| |
|
|
| |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
(Photo:
Le Samoa Post) |
|
| |
|
|
| |
NEW ZEALAND: Pacific
Islands boxing is back and on its way
Source:
Event Polynesia Boxing
According to New Zealand Professional Boxing
Association secretary general, Mr. Pat Leonard,
"Pacific Islands boxing is back and on its way."
The international line up last night at the
Event Polynesia Boxing promotion
had the crowds cheering and applauding.
Both Tongan boxers Sosaia Vaka and Oscar Siale
won their fights. The Joey Wilson and Moyoyo
Mensah fight went down to a split decision to
Joey of New Zealand. Mohammed Azzaoui, normally
a cruiserweight took on former New Zealand
heavyweight champion Amosa Zinc to win by
unanimous decision.
The fight of the night will have to be the
heavyweight contest between Daniel Tai and
Seiaute Mailata. It was a bruising encounter of
guts and stamina until the fight was stopped on
advice by ring doctor Dave Renata with a cut on
Seiaute's right eye. The main event saw David
Tua attending to Bob Gasio's corner with Fijian
challenger Sakeasi Dakua going down twice
before the fight was stopped in the sixth round.
It was excellent to see the boxing fraternity
turning up to support with familiar faces in the
crowd including former New Zealand champions
Lighting La'avasa, Ali Afakasi and Alex Su'a,
also boxing promoter and Shane Cameron's manager
Ken Reinsfield and international match maker Mr.
John Glozier.
Last nights bouts will be screened later in the
month during the weekly Event Polynesia Boxing
10 minute TV program on Triangle TV and Stratos
Channel on SKY TV with former rugby
internationals and Fight For Life veterans
Papaliitele Peter Fatialofa and Ofisa Tonuu as
commentators.
Event Polynesia Boxing is leading the resurgence
of Professional Boxing in New Zealand and the
South Pacific to involve all the Pacific
Islands. Its next promotion is scheduled for
Tuesday 19th August 2008 at the Otara Recreation
Centre, promising another display of Pacific
talent and flair.
Please find official results of the Event
Polynesia Boxing Promotion last night. These
results will now be going World wide to all
major Boxing bodies, as well to all other
promoters in NZ and Australia.
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
(Photo:
Rhoda Lee) |
|
| |
|
|
| |
SAMOA: Samoa works
towards an efficient tsunami early warning
system
Source:
SOPAC Press Release
This week, Samoa will receive a boost to its
existing tsunami warning and mitigation system,
with the support of an international team who
will lead a week long tsunami warning and
mitigation system workshop.
The devastating Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004
highlighted the need for the global community to
protect coastal communities, by working towards
efficient and robust tsunami early warning
systems. Last years Solomon Islands tsunami,
which took the lives of approximately 22 people,
was a solemn reminder of the tsunami threat
existing in the Pacific Ocean.
Samoa's Principal Disaster Management Officer,
Filomena Nelson and other Samoan experts are
this week participating in the workshop which
began today
in Apia.
Samoa has recently designed its tsunami early
warning system to enable tsunami warning text
messages to be broadcast nationally and at the
village level to key community members and
response agencies through the GSM mobile
network. These messages will then be distributed
to the community through a number of methods,
including church bells, sirens and word of
mouth.
"Once the tsunami warning message is received,
the church ministers and school principals will
ring the church and school bells fast and
continuously, while other village
representatives will use word of mouth and other
traditional means of notification to alert
others" said Nelson.
She added that in the urban areas of Apia, the
existing sirens (Fire Service and Port) will
sound continuously to inform residents, the
business community and the general public to
evacuate.
A national drill was conducted in October 2007
to test the system before it became the official
tsunami early warning system of Samoa.
"The exercise was very successful. We had the
whole country leave their daily chores to run
for higher ground, including the central
business district in Apia" said Nelson.
"Despite the existence of this system, efforts
to strengthen other areas of Samoa's tsunami
early warning and mitigation system must
continue, ensuring lives will not be lost if a
tsunami affects the country".
The Australia Agency for International
Development has funded the national tsunami
capacity assessment project, which is being
implemented by the Australian Bureau of
Meteorology, Emergency Management Australia and
the Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience
Commission.
The fourteen SOPAC Member Countries
participating in the project include Cook
Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji,
Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau,
Paua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga,
Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
The project focuses on assessing the capacity of
island nations to respond to tsunami events with
the aim of better guiding donor funding and
technical assistance towards achieving targeted
improvements to in-country tsunami early warning
and mitigation systems. The workshops focus on a
range of topics from community awareness of
tsunami to issuing of tsunami warnings.
So far tsunami capacity assessments have been
successfully conducted in the Kingdom of Tonga,
the Solomon Islands, Fiji and Vanuatu.
Photo Caption:
Samoan Paticipants at the Workshop at the
Development Bank of Samoa's
Conference Room.
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
(Photos:
ASCC Archives) |
|
| |
|
|
| |
AMERICAN SAMOA:
Senator to Provide Keynote Speech at ASCC
Graduation
Source:
ASCC Press Release
The American Samoa Community College (ASCC) will
hold its spring 2008 graduation ceremony this
coming Friday, May 16th, at 10 a.m. in the
college’s gymnasium.
The ASCC Registrar’s Office has estimated that
approximately 100 students will walk the aisle
with their diplomas during the ceremony, pending
the results of final exams.
For every graduation ceremony, the college seeks
a distinguished member of the community to serve
as the featured speaker, and this semester
former ASCC faculty member and current Alataua
Senator HC Pulefaasisina Palauni Tuiasosopo has
agreed to provide the keynote speech.
Speaking long-distance from Honolulu last week,
Pulefaasisina discussed some of the many
highlights over the course of more than 40 years
in his parallel careers in education and
politics. He recalled his earliest education at
the institution once known as the American
School, and later
as Fagatogo Elementary School, and particularly
memories of his teachers Pastor Fiti and Mrs.
Savali Sunia.
Pulefaasisina received not one, but two high
school diplomas, one from Samoana in 1955, and
another from Punahou School in Honolulu the
following year. He went on to receive his BA in
Political Science in 1961 from the University of
Oregon. Although he started his professional
life shortly afterwards, Pulefaasisina never
lost interest in furthering his education. In
1994, late into his own career as an educator,
he completed his MA degree in Pacific Island
Studies from the
University of Hawaii at Manoa.
In 1962, Pulefaasisina returned to American
Samoa and took a job as an administrative
assistant to then-governor H. Rex Lee. “I went
on to work with eight different governors over
the next 24 years,” Pulefaasisina said. He
resigned from ASG in 1986 to take the
prestigious position of
Secretary General of the South Pacific
Commission, which lasted for two years, after
which he joined the staff at ASCC in 1989 as an
Institutional Planner. “At ASCC, I had a special
mandate to develop what eventually evolved into
the Department of Samoan and Pacific Studies (SAMPAC),”
Pulefaasisina recalled.
As the director of SAMPAC, Pulefaasisina gained
a reputation as an authority on the histories,
languages and cultures of Samoa and the Pacific
region. “In addition to teaching, our program
also embarked on a major effort to record oral
histories of Samoa, and to establish an
archive of those histories which future
generations can use as a resource,” he said.
Aside from establishing the largest collection
of oral histories in American Samoa, which
exists in written, audio and video formats,
SAMPAC also piloted programs in archeological
research and
established exchange programs with students from
off-island universities.
Pulefaasisina served ASCC until 2004, when an
interest in returning to politics led him to
resign in preparation for his bid at a seat in
the Senate. Although for the past several years
Pulefaasisina has lent his experience to
American Samoa’s lawmaking process as a Senator
representing
the Alataua district, his time spent at the
College still casts a long shadow. “I still look
at Pulefaasisina as my role model,” said his
former student and current ASCC Samoan Language
instructor Evile F. Feleti. “He inspired me to
work in the field of education as a teacher and
researcher into my own culture.” While
Pulefaasisina no longer teaches at ASCC, his son
Kuki Tuiasosopo carries on the family tradition
as a music instructor in the College’s Fine Arts
Department.
As he prepares to return to ASCC this Friday to
address the graduating class of spring 2008,
Pulefaasisina reflected, “While I don’t want to
give too much of my speech away in advance, I
will say that lately my thoughts have gone back
to the American Samoa that I grew up in. My
generation comes from a very different set of
cultural and social circumstances than what
exists today. As I reflect on the differences
that time has brought, I also recall the many
lessons I’ve learned through my work with oral
histories. Many of the important people in my
life have shared jewels of wisdom with me, that
these ideas have provided the cornerstones in my
own development. All of these thoughts will feed
into my speech, which I look forward to.”
Photo Caption:
Senator HC Pulefaasisina Palauni Tuiasosopo,
former ASCC faculty member and aveteran of
40-plus years in education and politics in
American Samoa, will provide the keynote speech
at this Friday's ASCC spring 2008 graduation
ceremony.
Photo 2:
Senator HC Pulefaasisina Palauni Tuiasosopo
(right), former ASCC faculty member and a
veteran of 40-plus years in education and
politics in American Samoa, will provide the
keynote speech at this Friday's ASCC spring 2008
graduation ceremony. In this photo, taken during
his tenure as leader of SAMPAC, Pulefaasisina
and Micah Van der Ryn organize their vast
collection of ethnographic video material.
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
(Photo:
SOPAC) |
|
| |
|
|
| |
FIJI:
Fiji and six Pacific countries race against time
Source:
SOPAC Press Release
Fiji and six Pacific countries race against time
as deadline to claim extra ocean space draws
near
With only one year remaining to the May 2009
deadline, Fiji and six other pacific island
countries are beginning to feel the pressure to
complete their submissions to the United Nations
to claim extra ocean space.
Fiji along with Solomon Islands, Kiribati,
Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, Tonga
and Papua New Guinea have a credible claim to
more than 1.5 million square kilometers of
additional space beyond their current 200 mile
Exclusive Economic Zone.
This is being made possible under article 76 of
the International Law of the Sea.
A week long workshop on the preparation on the
country's submission on Extended Continental
Shelf (ECS) starts today until Friday (16th of
May) at the Southern Cross Hotel in Suva.
The workshop is coordinated by the Pacific
Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC)
and Geoscience Australia (GA) and the UNEP Shelf
Programme. SOPAC, GA and UNEP will help these
countries to complete the activities required to
delineate the outer limits of their continental
shelf.
These countries are currently faced with the
costly and complex work of data identification,
collection, analysis and submission preparation.
Due to limited technical and financial capacity
they may not be able to complete the submission
process without considerable external support,
both technical and financial
Scientific studies have revealed the access to
extended continental shelf could mean more
access to mineral rich resources previously
outside our EEZ.
It's the first time the pacific region is
combining their efforts in its bid to extend
their exclusive economic zones.
SOPAC Director Cristelle Pratt, said countries
are committed to working together to improve
lives in the Pacific.
"Securing greater maritime sovereignty can
provide increased revenue for Pacific States and
deliver significant economic and social benefits
from access to ocean resources that occur on the
seabed and within the subsoil.
Pratt says that assessments have identified
strong grounds for these Pacific countries to
extend sovereignty over their continental
shelves.
"These Pacific Island Countries recognise that
determining the boundaries of their Exclusive
Economic Zone beyond 200 nautical miles is
critical to securing exclusive ocean development
of potentially rich non-living resources, such
as oil, gas, gold and silver, as well as living
organisms
that live on and beneath the seabed," Ms Pratt
said.
Submissions to claim an extended continental
shelf must be based upon sound technical data
and meet requirements prescribed within Article
76 of the United Nations Convention on the Law
of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS), to secure an extended
Continental Shelf beyond the 200 nautical mile
exclusive economic zone.
Representatives from Foreign Affairs from the
seven countries completed another workshop last
week on the use of Japanese Software "CMDeterminer"
and "Ocean Acess" to help access and claim their
Extended Continental Shelf.
They are also present until the end of this week
to discuss the issue.
Both workshops are vital opportunities to
continue to assist Pacific Nations with ECS
potential to develop and submit their respective
extension claims before the impending deadline
of March 2009.
SOPAC is a Pacific regional organisation
committed to working with countries to
strengthen disaster risk management, enhance
access to freshwater, energy, information
technology and communications and improve
resource assessment and management of ocean and
island resources.
Workshop opens at 9am today with the Official
opening by SOPAC Director Cristelle Pratt.
Photo Caption:
From Back (left to right) Sakaio (SOPAC ICT
Adviser, Fred (PITA Manager),
Baskar (Deputy Director), Mosese (Manager,
Community Risk SOPAC), Siaosi (SOPAC ICT
Adviser) Front (left to right) Ms Alisi Tuqa,
PITA Training Coordinator, Ms Cristelle Pratt,
SOPAC Director, Mr. Maui Sanford (PITA Presidnet).
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
NEW CALEDONIA:
Goro Nickel company in NC prepared to wait two
months for deal
Source:
Radio New Zealand
International
The Goro Nickel company in New Caledonia says it
will wait for another two months to see if an
agreement to complete its project can be
reached.
The Goro statement comes amid rumours in Noumea
that the company could halt the 3.2 billion US
dollar project; the world’s biggest metal mine
construction site.
Its director, Phil du Toit, says dozens of
millions of US dollars have
been lost since February when objections to its
effluent pipeline stopped work.
Environmentalists and locals say allowing the
discharge from the planned nickel plant into the
sea is incompatible with the bid to include New
Caledonia’s reef and lagoon on the Unesco list
of world heritage sites.
Mr du Toit says plans are still afoot to start
production this year. Goro is owned by Vale of
Brazil which recently considered buying rival
miner Xstrata for 90 billion US dollars.
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
NIUE:
Niue confident phone system will be fixed soon
Source:
Radio New Zealand
International
Niue Telecom says it hopes it can correct
problems with its phone service within days.
The island’s international phone service has
been plagued by frequent drop outs in the
signal, making conversations difficult.
Don Wiseman has more.
“The CEO of Niue Telecom, Richard Hipa, agrees
it is a problem that urgently needs to be fixed.
He says the equipment, which is now classified
obsolete, was badly affected by a recent
lightning strike. Mr Hipa says sourcing
replacements has been a problem but they are
hoping it will arrive on this weekend’s Air New
Zealand flight. He says eventually Niue’s
telecommunications will convert to new
technology but this will need to be done in a
piecemeal fashion. Meanwhile the Niue Government
says with the assistance of the Secretariat of
the South Pacific it is bringing in
supplementary satellite technology ahead of the
Pacific Islands Forum summit being held on the
island in August.”
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
