Palau triggers Forum withdrawal, the Cook Islands names new Speaker, activists calls on Pacific to remember those suffering in West Papua, key Bougainville department changes name and more.
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Palau triggers Forum withdrawal
Palau has started its official withdrawal from the Pacific Islands Forum membership as a show of disappointment in the selection process of the Secretary-General.
The Island Times reported the Palau government sent a diplomatic note and a statement of denunciation to Fiji, the PIF's host last week to begin the one-year exit process.
The withdrawal will take effect on 16 March, 2022
Palau said its exit from the Forum would affect the country's relationship with affiliated regional organisations such as the Forum Fisheries Agency and Pacific Community.
The Micronesian nations of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati and Nauru all agreed to withdraw from the forum over claims a gentlemen's agreement assuring their candidate for the Secretary-General role was not adhered to.
The FSM and the Marshall Islands already sent their notes triggering the withdrawal process.
Cook Islands names new Speaker of Parliament
The Mauke MP Tai Tura has been sworn in as the new Speaker of Parliament in the Cook Islands.
The Cook Islands News reports Mr Tura has held the role of Deputy Speaker for nearly 10 years.
Prime Minister Mark Brown, who nominated Mr Tura for the role, has acknowledged the former Speaker Niki Rattle for her wonderful service while welcoming her successor.
Mr Tura is a member of the Cook Islands Party and was first elected to Parliament in 2010.
The MP for Pukapuka-Nassau, Tingika Elikana, was declared the Deputy Speaker elect.
Fiji activists call on Pacific to remember those suffering in West Papua
Human rights activists in Fiji are calling on their Pacific neighbours to remember the suffering of people in West Papua.
More than 300,000 people are estimated to have died in the conflict between the Free West Papua Movement and Indonesia forces since Jakarta took control of the province in 1963.
The Women's Crisis Centre said Fijians should not forget the women and girls of the ongoing West Papua conflict.
The centre's coordinator Shamima Ali said this was because the women and girls in West Papua were not able to demonstrate and speak up against the authorities.
Ali said it was critical to continue making a stand against the violence inflicted on the people of West Papua by the Indonesian Defence Force.
Key Bougainville department changes name
Bougainville's Department of Peace Agreement Implementation is now the Department of Bougainville Independence Mission, as the region prepares for independence consultations with the Papua New Guinea Government.
President Ishmael Toroama said it would be the key department backing the Bougainville consultation team during the consultations.
The consultation team was scheduled to meet its Port Moresby counterparts in two weeks.
Toroama is adamant Bougainville's independence aspirations would be realised during his term.
He said the dates for the consultations could be affected by the Covid-19 surge around PNG, which may also impact on the next Joint Supervisory Body meeting, planned to be held in Enga Province.
PNG coffee industry under cloud
A new report from Papua New Guinea's National Institute Research suggests the country's coffee industry is in trouble unless major changes are made.
Coffee production had declined significantly since 1998 - down 28 percent.
The NRI said this was down to factors such as a lack of government support for coffee farmers and poor returns as older trees were not replaced.
One of the writers, Associate Professor Eugene Ezebilo, said the decline could be reversed, starting with more research by the government.
"One thing would be to find out why some coffee growers are converting their fields into other crops. The second thing has to do with strengthening the extension services - whether there is a need to increase the number of extension officers, and find out whether they need more training, especially on modern techniques"
Ezebilo said there also needed to be more effort put into funding support for farmers, marketing and the planting of new, more productive varieties.
He said without change the industry would continue to decline.
Officials deny secret compartments in Samoan ballot boxes
The Samoan Office of the Electoral Commission has moved to dispel rumours that ballot boxes for the April General Elections were produced in China and have secret compartments to store illegal votes.
TV1 Samoa reported Electoral Commissioner said all ballot boxes destined for booths around the country had been made locally with local materials.
Faimalomatumua Mathew Lemisio said the boxes were all made of plywood and had no hidden compartments.
He said all boxes were made in 2016 and used for the last General Elections.
Faimalomatumua also said that no one had cast votes yet after social media posts suggested some overseas-based seasonal workers had already cast their votes.
For the first time ever, Samoa will have pre-polling and they are scheduled to start 5 April, four days before the scheduled 9 April polling day.
France sends 30 police to New Caledonia
France is deploying 30 more policemen to New Caledonia.
This followed a call for police reinforcement by the administrator in New Caledonia's Southern Province following recent violence around protests related to the Vale nickel plant
The French Overseas Minister, Sebastien Lecornu, confirmed the deployment of another 30 special police and investigators.
He noted that almost 1500 French police were in New Caledonia, more than five times more police than in rural parts of mainland France.
Cook Islands closer to getting special Covid lab
The Cook Islands are a step closer to the completion of their specialist laboratory, which will significantly improve Covid-19 testing capabilities.
The reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction, or RT-PCR, test is the gold standard for Covid testing world-wide.
Although the Ministry of Health has had the ability to test for Covid in-country since May 2020, the ministry had been working towards setting up a PCR lab for several months.
Currently in-country tests are conducted using a cartridge-based GeneXpert machine.
The PCR lab is expected to be up and running by mid-April.
ADB backs Vanuatu shipping to remote islands
The Asian Development Bank is providing $US120,000 to subsidise the cost of shipping services to Vanuatu's remote islands.
The loan agreement was signed this week between the bank and Vanuatu government through the Ministry of Transport and Public Utilities.
The loan would cover a period of 13 years towards the cost of the Vanuatu Inter-Island Shipping Support Project.
Part of the funding would be used for the provision of services to Banks and Torres, the Northern part of Vanuatu.
A contractor will be selected by a bidding process to provide a monthly service between Luganville and specific points in Banks and Torres.
Samoan journalists trained on Covid-19 reporting
Journalists in Samoa are undergoing a training programme focusing on reporting on the Covid-19 vaccines.
The free course is funded by the European Union in collaboration with the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation.
It'll be structured in four weekly modules outlining the difficulties of covering the vaccine rollout such as the science behind newly-released vaccines.
The course also aimed to help journalists better understand policies related to the acquisition and distribution of vaccines, population immunity and emerging variants of the virus.