Two guardians are dedicated to protecting the Olympics flame throughout its voyage to the opening ceremony on 26 July in Paris. Photo: Polynésie la 1ère
Tahiti abuzz as it hosts Olympic Games flame relay
French Polynesia is abuzz this Friday as it hosts the Paris 2024 Olympic Games flame relay on its main island of Tahiti, where the Games' surfing event will also be held late July on the iconic beach of Teahupoo.
The day-long torch relay involves 124 bearers during the Tahiti leg.
It is to visit eleven communes of the West coast of the main island, starting from Teahupoo to reach Papeete and its central To'ata square.
Heavy security is also deployed to secure the event with some four hundred local police, gendarmes and a mine clearance team that will systematically search all vehicles taking part in the cortege.
The Olympic flame is scheduled to finish its course in Paris on 26 July with the final step of lighting the caldron during the opening ceremony.
5G arrives but only for Papeete
5G telecom service has started to be rolled out in French Polynesia, but only for Papeete for the time being.
Vodafone French Polynesia Chief executive Patrick Moux. Photo: TNTV
The announcement was made by Vodafone's local head Patrick Moux, who says the "premium" service will be gradually extended to other parts of the main island of Tahiti for an initial monthly fee of some 8,900 French Pacific Francs (CFP, 80 US dollars).
It is planned to be rolled out to French Polynesia's outer islands at a later stage.
Brotherson celebrates one year in office
French Polynesia's pro-independence President Moetai Brotherson has marked the first anniversary of his election with a minor reshuffle involving the replacement of his Vice-President Eliane Tevahitua by Minarii Galenon.
Galenon also retains her other existing portfolios (solidarity, family, women's affairs, LGBTQ+).
Brotherson said in his choice for a new Vice-President, he wanted this position to be held by a woman, an "experienced politician" and someone who has a sense of "diplomacy".
Those skills, Brotherson said, will be useful to "calm down" frequent tensions within his government (and a significant group of young newcomers who were elected at the 2023 territorial assembly elections) and with his party, the pro-independence Tavini Huiraatira.
Territorial Assembly President Tony Géros swiftly reacted to the reshuffle saying he was "surprised" and that he "regretted" that "someone from the Tavini should be sidelined".
Tavini President Oscar Temaru reacted by paying a vibrant homage to the outgoing Vice-President, saying she was "a great lady".
"We will respect the President's decision, but we owe her a big thank you", the charismatic pro-independence leader told local media.
As part of this reshuffle, President Brotherson (who is already in charge of tourism, international air transport, international affairs, digital economy and consequences of the French nuclear tests) takes over the sensitive land issues portfolio.
French Polynesia’s pro-independence President Moetai Brotherson (right) replaces his Vice-President Eliane Tevahitua (left). Photo: TNTV
New generation patrol boat arrives
A new generation patrol boat arrived late May in French Polynesia, with one of its first assignments being to contribute to the security of Olympic Games-related events.
The "Teriiero a Teriieroiterai" arrived in the port of Papeete on 23 May.
It is the first of this new class of Overseas Patrol Boats to be delivered to French Polynesia over the past few months.
The second one, the "Bernardino" is due to arrive in 2025.
Apart from the Olympics security, their main regular mission is to reinforce maritime surveillance of French Polynesia's huge Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), in particular in terms of illegal fishing activities by foreign vessels.
The “Teriiero a Teriieroiterai” welcome ceremony in Papeete on 23 May. Photo: Polynésie la 1ère
French Polynesia hosts "Marara" military exercise
French Polynesia has just played host to a 15-nation "Marara" military exercise aimed at increasing "interoperability" between participating armed forces.
From 27 May to 8 June, the exercise involved about one thousand personnel from Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, the Cook Islands, Vanuatu, Tonga, Fiji, Canada, the Netherlands and Peru.
For the occasion, Japan's helicopter carrier "LST Kunisaki" was used as a joint command post in what is described as a realistic simulation of an international relief operation to assist a fictitious Pacific island country struck by a grave natural disaster.
Military transport planes and patrol boats have also been brought into the exercise by participating countries.
"Marara 2024 illustrates France's commitment to reinforce security and stability in the Pacific...and its ability to cooperate with nations of the region for the benefit of the population", the French Armed forces in French Polynesia said in a release.
French Polynesia has just played host to a 15-nation “Marara” military exercise aimed at increasing interoperability between participating armed forces. Photo: Ministère des Armées
Power blackout on New Caledonia's main island
New Caledonia's main island, including the capital Nouméa, experienced a general power blackout on Wednesday for over two hours.
The failure affected most parts of La Grande Terre at around 12.25pm local time (1.25pm NZ time), electricity company Enercal said in a release, adding this was an "electro-technical" issue.
Teams deployed on the ground managed to gradually restore power in the afternoon by redistributing production from several of its power plants and re-harnessing outputs usually dedicated to Société le Nickel's smelter needs from its floating off-shore plant in Nouméa.
Investigations are ongoing in order to identify the cause of the general power failure.
New Caledonia’s main island experienced a general power blackout on Wednesday for over two hours. Photo: www.eee.nc