Union calls for financial assistance for Samoan seafarers, questions are raised over Jakarta's stance on West Papua and Myanmar, Fiji records four new Covid cases at the border and more.
A group of Samoan seafarers prepare to head overseas, pre-Covid Photo: Tipi Autagavaia
Union calls for financial assistance for Samoan seafarers
The Samoa First Union is calling for returned Samoan seafarers to get financial assistance from the government.
The Samoa Observer reported organiser, Saina Tomi Setu, made the call after the repatriation of sailors stranded around the world since the pandemic hit.
Saina said many, who were their family's main source of income, were now struggling to find work.
Since the pandemic forced countries to close off their borders to each other, thousands of Samoans had lost their jobs in the tourism industry.
Saina said the Government had not given direct unemployment assistance or targeted support to anyone outside that industry.
She said there were around 70 seamen, who were union members, who were struggling to find work.
Questions over Indonesian stance on West Papua and Myanmar
An activist in Indonesia has questioned Jakarta's conflicting stances on regional military crises in West Papua and Myanmar.
Veronica Koman called Indonesia's stand against the military coup in Myanmar "a very good move".
Speaking at an online webinar, Koman said Indonesia's opposition to the military overthrow of Myanmar's democratically elected government was in response to the threat of militarism spreading in the region.
But she claimed Jakarta's response was in stark contrast to the blind eye it turned to military abuses in its Papua and West Papua provinces.
Fiji records four new Covid-19 cases at the border
Fiji has recorded four new border quarantine cases of Covid-19.
The Health Ministry says the latest cases include two women, a man and a boy.
The ministry says two of them - a 35 year old man and a 42 year old woman - arrived in the country on the same repatriation flight from India on February 24.
The other two cases - a 55 year old woman and 12 year old boy - had travelled together to Fiji from the US and transited through Auckland on February 25.
The ministry said they are all isolated at Lautoka Hospital.
Fiji now has 63 cases, seven active with 54 people recovered and two deaths.
Marshallese students march in solidarity with nuclear victims
Students from the Marshall Islands studying at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji have marched on campus to mark the third annual nuclear victims solidarity this week.
The USP Marshall Islands Student Association said it was important for people to know what nuclear testing was about and its repercussions on communities where they it was carried out.
The association's president, Wayne Kijiner, pointed out there was a national holiday in the Marshall Islands to remember the victims and the survivors of the nuclear testing that was conducted by the US.
"The student association here in Fiji, combining both USP and FNU and other schools, decided it would be a good opportunity to raise awareness on such an issue."
Vanuatu to miss target of of half a million strong cattle herd
The Vanuatu Government has admitted it won't reach its target of a half million strong cattle herd by 2025.
The government began a programme in 2015 to build up cattle numbers, with the aim of making the country a significant exporter of beef.
It began with the shipping of cattle to Torba Province in 2015, but was stalled last year by Covid-19 .
But the second phase, with 124 breeding stock delivered to over 30 farmers on Epi Island in Shefa Province, has just got underway.
The Vanuatu Daily Post reported the Director of Livestock, Lonny Bong, saying many lessons have been learned along the way and the second phase would concentrate on offloading breeding cattle to Erromango, Efate, Epi, Malekula and Santo.
He said statistics from the farms showed the 500,000 target by 2025 would not be met.
Cooks setting up PCR lab
The Cook Islands Ministry of Health says Rarotonga hospital is on track to have its mass testing polymerase chain reaction laboratory in operation by the end of April.
The PCR laboratory will allow for rapid Covid-19 testing, which is seen as a key requirement for a travel bubble with New Zealand.
Ministry of Health spokesperson Jaewynn McKay says online training for the lab's operations is currently underway and more intensive training will happen once the new equipment arrives and is installed.
The on-the-ground training is expected to start during the first two weeks of April.