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Northern Marianas issues first license to sell cannabis
The Northern Mariana Islands has issued its first license to sell cannabis, nearly three years after the US territory passed a law decriminalising the medicinal and recreational use of the plant.
The CNMI Cannabis Commission issued the licenses to Saipan Select.
Saipan Select projects that the community can start buying marijuana products from them in six to eight weeks, but availability still depends on their harvest.
The Northern Marianas is looking at the cannabis industry as a way to jump-start the local economy, which has been hit hard by the lack of tourists due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Producer Class III license which was granted to Saipan Select is the largest of the commercial production licenses which the Commission offers.
It permits the licensee a grow area of up to 5,000 square feet of canopy space for the legal planting, cultivation, growth, harvesting, drying and sale of cannabis to licensed wholesalers, processors, retailers, lounges, laboratories, and/or research certificate holders in the CNMI.
Kiribati seafarers losing jobs due to lack of PCR Covid-19 testing
Seafarers in Kiribati are continuing to lose their jobs because the country lacks the ability to conduct Polymerase Chain Reaction Covid-19 testing - or PCR testing.
Hundreds of iKiribati seafarerers repatriated during the height of the pandemic last year are now eager to return to their jobs.
The Kiribati employment minister Taabeta Teakai said shipping companies required returning workers to present a negative PCR Covid-19 test, but the country does not have a PCR machine.
"That is our challenge now we are still waiting for it and we really want to send our seafarers back to their jobs because most of the other countries are taking over their jobs."
Tahiti petition seeks access to France
A petition has been launched in French Polynesia asking Paris to grant Tahiti residents easier access to France from June 9th.
The online petition, which has attracted more than 3000 signatures, says it is an unbearable discrimination that French Polynesians won't be allowed in while from June 9th foreign European tourists will again be allowed to visit France.
The petition says living in French Polynesia, the people are as French as those from Paris or Marseille and they want to be able to enter France on the same terms as tourists.
In February, France ordered French Polynesia's border closed for all but essential trips but it reopened it two weeks ago for travellers from the US in order to help the tourism sector.
The petiton says since the beginning of March, there has been no Covid-19 related death in French Polynesia.
It says from French Polynesia it is possible to enter the United States without their being an urgent reason.
Repatriated American Samoa undergo quarantine stint
A total of 263 passengers from the American Samoa government's fourth repatriation flight, which arrived last Wednesday, are undergoing quarantine at Tradewinds Hotel.
According to the Covid-19 Task Force, a total of 105 travellers were fully vaccinated before they entered the Hawaii quarantine site and an additional 43 were vaccinated on May 6th in Hawaii.
Additionally, vaccinations will be offered to the travellers before the end of their 7-day quarantine period in American Samoa.
This is the largest repatriation flight so far, with more flights schedule later this month, through the end of July.
CNMI quarantine protocols eased for vaccinated arrivals
From today, the Northern Mariana Islands will no longer impose quarantine protocols for travellers fully vaccinated against Covid-19 who are coming in from Level 1 jurisdictions on the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Travel Health Notice list.
Some of the countries on the list include Australia, China, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Taiwan, Vietnam, and most Pacific island nations, including the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, and Fiji.
Under the new directive, travelers can avoid quarantine if they provide verifiable vaccination documentation from their respective health department or health provider.
Travellers from Level 1 jurisdictions also do not have to test upon arrival, but will be tested on the fifth day after arrival.
Starkist Samoa employees prepare to return to work
After a week-long closure, employees at StarKist Samoa are preparing to go back to work this morning.
The Vice President of the cannery's parent company, Michelle Faist, has said the closure was the result of fish shortages which was partly a ripple effect of a manpower shortage at the local plant.
The cannery has revealed that some of the production work is being channeled offshore because without the necessary labor they cannot meet production quotas.
There's a worry, however, that this temporary arrangement may end up being permanent resulting in the loss of local jobs.
Industry sources have told local media StarKist's buying price for fish may be a contributing factor in the shutdown.
Tonga Infrastructure appointment made permanent
The acting chief executive officer of Tonga's Ministry of Infrastructure has been made permanent in the role for the next four years.
The Public Service Commission announced this week that Lopeti Heimuli will be the new CEO, which he has been acting in the role since February 2020.
Heimuli has worked in the public service since January 2008, in various roles including structural engineer, senior building compliance officer and director for building control services.
He was also project manager for a number of large projects including the St George office building and the establishment of the New Housing Resilience Sector Office.
Furthermore, he negotiated and delivered on a number of major construction projects such as the continuation of the Tonga Climate Resilient Transport Project Phase 2 funded by the World Bank, the ADB Salote Wharf Upgrade and the new Fanga'uta Bridge from Ma'ufanga to Folaha.
Heimuli graduated from the University of the South Pacific with a Bachelor of Engineering Technology (2008), and also holds a Graduate Certificate in project management.
He is currently studying towards a Master of Project Management at Aberdeen Robert Gordon University in Scotland.