Articles by Utopia Support

High praise for a great show

Saturday 7 April 2012 | Published in Features

Te Maeva Nui village and outer islands teams have big shoes to fill after Rarotonga schools put on an outstanding cultural festival on Wednesday night. The National Auditorium was packed to the rafters with proud parents and families who brought the Are Karioi roof down with roaring cheers for every single school. The level of […]

Akaoki'anga kaka: returning the glory

Saturday 7 April 2012 | Published in Features

Woven kikau baskets – packed tightly with fish baked in banana leaves and packaged chicken, cooked taro and tinned meat – lined the frond-covered floor of the Atai/Auta meeting house last Sunday. Mitiaro mamas in white dresses and rito hats sat on benches and held dressed-up babies as the men – their husbands, sons, grandsons, […]

Kata - April 7, 2012

Saturday 7 April 2012 | Published in Kata

A helping hand for Fiji

Saturday 7 April 2012 | Published in National

Thinking of their colleagues and friends being hurt by deadly flooding at Fiji, the people of Westpac Cook Islands have decided to open up a fund for those looking to help out from the Cooks. The team at Rarotonga held a mufti day on Thursday to collect a gold coin donation for their Fijian friends […]

QR sends his condolences

Saturday 7 April 2012 | Published in National

Queen’s Representative Sir Frederick Goodwin has asked Fiji High Commissioner Litia Mawi to pass on condolences to Fiji’s leaders and its people from the Cook Islands in the wake of the devastating and fatal flooding that has afflicted the country over the last week. While meeting Mawi on Wednesday, Goodwin said that the people of […]

Fiji's link to Cooks for good of region

Saturday 7 April 2012 | Published in National

Fiji’s regional roving ambassador says her country will continue to engage in international discussions with its Pacific neighbours despite remaining on the fringe of the Pacific Islands Forum. High Commissioner to the Cook Islands Litia Mawi, who has the position of being Fiji’s ‘roving’ ambassador to 11 nations in the Pacific, officially handed in her […]

Double wedding at Edgewater

Saturday 7 April 2012 | Published in National

The Edgewater Resort & Spa’s weddings have such a great reputation that best friends Nicola Viscoe and Julia Finlay decided they both wanted their wedding here – and on the same day! Although the actual ceremonies were two hours apart, they all celebrated together with a joint reception, held at the resort’s Umu Hut. Julia […]

USP meeting on Easter Monday

Saturday 7 April 2012 | Published in National

USP students are being urged to attend an important meeting next Monday. The USP Students Association held a special general meeting on March 30, but the turnout was dismal and a quorum was not reached. The meeting has been re-scheduled accordingly. The aim of the March 30 meeting was to establish a governing executive committee […]

Professor's students tackle 'thorny subjects'

Saturday 7 April 2012 | Published in National

Professor Tania Ka’ai applauds USP Cook Islands students for going the extra mile and developing their research capacity so as to widen the country’s skill base. Back by popular demand, the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) professor of Maori innovation and development is presently teaching two courses at USP Cook Islands. The first is a […]

Government drops airline tax idea

Saturday 7 April 2012 | Published in National

The Cook Islands government has decided not to pursue foreign airlines for income tax after this year losing their exemption, seeking not to sour the relationships built over the last 30 years. Minister for Finance and Economic Management Mark Brown said that the government had decided it would not begin collecting income tax from the […]

Delays to ship trouble northern islands

Saturday 7 April 2012 | Published in National

Administrations from the five northern group islands have been busy trying to make sure invoices and freight charges are paid up to get the long-promised and oft-delayed Samoan shipping vessel in the water and on its way to the Cook Islands. Organisers in Rarotonga on Thursday said they hoped the ship would be able to […]

Quick action

Thursday 5 April 2012 | Published in Local

Good spotting and quick action prevented a fire from spreading and causing extensive damage to the Maritime Surveillance Centre at Avatiu harbour yesterday. This fire was discovered at 5.30am after smoke was seen coming through the roof of the building by a Triad employee. “The quick action of this person in reporting it resulted in […]

Project to plug gaps in public sector

Thursday 5 April 2012 | Published in Local

A new project has been launched to identify and plug the gaps in the skills and knowledge of the public sector in order to improve its performance and service delivery, the Office of the Public Service Commissioner has announced. The initiative, called Cook Islands Public Service Capability Project, aims to identify gaps in ministry and […]

DPM gives shipping undertaking

Thursday 5 April 2012 | Published in Local

Transport minister and deputy prime minister Tom Marsters says government was not aware of the expiration of Forum Pacific’s charter until as recently as two weeks ago. Upon the expiration of the vessel’s charter, only one vessel will remain to service the Cook Islands, whereas previously the route was serviced by two different vessels operated […]

Teach te reo

Thursday 5 April 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, Teia au tei Australia nei, te kite nei au te taravake a to tatou metua ki runga i ta tatou tamariki, e tika te meitaki ua ara te apii i te reo papaa, eaa ra e ngaro to tatou reo tupuna, akamaroiroi eiaa e akama, apii ia ta tatou tamariki te reo tupuna […]

Examine all possibilities

Thursday 5 April 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, In reference to freight rates being tightly regulated by the Cook Islands Government. A long time architect friend of mine is fond of saying that a building code is simply the minimum standard beneath which a building will probably not be safe. Similarly, a regulated price in a single-supplier, nationally-critical service is probably […]

Digital dictionary a 'wasted effort'

Thursday 5 April 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, The Mangaia Language has been digital for at least five years! A comprehensive dictionary was compiled by Marsa Dodson with support from Otago University and in cooperation with the local people. Marsa resided on Mangaia with her husband for two years and thanks to her tireless effort the final version of the dictionary […]

Kata - April 5, 2012

Thursday 5 April 2012 | Published in Kata

Hospital patient's privacy breached

Thursday 5 April 2012 | Published in National

Staff at Rarotonga Hospital have admitted they were wrong to divulge a patient’s medical information to insurers who were seeking more details regarding to a motorcycle crash and have apologised to the bike’s owner for their error. After another driver crashed one of his motorcycles late in December, Rarotonga resident Kevin Cook decided to try […]

'Reef will charter a ship if necessary'

Thursday 5 April 2012 | Published in National

The Cook Islands Chamber of Commerce says it has been told Reef Shipping will charter a special vessel in order to help the country cope with the peak tourism season. The chamber executive met with Reef Shipping Group director Phillip McNicholl during his recent visit to Rarotonga. Chamer president Teresa Manarangi-Trott says during that meeting […]