PACIFIC BRIEFS 16/2/2017

Retired bishop to face abuse charges NORTHERN MARIANAS – Sexual abuse charges have been filed against a retired Catholic bishop in the Northern Marianas, Tomas Camacho. He is being accused of sexual abuse by Guam resident Melvin Duenas in a lawsuit filed in the US District Court of Guam. Duenas claims that the sexual abuse started in 1971 when he was about 10 years old and the chief altar boy at St Joseph Catholic Church in Inarajan where Tomas Camacho served as a priest. He said it only stopped when he ran away from the rectory sometime in 1974 and 1975. The charges against Camacho include negligent supervision and breach of fiduciary duty. Last year, Guam’s Catholic community was rocked by several allegations of similar sexual abuse by then archbishop, Anthony Apuron. MCCULLY DISCUSSES POST RAMSI SECURITY SOLOMON ISLANDS – The New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully says his country has plans for how it can assist Solomon Islands when the Regional Assistance Mission, RAMSI, pulls out in July. The Australian-led RAMSI, to which New Zealand contributed significant numbers of soldiers, police and civil servants when ethnic strife dominated life in the Solomons in 2003, has been scaling down and will withdraw completely in just over four months. McCully is in Honiara for discussions on the post-RAMSI phase and says New Zealand is ready to make commitments to help ensure the ongoing security of the Solomons. But he says he is not yet able to reveal details. “There are still some further conversations to have with the authorities here,” he said. SHARK POACHERS TO FACE STIFF FINES KIRIBATI – Kiribati Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources Development has outlined the penalties for breaking the ban on shark fishing for commercial purposes. The ministry last year announced sharks could only be fished for consumption and not for re-sale. Under the Fisheries Act 2010 together with the Shark Sanctuary Regulation 2014, severe punishments and fines will be imposed on those who are found breaching these regulations. A fine of $US6000 or imprisonment for four months will be given to offenders while fishing boats will be fined US$7643 or impounded for six months for the same offence. Kiribati has set up a large shark sanctuary to help protect the species across an expanse of the central Pacific almost equal to the size of India. The Pew Charitable Trusts estimates 100 million sharks are killed each year by commercial fisheries. DENGUE PLAGUING PACIFIC ISLANDS VANUATU – The hospital on Vanuatu’s Tanna island has recorded 115 dengue cases. A hospital manager, who is also part of the Dengue Taskforce, says 435 people were tested for the mosquito-borne disease. He says of the 115 people who tested positive four were hospitalised. He says one patient suffered spontaneous bleeding. The number of dengue cases has also risen in neighbouring New Caledonia where an epidemic has been declared. A public health emergency has been declared in New Caledonia’s capital Noumea as a dengue outbreaks keeps worsening. The authorities say all neighbourhoods of the city are now affected and more personnel is being hired to try to eliminate breeding areas for mosquitos. CHURCH INVESTIGATORS ON WAY TO GUAM FIJI – The newly-appointed chair of Fiji’s electoral commission says maintaining transparency and ensuring the fairest possible elections are his biggest priorities. Suresh Chandra was appointed to the role last week, nearly a month after the three-year term of the previous commission expired. The commission is an independent constitutional body tasked with supervising the elections office, which is responsible for preparing the vote. After the 2014 elections, a multinational observer group recommended the commission increase its transparency. Chandra says that will be one of his key priorities.“We will make sure that the transparency is maintained and we need to see that the credibility of the process is maintained and the election procedures are followed.”