Paralympian makes debut; aviation issue in Vanuatu; and CEO head-hunting process slammed
Leva looks for new PB at Paralympics
Papua New Guinea's Nelly Ruth Leva will make her debut at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, when she competes in the F46 Javelin event later tonight.
Nelly Ruth Leva will represent PNG at the 2020 Paralympic Games. Photo: High Performance Sport PNG
The 32-year-old qualified for the 2020 Games after competing at the Queensland State Championships in Brisbane last year after throwing 18metres.
The mother of three had her left arm amputated in 2018 due to bone cancer, and hopes to encourage people with disabilities to get out of their comfort zone.
Leva is aiming to beat her personal best of 22.10 metres.
Gasoline drought
Vanuatu has run out of aviation gasoline, or AVGAS, grounding many of the country's aircraft.
The Daily Post quotes the chief executive of Air Taxi, Julia Johnstone, saying the fuel shortage is a disaster.
She said with planes grounded, income stops and companies are left to sit and wait for the expected arrival of more fuel on September 16.
Ms Johnstone said the shortage will impact on medevacs, as the Ministry of Health rely on them to fly people in from the outer islands for life-saving medical treatment.
AVGAS is fuel used on smaller piston engine aircraft flown by Air Taxi and Unity Airlines.
Larger aircraft, such as those flown by Air Vanuatu, run on aviation turbine fuel, or AVTUR, of which there is ample.
'Extreme laziness' part of problem says report
A Commission of Inquiry in Vanuatu is raising questions about the vetting process of senior executives of government-owned companies.
The Daily Post reports the former CEO at Air Vanuatu, Derek Nice, was reportedly involved in a bankruptcy case in the U.S. before his appointment, but this information wasn't revealed when he was being appointed.
The inquiry concluded that the employment process was not broad enough to require such disclosure and the recruitment firm hadn't done its job properly.
It said a wider search would have determined whether Nice should be granted 'Fit and Proper Person' certification.
One of the recommendations is the recruitment process for CEOs must be undertaken through a qualified head hunter from Australia, Singapore or beyond.
It said company directors must also conduct their own due diligence, and failure to follow these steps indicates extreme laziness, ignorance or indecisiveness.
Tracer platform launched
Samoa has launched its own Covid-19 contact tracing platform.
It's been done as a joint initiative between the Ministry of Health and the Samoa Tourism Authority.
Since the start of the pandemic, governments and stakeholders around the world have relied on the data provided by tracing platforms to help contain the spread of the virus.
Samoa's version, known as the Samoa Travel Tracer, is part of the Samoa Travel-Ready Toolkit and will collect only mobile numbers, not names or addresses.
Speeding up Marshalls' internet
The World Bank is providing funding to help the Marshall Islands expand its high-speed internet.
It has approved a 30 million US dollar project that will bring faster, more reliable, and more affordable internet access across the country.
In addition the project aims to promote private sector investment in climate-resilient digital infrastructure and establish the foundations for digital government services and the digital economy.
The project is being implemented over seven years and is being led by the Marshall Islands Government.
The World Bank's Pacific director, Stephen Ndegwa, says Covid-19 has served to underscore the importance of being digitally connected.