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(Photos:
Aufamulia Asenati
Lole-taylor) |
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NEW ZEALAND: Polynesian
are proud New Zealanders
Source:
Aufamulia Asenati Lole-Taylor
Recent events in South Auckland have once again
highlighted the need for our communities to
stand up and be counted.
There is a clear call for leadership and action
from our people. For too long, we have been
talking and hand-ringing every time there is a
problem involving our people.
Our communities including leaders need to front
up and provide real solutions. Not the usual
rhetoric about providing more Social Workers and
more Welfare Support.
We need to stop the rot. If that is going to
cause a little bit of pain, then so be it.
Our communities need more Police resources. Our
Police need the right tools to deal with the
offenders and their families before things get
out of hand.
Our communities need to take ownership and deal
with these families that are failing our
societies, and tell them enough is enough.
Our Polynesian ancestors did not leave our
homeland to come to New Zealand so that we can
be part of the crime statistics, prison
population, or dependent on the welfare system.
It is also time to tell the local authorities
that we do not need liquor stores and gambling
outlets on every street corner in our
neighbourhood.
It is time to take back our streets, and for us
to show the rest of New Zealand that we can and
are proud New Zealanders.
One of the greatest intellectual failures of the
welfare system is the penchant for sacrifice, so
long as the only people being asked to sacrifice
are the working tax-paying New Zealanders.
Photo Captions:
Aufamulia Asenati LOLE-TAYLOR with son Nathanael
and one of the high chief
in Vanuatu during our visit to Erakor Island.
Some community leaders and members of the
Pacific chamber of Commerce and Samoa Auckland
City Community Fono. Otahuhu Cook Island
performance group during their performance at
the Tai Tokerau Pasifika Expo.
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(Photos:
SASNOC) |
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SAMOA: Update on Samoan
Athletes Preparation for Beijing
Source:
SASNOC Press Release
SASNOC is pleased to present Samoa with an
update on our Olympic Athletes preparation for
the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, 8-24th August
2008.
Currently five out of our six athletes are
either competing or training for the 2008
Olympics outside of Samoa.
ELE OPELOGE: 75kg+ Weightlifting
Ele is training twice daily in Samoa (2.5 hours
in the morning, and 3 hours in the afternoon)
under the watchful eyes of Tuaopepe Jerry
Wallwork & her Chinese coach. Currently both
coaches are very happy with Ele's preparation
training. Since the Oceania Championships Ele
has improved another 5kg, and she is on target
for Beijing.
MUA'USA JOSEPH WALTER: Archery, Recurve
Today is the last day of the Meteksan Archery
World Cup (23-28 June) that Joseph is attending
in Boe, France. http://www.archeryworldcup.org/
We look forward to hearing how this tournament
has added to his preparation with the challenge
of competing against the European archers.
RUDOLF BERKING-WILLIAMS: Flat Water Kayaking,
K1000m , K500m
Rudolf is currently at a Romanian training camp
organised & funded by the International Canoeing
Federation (ICF). This training camp runs from
1-30 June to prepare athletes for the Beijing
Olympics. On Rudolf's return to New Zealand,
where he is based, we will provide you with an
update on how this training camp has assisted
Rudolf in his preparation.
FARANI TAVUI: 81kg Boxing
Farani Tavui left SamoaBoxing for Hong Kong on
the 17th of June and is being trained by Andrew
Wong Kee, the Managing Director of JAB MMA
www.jabmma.com
Farani will not be returning to SAmoa before the
Olympics, and will join the team in Beijing on
August 1st. As part of this training he will
travel to the Philippines for a 4day training
camp in mid-July.
AUNESE CURREEN: 1500m & SERAFINA AKELI: Javelin
Aunese & Serafina are currently competing at the
Oceania Athletics Championships (25-28 June) in
the Confederated States of the Northern Marinas
Islands. Pauli Lalau Willie Fong will provide
updates on their performances his return to
Samoa on July 2nd.
Photo Captions:
Ele Opeloge - Weightlifting. Aunese Curreen -
Athletics. Farani Tavu'i - Boxing.
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(Photos:
Office of Congressman Faleomavaega) |
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AMERICAN SAMOA: Eni
joins USAREUR farewell ceremony for CSM Iuni
Savusa
Source:
Office of Congressman
Faleomavaega Press Release
Congressman Faleomavaega announced today (Mon,
June 16, 2008)that he has accepted the
invitation by the Commanding General of United
States Army Europe and Seventh Army to attend
the farewell ceremony on June 18, 2008 in honor
of Command Sergeant Major Iuniasolua Savusa. CSM
Savusa will be leaving USAREUR and Seventh Army
where he has been command sergeant major since
May, 2006 to become the new command sergeant
major for NATO’s
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)
in Afghanistan. Currently, Lieutenant General
Gary D. Speer is Acting Commanding General of
USAREUR and Seventh Army, headquartered in
Heidelberg, Germany.
With his new assignment, Savusa will take over
as the Command Senior Enlisted Leader (CSEL) of
NATO forces in Afghanistan. There, he will
rejoin his former boss, General David D.
McKiernan who recently took over as commander of
NATO’s ISAF in Afghanistan.
As command sergeant major for ISAF, CSM Savusa
will advise General McKiernan on a wide range of
issues including providing insight and
perspective on integration and implementation of
overall activities; providing assessment,
recommendations and feedback to the Commander
and
other top ISAF leaders on Coalition NCO and
Enlisted Force Development/Warfighting
capabilities and initiatives; and providing
tactical and operational level assessments,
recommendations, and feedback of service and
functional components and subordinated units, to
name a few.
CSM Savusa has held other major leadership
assignments previously including Command
Sergeant Major for the United States Army
Southern European Task Force (Airborne) in
Vicenza, Italy, Post Command Sergeant Major in
Fort Polk, Louisiana.
In 2002, Iuni Savusa deployed to Afghanistan in
support of the War on Terrorism and served as
Command Sergeant Major for the Task Force
Rakkasan, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).
In 2005, he again deployed to Afghanistan with
the Southern European Task Force (Airborne)
as Command Sergeant Major for the Combined Joint
Task Force – 76. He also deployed in 2003 as the
Command Sergeant Major for the 3rd
Brigade, 187th Infantry Regiment (Rakkasan),
101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in support
of Operation Iraqi Freedom I.
CSM Iuni Savusa is the son of the late Savusa
Tului of Nu’uuli and Talaitupu Savusa of Fagasa,
American Samoa. He is married to the former
Mareta Siatini Iese of Fagatogo, American Samoa.
They have four children – Alexis Salainaoloa,
Alexandrya Falegaui, Alexander Lototasi-Chester,
and Alexandrite Maima.
“I am very pleased to have been invited to join
Acting Commanding General Gary Speer in this
farewell ceremony in honor of Command Sergeant
Major Iuni Savusa,” Faleomavaega said. “I am
very proud of this son of Samoa and am honored
for the opportunity to be part of his ceremony.”
“Obviously, Command Sergeant Major Iuni Savusa’s
exceptional leadership has gained the confidence
of the Army leaders. I was so proud to read in a
military newspaper article General McKiernan
saying about Savusa, ‘the finest soldier on the
field.’ Iuni has set a great example for
soldiers in the Army, but especially for our
Samoan young men and women in the military.”
“In his new assignment, Iuni will be the top
non-commissioned officer over an international
force of close to 60,000 troops and growing from
40 different countries under NATO in
Afghanistan. I am sure Iuni’s more than 30 years
of experience in the U.S. Army and several
deployments as command sergeant major in combat
situations, twice in Afghanistan and once in
Iraq, suits him well in providing the needed
leadership to NATO forces in Afghanistan.”
“While in Germany, I will also be meeting with
many of our Samoan soldiers and their families
who are stationed in and around Heidelberg area.
This will be an excellent opportunity for me to
hear directly from the soldiers about issues o
interest to them as well as any concerns they
may have so I can determine how to better assist
them.”
“At this time, I want to again offer my
congratulations to Iuni Savusa on his new
assignment and thank him for his outstanding
service to our country. I also want to
acknowledge and thank Iuni’s lovely wife Mareta
for her service and tremendous support not only
in taking care of their
family but also in her leadership capacity as
the command sergeant major’s spouse. Iuni and
Mareta are such great models for our many Samoan
soldiers with families in the military. As a
Vietnam veteran and former soldier, I understand
how valuable it is to a soldier’s morale knowing
that you have the strong support and love of
your family.”
“I also want to take this opportunity to thank
all our Samoan sons and daughters currently
serving in the military and their families for
the sacrifices they make so that we may continue
to live in a peaceful and free country. For
those serving abroad, especially in Iraq and
Afghanistan, I join the rest of our Samoan
community in praying for your safe return home
to your families and loved ones,” Faleomavaega
concluded.
Photo Captions:
ENI joins Command Sergeant
Major Iuni Savusa farewell in Germany. Savusa's
relatives while in Germany. Savusa & others
Samoan sons and daughters currently serving in
the military.
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FIJI: Fiji Reserve Bank Hikes Inflation
Forecast From 5 To 7.5 Percent
Source:
Pacific Magazine
Global growth prospects continue to weaken
further as reflected by recent releases of key
macroeconomic data from the developed economies.
The deceleration in the international economic
conditions was initially influenced by the
repercussions of the US sub-prime mortgage
crisis.
However, more recently, growth prospects have
been lowered due to soaring crude oil and
commodity prices. Rising inflation is now a
growing global concern.
On the domestic front, sectoral developments
were mixed. Visitor arrivals continue to grow
strongly and Value Added Tax (VAT) collections,
a partial indicator of consumer spending, rose
in the first five months. However, lending for
investment purposes by commercial banks and
imports of investment goods continued its
downward trend. This is supported by the results
of the Business Expectations Survey and Fiji
Employers’ Federation Expectations Survey, which
point to a decline on capacity utilisation and
planned investment in building and machinery.
According to partial indicators of employment,
conditions in the labour market also paint a
mixed picture. The latest data on newly
registered taxpayers with the Fiji Islands
Revenue & Customs Authority showed that close to
6,200 individuals were registered, cumulative to
May this year. This equates to an annualised
decline of around 11.0 percent.
The sectors that recorded lower registrations
over last year include the mining and quarrying;
agriculture, forestry and fishing and community,
social and personal services.
In contrast, according to the recent Job
Advertisements Survey, cumulative to May, the
number of vacant positions advertised rose by
around 13.2 percent over the year. The demand
for labour was higher mainly in the community,
social and personal services; transport, storage
and communications; electricity and water and
construction sectors while other sectors
recorded a decline.
Commercial banks’ annual credit growth slowed to
4.7 percent in April, compared with 12.4 percent
in the corresponding period last year. The
slowdown is largely attributed to lower lending
to the building and construction sector and
borrowing by private individuals. Due to the
significant build up in liquidity since early
last year, owing to the credit ceiling in place
and the weak demand for funds, commercial banks’
interest rates continued to track downwards.
In April, the outstanding lending interest rate
fell by 23 basis points to 8.01 percent.
Similarly, the commercial banks’ outstanding
time deposits rate declined by 30 basis points
to 2.69 percent. However, the savings deposit
rate edgedup by 1 basis point to 0.69 percent.
Inflation fell to 5.8 percent in May from 7.6
percent in the previous month. The outcome in
May was lower than the 6.6 percent a year ago.
For the first time since September 2007 consumer
prices have fallen on a monthly basis, led by
lower costs of food items and clothing and
footwear.
The removal of VAT from eggs and fiscal duties
from rice, tinned fish and cooking oil, which
was effective from 1 June, as well as base
related effects will result in annual inflation
trending downwards for the next few months.
However, a pick up in inflation is expected
towards the later part of the year. Based on the
futures prices of crude oil and
other basic commodities, as well as the higher
trading partner inflation outlook, the RBF has
revised its end-year inflation from 5.0 percent
to 7.5 percent.
To further assist the people from the rising
food and fuel prices, the Government has
increased the income tax threshold from $9,000
to $15,000 from 1 June 2008.
Merchandise trade exports totalled $405 million
in the first four months of 2008 and was 33.0
percent higher than that recorded in the
corresponding period in the previous year.
The increase was led by a rise in sugar,
re-exports of petroleum products and mineral
water exports. During the same period,
merchandise imports rose by around 16.9 percent
to $994 million underpinned by an increase in
payments for food and mineral fuels.
Cumulative to April 2008, the merchandise trade
balance deteriorated to around $589 million from
$546 million recorded in the same period in
2007.
Official reserves at the end of May were
estimated at around $877 million, sufficient to
cover 3.8 months of imports.
Both the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate and
Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) indices of
the Fiji dollar rose in the year to May. The
REER rose over the year to May by 3.1 percent,
indicating a deterioration in our international
competitiveness.
The outcome was underpinned by higher domestic
inflation (5.8 percent), when compared with our
major trading partners’ inflation of 3.3
percent.
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TAHITI:
Transpacific Yacht Club's Tahiti Race: Magnitude
80 shakes off the Doldrums
Source:
BYM Sailing & Sports News
The pain is past and life is beautiful in the
Transpacific Yacht Club’s 13th Tahiti Race---at
least for Doug Baker and his crew on Magnitude
80.
The race leaders from Long Beach, Calif. broke
out of the Doldrums Sunday and by Monday … well,
here’s a first-person account from navigator
Ernie Richau: “[Sunday] night it was beautiful
on deck. We were two-sail reaching in 12 knots
of wind with a boat speed over 13 knots. Off our
starboard transom we could see the Big Dipper in
the sky. Off the port bow stood the Southern
Cross. The skies were completely clear and the
temperature required only T-shirts and shorts.
“Right now we are at latitude 01-01 north.
Sixty-one miles to the south is the equator.
Hogan [Beatie], our third generation Tahiti
racer, was just expressing his excitement at
crossing the equator on a sailboat today. All of
us are looking forward to it even if 'King
Neptune' is feverishly making plans.”
On the ninth day, with 1,233 miles to go, Mag 80
was on schedule to break the record of 14 days
21 hours 15 minutes 26 seconds set by Fred
Kirschner’s Kathmandu in the last Tahiti Race in
1994 by about two days.
The other three boats---Bob Lane’s Medicine Man,
Chris Welsh’s Ragtime and Jim Morgan’s
Fortaleza---also had passed the halfway point of
the 3,571-nautical mile race, but any hopes of
overtaking Mag 80 with tactical moves through
the Intertropical Convergence Zone had vanished.
Richau continued: “It looks like Medicine Man
and Rags just started to hit the slow part of
their crossing on the last report. Over the last
couple of days we have lost about 100 miles of
the lead we had on them. It's now our turn to
lay down some miles while they struggle with the
difficult conditions. We are still excited to
see how we fair.
“About 10 a.m. this morning we popped out of the
‘duldrums’ and began our 1,400-mile reach to
Tahiti. It's now 5 in the afternoon and we are
going upwind in 10 knots of breeze with a few
scattered clouds and lots of sunshine! This is
quite a change from the last 36 hours. We have
cleaned the boat out down below, a few of the
crew have take showers and the constant sail
changes and trying to read the clouds has slowed
down.
“It will be interesting to see how the other
yachts make their way through. Medicine Man has
taken a similar route to ours while it appears
Ragtime and Fortaleza are much farther east, a
more rhumb line course. Time will tell which
pays off the best.”
Blogs from the boats
Ragtime: Still getting beat up going to weather
in heavy breeze. Blew out jib halyard during
night. Hoping for some relief from lifting
angle. No sign of Doldrums that's for sure.
Strange last night talking to Fortaleza at 2000
(8 p.m. PDT. They had been in full sun, no wind,
and we had no sun, no stars, pounding rain and
squall lines 3-4 times per hour for last 30
hours---and we are 100 miles apart.
Fortaleza: We finish the first week as we enter
the Doldrums proper. Last night we jibed onto
starboard pole, just tiny bit rustily, and we
had another night with no stars or moon. Driving
was complicated as we've been on port pole for
so long ... we've forgotten how to turn right.
About an hour before dawn, we started getting
some clearing and could see a few stars, and the
waning crescent moon made a brief and welcome
appearance. We are seeing diminishing winds as
we skirt north of the ITCZ looking for a gap to
break through. We spent the day driving,
trimming the spinnaker, taking showers, and
repairing a worn spinnaker halyard.
WARNING: Extremely hilarious joke follows. We
all had a good laugh as Jim [Morgan] read the
label on the all-purpose soap we had brought.
Apparently, it is the "Dial (for men) Hairy Body
Wash." Specially designed for sasquatches, but
strong enough for women. Produced at the finest
refineries, for the manliest men. Of course, the
directions entail "rinse, lather and poof" ...
so we remain skeptical. Well, tune in tomorrow
folks. I'm sure you're as excited as I am to
know how we do traversing though the ITCZ.
Tahiti Race 2008 standings
(boat for boat at 6 a.m. PDT Monday)
1. Magnitude 80 (Andrews 80), Doug Baker, Long
Beach, 219 miles daily run/1,233 nautical miles
to go.
2. Medicine Man (Andrews 63), Bob Lane, Long
Beach 182/1,458.
3. Ragtime (Spencer 65), Chris Welsh, Newport
Beach, 134/1,699.
4. Fortaleza (Santa Cruz 50), Jim Morgan, Long
Beach, 182/1,849.
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(Photos: SPREP) |
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TUVALU:
Climate change-biodiversity linkage a crucial
concern for Tuvalu
Source:
SPREP
Bonn, Germany - The linkage between biodiversity
and climate change has been an important issue
for Tuvalu at the Convention on Biological
Diversity's 9th Conference of the Parties in
Bonn, Germany. It has been a busy two weeks for
the representative of Tuvalu, Mataio Tekinene,
who has closely followed discussions on
biodiversity and climate change.
"As a low-lying atoll we are especially
vulnerable to climate change impacts. We also
depend on our biodiversity resources to make
life possible on our islands. I would like to
see that the result of this Conference of the
Parties properly addresses these interlinked
issues for our people," said Tekinene.
Climate change impacts heavily upon biodiversity
loss. There is a sound relationship between the
two, especially in the Pacific islands. Coastal
biodiversity is affected by climate change, with
small island states communities feeling the
effects both in their livelihoods and
lifestyles.
Extreme weather events, forecast to increase as
a result of climate change, also pose a serious
threat to the region's biodiversity.
"Conservation of biodiversity and maintenance of
ecosystem structure and function are important
climate change adaptation strategies, and it is
essential that biodiversity is integrated both
into the current implementation of the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change and the
negotiation of a post-2012 climate regime,"
according to SPREP's Action Strategy Adviser,
Kate Brown-Vitolio.
"Pacific islands parties at the COP asked other
parties to pursue opportunities for providing
technical and financial support to
biodiversity-related adaptation activities"
These concerns are shared by Tuvalu, which has
been working on these issues with support from
SPREP.
Tekinene explaned, "The text in the agreement on
the biodiversity and climate change issue is
very important to us. We've been working at
voicing our concerns during this meeting,
protecting our interests so the small islands
states are not overlooked. We want the end
result to be
well for us."
Photo Caption:
Tuvalu representative,
Mataio Tekinene at the Convention on Biological
Diversity's 9th Conference of the Parties in
Bonn, Germany.
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