Articles by Utopia Support

Blame airport authority for VIP lounge

Friday 20 July 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, The people making negative comments regarding the non-attendance of a Cook Islands delegation at the Pacific Arts Festival due to the lack of funds and the 330K used for the VIP lounge upgrade need to understand why things are the way they are. Firstly, the size and the location of the VIP lounge […]

Absence at festival 'shameful'

Friday 20 July 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, Please feel free to edit my letter, but I am typing this with tears steaming down my face, so I might not be thinking clearly right now. I have just finished reading the documentary written by Alexander Teariki Olah on the Marumaru Atua about the finishing leg of their voyage from Espiritu Santos […]

Kata - July 20, 2012

Friday 20 July 2012 | Published in Kata

Kwai in tomorrow

Friday 20 July 2012 | Published in National

The vessel Kwai is expected to arrive in Rarotonga today. Kwai made landfall in Penrhyn last week, where she offloaded food staples for the island, which has been short of food in recent months. She also picked up additional cargo including a vehicle and passengers bound for Rarotonga and 20 members of a tere party […]

Blue-Light disco tonight

Friday 20 July 2012 | Published in National

A Blue-Light disco will be held for Cook Islands youth tonight with spot prizes for the best-dressed. The disco, which will be held at the Kent Hall in Titikaveka between 6.30 and 10 p.m. has a theme of ‘winter in the islands’. Blue-Light organiser Constable Alan Rua says the drug and alcohol-free evening will be […]

Students chart career paths

Friday 20 July 2012 | Published in National

Thirty-eight booths representing tertiary institutes both here and overseas, local and international companies and government ministries crowded the floor of the Telecom Sports Arena yesterday for the annual Careers Expo. Students and workers looking for a career change filed in and out for the duration of the day to check out their options and talk […]

Speed radar guns still in use

Friday 20 July 2012 | Published in National

Police affirm they are still using the speed radar guns donated to them by the New Zealand police force. In response to a reader’s query in Thursday’s newspaper as to whether police are still using the ”speed cameras that were gifted“ to them, Inspector Tere Patia says no speed cameras have ever been in use […]

Watch out for 'phishing', says cybercrime expert

Friday 20 July 2012 | Published in National

People who have been duped by ‘phishing’ scams are often ashamed to tell authorities, says a visiting cybercrime expert. But Professor Marco Gercke, a visiting expert in cybercrime, warns that if you don’t let someone know about the problem, nothing can be done. Professor Gercke is in the Cooks on behalf of the United Nations […]

Rugby's upset win

Friday 20 July 2012 | Published in Smoke Signals

A smoke signaller writes: ”When you read the headline of Monday’s back page sports article ‘Upset win to Titikaveka Bulls’ you would think that the article would elaborate more about the game. Instead, in the article there were only two sentences that talked about the game. The article talked more about the Eels vs Panthers […]

Astounded by Lagoon Day

Thursday 19 July 2012 | Published in Environment

This opinion piece by secondary student Dean Tangata was written and submitted as a letter to the editor. I am a Nukutere College student and I attended the Lagoon Day on Tuesday July 17 and I was astounded at what I discovered. Did you know that the Arorangi waste facilities landfill was designed to last […]

Lagoon Day a great success

Thursday 19 July 2012 | Published in Environment

Lagoon Day co-ordinator June Hosking has hailed another successful two-day event. Over 700 students from 14 schools in Rarotonga attended the environmental education workshop and while numbers were down on previous years, the feedback from the surveys at the event has been positive. The bad weather that postponed the event from Thursday and Friday to […]

Expo showcases career choices

Thursday 19 July 2012 | Published in Local

Helping students make informed career decisions now for a bright future is one of the key focuses of today’s annual Careers Expo. The future-focused expo runs all day at the Telecom Sports Arena in Nikao. More than 30 exhibitors made up of local businesses, government ministries and overseas tertiary providers are taking part in the […]

Laws need updating to fight cybercrime

Thursday 19 July 2012 | Published in Local

Two experts are in the Cooks to advise the Cook Islands Government on how to legislate against the rising threat of cybercrime. The United Nations sent two people from its specialised agency responsible for information and communications technology, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), to discuss possible criminal legislation with the government. Cybercrime is a global […]

More police patrols on roads

Thursday 19 July 2012 | Published in Local

Police are increasing their presence on Rarotonga’s roads in the lead up to Te Maeva Nui and the Pacific Leaders Forum. ”The general public can expect to see an increased presence of the police with checkpoints on our roads on a daily basis, 24/7, commencing this week,“ says Inspector Terry Patia. More police will be […]

Walk talk

Thursday 19 July 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, The other afternoon I took a walk along the back road from Tupapa to Avana. I cannot recall the last time I saw the back road in such a terrible state. Here we are, after almost 47 years of self-government, and in the very peak of the country’s tourist season all we have […]

Ban shark finning

Thursday 19 July 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, I think everyone should protect our sharks. I heard there was a boat in the Cook Island waters, with a lot of shark fins on it. As part of their licence to fish in CI waters, no fishing boats are allowed to take sharks fins. I found out about shark fin soup, too. […]

Grateful thanks

Thursday 19 July 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, My husband John was on the ‘Tangaroa – Jillymae’ on its tragic final voyage. John and I would like to express our grateful thanks to all concerned on the day. Thanks to Skipper Blair (Wilson) for your support and quiet, calm manner while all on board clung to the boat in the sea […]

Mixed messages from MMR

Thursday 19 July 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, It has been an interesting few weeks in the fisheries world, since my letter raising my concerns at shark finning. The good news first! The Ministry of Marine Resources (MMR) has finally released Vaine Wichman’s report on the game fishing industry and status of fisheries in the southern group. (It says that the […]

Kata - July 19, 2012

Thursday 19 July 2012 | Published in Kata

Disease-resistant taro being bred

Thursday 19 July 2012 | Published in National

Taro plants have been engineered by cross-breeding to be high-yield and resistant to disease. After taro leaf blight destroyed Samoa’s taro crop in 1993, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) set up CePaCT, a special research centre for Pacific crops and trees. They were tasked to develop a solution to taro disease. Alongside the […]