PRIME Minister Manasseh Sogavare was an obvious absentee when the seventh Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM7) opened in the Japanese city of Iwaki last weekend. All 14 island leaders, except Mr Sogavare, are attending the summit at the invitation of the Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe. Mr Sogavare had instead dispatched his deputy Douglas…
HEALTH authorities this week made a prompt response to an outbreak of dysentery at Pamua National Secondary School in West Makira. Members of the Health Promotion division, Environmental Health Division, Expansion Program of Immunisation and the Vector Borne Disease Division visited students and the school to assess the likely causes of the outbreak. More than…
Asia Pacific Investment Development (APID), the mining company having interest for bauxite deposits on Rennell have promise good returns to both the national and provincial governments including landowners. A Spokesman for APID explained APID like any other operating companies has a timeframe set to follow regarding benefits of royalties of whatever kind. “Whilst APID is…
The Office of the Prime Minister has denied there is pressure to remove members of the Kandere Party from the Democratic Coalition for Change (DCC) Government. The Office of the Prime Minister was responding to media reports that the Prime Minister, Hon Manasseh Sogavare was under pressure to remove one of the coalition partners from…
IWAKI, (PACNEWS) – Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has supported Indonesia’s bid to become an associate member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG). In an interview with Fiji Journalists in Iwaki, Japan, Bainimarama confirmed that having Indonesia as an associate member made sense given the population in Papua is more than 11 million Melanesian people…
SUVA, (RADIO AUSTRALIA) – High rates of domestic violence, including brutality against pregnant women, in the South Pacific have been documented in a new UNICEF report. The Harmful Connections report said more than one in 10 women reported being beaten while carrying a child. The study — which focused on Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands,…
Some fish vendors at the Honiara Central Market continues to use unscrewed scales to weigh fish robbing customers of the little money they have. This was seen last weekend at the market when one of the Honiara City Council officers was alerted about a fish vendor cheating incident of fish scaling, which was later confiscated…
Suva, Fiji – For the past ten months, Pacific Island countries and territories have enjoyed falling petroleum prices but there are indications that the region should prepare for rising fuel prices. Assessments by Economic Development Division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) show that between July 2014 and May 2015, annual savings for…
Members of the general public of Honiara City are demanding the road repair contractors to reveal their qualifications to carry out road works, and also contractors must explain to the people why their pot holes’ patching job cannot even last for a month. Speaking to this paper, Alfred Leka a commuter who always travels by…
SUVA, (PNG LOOP) – Papua New Guinea Fisheries and Marine Resources Minister Mao Zeming has called on countries that reap billions of dollars from the Pacific’s tuna resource to do more to promote sustainability and create opportunities for the people in region. Speaking at a fisheries symposium in Fiji last Wednesday, Zeming said PNG’s 2.5…