI Governor Ralph Torres has been acquitted of all the
charges filed against him in six articles of impeachment. The
Republican-led Senate voted four to three to acquit Torres of Guam
alleged corruption and other felonies. The charges had been Guam residents will need to pay much more for electricity,
laid by the Democrat-Independent-led House of Representa- starting July 1, according to the Guam Power Authority. By
tives. The impeachment trial was the first in CNMI history. the end of the year, customers who use 1,000 kilowatt-hours
of power will need to pay US$86.75 more per month. The GPA
has proposed a three-step increase in the fuel surcharge — a
Cook Islands 28% increase in the total power bill.
Over 200 Expressions of Interest (EOIs) for Cook Islands
Permanent Residence have been received by the Cook Islands
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration (MFAI) with 71 Kiribati
online submissions pending, MFAI announced. The applica- It’s the end of an era at South Pacific Marine Services (SPMS),
tions include those who have submitted in their own right, which has officially closed its service following the cessation
and spouses of Cook Islanders and Permanent Residents. Cook of its contract with the Kiribati Government, SPMS told Radio
Islands’ Principal immigration officer Kairangi Samuela in a Kiribati. The office closure marks the end of recruitment and
statement said: “We had anticipated this number of EOI given employment of Kiribati seafarers aboard German merchant
the last time Permanent Resident calls were made was over ships overseas. SPMS has been recruiting and employing Kiri-
10 years ago.” bati seafarers for 50 years.

Federated States of Micronesia Marshall Islands
FSM President David W. Panuelo, guided by the FSM COVID-19 Marshall Islands has become the first Pacific nation to share
Task Force, has recommended Congress consider extending information on fishing activities in their waters as part of
its Declaration of Public Health Emergency to July 31, and a crackdown on illegal fishing. Global Fishing Watch Pacific
consider passing the Healthy Border Protection Act in a Special programme manager Dr Kamal Azmi said the Marshall Islands
Session of Congress in July 2022, so as to allow the FSM more government is working with the NGO to improve the sustain-
time to vaccinate its citizens and prepare for the opening ability of its marine resources. The system won’t replace
of the nation’s borders on August 1st. As of May 16, vaccine Marshall Islands’ existing monitoring controls, but it can help
coverage for all FSM persons aged five and up is at 69%.
in combating illegal fishing in the islands.

Fiji
Fiji’s minimum wage did not typically provide a decent stan- New Caledonia
dard of living for a worker and family in Fiji, states the U.S. Four anti-independence parties in New Caledonia are work-
Department of State Country Report on Human Rights Prac- ing towards a formal merger as the territory prepares for
tices for Fiji released early May. Fiji had a national minimum a new statute after last year’s rejection of independence
wage per hour of $2.68 (US$1.24) in 2021 and the Government from France. The four - Caledonia Together, the Republicans,
has announced a staggered increase to $4 (US$2) per hour by Mouvement Populaire Calédonien (MPC), and Generations NC
January 2023. - declared that they shared principles and values to become a
‘common New Caledonian house’.

6 Islands Business, May-June 2022