Articles by Utopia Support

Pacific crops make a nutritious flour

Tuesday 27 March 2012 | Published in National

“Local crops make nutritious flour,” says head of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s Community and Education Training Centre. Greater food value, economically viable, local resource material: these features make flour production at the Community Education and Training Centre (CETC) anything but ‘run-of-the-mill’. “We have been working with women at the grassroots level, showing them […]

Ianis graduates to Saab control

Tuesday 27 March 2012 | Published in National

Monday was a red letter day for Air Rarotonga Captain Ianis Boaza, who completed his first day’s roster as captain of the airline’s 34 passenger Saab 340. Ianis has been flying with Air Rarotonga for many years, more recently as captain on the smaller 15 passenger Embraer Bandeirante fleet. The airline’s Saab pilots undertake checks […]

Translator wanted

Tuesday 27 March 2012 | Published in National

A French Polynesia-based translation company is looking for a person who speaks fluent English and Rarotongan to (virtually) join its team. Huri Translations is accepting applications from people interested in doing translation work from a distance – via email. Candidates must have excellent command of the Rarotongan language as well as English and must be […]

Pacific education heads compare notes

Tuesday 27 March 2012 | Published in National

Secretary of Education Sharyn Paio was funded by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat to take part in a meeting of Pacific Heads of Education on March 13-16 in Nadi, Fiji. With the exception of two countries there was full representation by heads of education of all Pacific Forum countries. There were two parts to this […]

Call a halt, start building a relationship

Tuesday 27 March 2012 | Published in National

This is a periodical opinion piece by New Zealand Maori journalist and broadcaster Derek Fox, the publisher of MANA magazine. After a wonderful warm ten days in Rarotonga I’m back in a damp and windy Wellington.Yesterday I decided to write a letter to John Key – you know the guy who’s Prime Minister here. I’m […]

Rugby union reviews high and lows

Tuesday 27 March 2012 | Published in Rugby Union

The highs and lows for rugby union in the Cook Islands in 2011 will be examined at tonight’s Cook Islands Rugby Union annual general meeting, where office bearers from the president down will also be decided on for the coming two years. Eight positions will be decided on at tonight’s meeting, held from 5pm at […]

Food survey fails

Tuesday 27 March 2012 | Published in Smoke Signals

A smoke signaller sent in this tongue-in-cheek ‘news’ snippet: Last month a world-wide survey was conducted by the UN. The only question asked was: “Could you please give your honest opinion about solutions to the world food shortages?” The survey was a massive failure because of the following: In Eastern Europe they didn’t know what […]

Wildlife trade fight goes regional

Monday 26 March 2012 | Published in Environment

Environment officer Elizabeth Munro is representing the Cook Islands at three back-to-back regional workshops in Fiji. Two are being put on by Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), one regarding international trade in wild fauna and flora and the other on a regional approach to marine management. The first, formally entitled CITES (Convention […]

MMR is going back to school

Monday 26 March 2012 | Published in Environment

Staff of the Ministry of Marine Resources (MMR) have been going back to school – not as students but as instructors to impart information about the numerous marine animals and plants in our lagoon. Part of the aim is to explain a bit more about the role of MMR in conserving and managing these resources. […]

Czeching into Cooks

Monday 26 March 2012 | Published in Local

Hynek Kmonicek, Ambassador of the Czech Republic, will visit the Cook Islands this week to present his letters of credentials to the Cook Islands government. The ambassador, resident in Canberra, Australia, is concurrently accredited to New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu. This will be the second Czech Ambassador to visit the Cook […]

First jewellery manufacturer certified

Monday 26 March 2012 | Published in Local

Take a dozen years, 8000 hours of work, a smattering of custom-made jewellery and a pinch of the unknown and you’ll get the story of how Brent Fisher has become the Cook Islands’first certified jeweller manufacturer. Fisher was lucky enough to put an official end to a 12-year long goal of his last week when […]

Marine park 'framework' allows multi-use

Monday 26 March 2012 | Published in Local

A three-day workshop led by the Cook Islands marine park interim steering committee, and attended by regional and international conservation experts, has led to the drafting of an overarching framework to guide the ongoing planning and management of the marine park. The steering committee has been tasked with providing recommendations to cabinet for final decision […]

What's the joke?

Monday 26 March 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, In last Friday’s CINews a smoke signaller chastised the National Environment Service for authorising the removal of shrubbery from Takuvaine Stream, finishing off his piece with the statement, “Is Les Priest behind all this?” Why he chose to quote my name in a derogatory context in the media is a mystery beyond my […]

Foreign policy out of control?

Monday 26 March 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, I am a big fan of the Cooks and holiday there quite often and I like to follow current events reading the Cook Islands News once a week. Though I am just an outsider from NZ, I have noticed that the Cook Islands’ foreign policy (do they have even a policy or is […]

Dismiss Operation Eagle charges

Monday 26 March 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, Last year in March we had an investigation named Operation Eagle, where 13 people were arrested and taken into prison custody. This year in March 2012 a 17-year-old student didn’t even get a conviction and yet she had 613 marijuana seeds in a small container. I always walk past the court house hoping […]

Say no to mining

Monday 26 March 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, It will be a sad day for all Cook Islanders if the government allows seabed mining to go ahead on our beautiful foreshores. Why are we so money hungry, and not caring about our environment. Mining on our seabeds is going to be disastrous for our future generations to come, It’s a sad […]

Cervical cancer screening explained

Monday 26 March 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, As an on-line reader in New Zealand and visiting specialist to The Cook Islands, I was very pleased to see a recent letter from a reader in Australia calling for all Cook Island women to make sure that they have regular cervical smears. However, I feel that I should write to explain why […]

Kata - March 26, 2012

Monday 26 March 2012 | Published in Kata

Experts meet to discuss water network

Monday 26 March 2012 | Published in National

Water engineering experts are meeting in Rarotonga this week for a technical workshop to discuss and present the optimal option for renewal of the island’s aging water supply network. Minister of Infrastructure and Planning Teariki Heather will open the three-day workshop this morning. “Upgrading water supply on Rarotonga is a key priority for the government […]

Susie and Sam selected

Monday 26 March 2012 | Published in National

The Edgewater Resort & Spa honoured two of its standout staff last week. The resort selects one or two employees from its staff that have been awarded Employee of the Month for the previous year to become the Employee of the Year. The 2011 employees of the year were announced in a small ceremony at […]