Articles by Utopia Support

Composers call Cook Islanders home

Tuesday 28 February 2012 | Published in National

Biblical messages and songs dedicated to calling Cook Islanders home are the two popular themes new musical compilations have been based on at the 2012 Mire Atu composer’s competition to be held this Thursday, March 1. Of the 12 composers entering new compilations for the 2012 competition, eight are first time composers and three are […]

Promote Rarotonga as 'a stopover'

Tuesday 28 February 2012 | Published in Smoke Signals

“This massive subsidy to Air New Zealand [$12.5 million] is certainly a talking point in the Cook Islands where the people are finding it hard to come to terms with such a sum to attract tourists,” a smoke signaller writes. “From Sydney to Rarotonga seems a reasonably sensible subsidy given the population of Australia and […]

All hands on deck to remove whale

Monday 27 February 2012 | Published in Environment

After eight hours of towing, weaving around coral heads and worry, the mission to get a whale carcass out of the Aitutaki lagoon almost failed in the final moments last Tuesday. After creating a harness to haul the massive corpse and slowly shifting it for eight hours through the lagoon to an opening in the […]

New tourism office in Atiu

Monday 27 February 2012 | Published in Local

An upgraded tourism office and visitor information centre will be officially opened today on the outer island of Atiu. The office will provide information, displays of locally made arts and crafts and a conference training room where Cook Islands Tourism Corporation will provide tourism training for the local people. The upgrades will be officially opened […]

Muri sanitation works to be explained

Monday 27 February 2012 | Published in Local

The Muri water quality issue is about to become bigger. A meeting will be held on Thursday to discuss plans for improving waste water disposal in the settlement. WATSAN project director Ken McDonald said: “there are 242 houses in Muri, of these 239 require improvements to their sanitation systems to bring them in line with […]

Nice and cheeky

Monday 27 February 2012 | Published in Local

Ezekiel Tatuava-Enjoy (5), Zachariah Turepu-Gukisuva (5) and 4-year-old Paerangi Tatuava-Taripo. 12022603 First cousins picture perfect in their pareu shirts as they hammed it up for the camera. The trio were part of a large gathering in Muri for the wedding of Krystina Kauvai and Eugine Tatuava on Saturday. While most cameras and eyes were trained […]

CISNOC has robbed us

Monday 27 February 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, It is interesting (and sad) to note in recent newspaper articles about how disappointing and depressing it is to be robbed by your own people, when a lot of people including our own system, don’t get it that the same trait has happened where CISNOC has robbed the local athletes of funding that […]

4 dropouts in 16 minutes

Monday 27 February 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, There is no perceived slow connection. If your Skype drops out because of an internet connection fault, is this perceived or real? Come on TCI, come clean and explain this, you cannot keep adding more connections to the same outlet and expect the speed to remain the same. Would you get four dropouts […]

Get them to lay a fibre-optic cable

Monday 27 February 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, Firstly, a comment on the article ‘$55m offer for exploration’ in relation to a Canadian mining company’s application for an exploratory seabed licence in the Cooks. In the interests of the continuing developments of our telecommunications services, while they are at it, why do the Ministers of Telecommunications and Deep-Sea Mining not negotiate […]

Out of sight, more in mind

Monday 27 February 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, I am writing regarding the article ‘Volunteer dreams in Pukapuka’ published on 15/2/12. The article does not exaggerate the needs of Niua School. I have served the Ministry of Education for 44 years. I worked as a science teacher at Niua School for the last 20 years. Since 1992, I tried to get […]

Looking for solutions

Monday 27 February 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, I am writing in regards to the article I wrote ‘Volunteer dreams in Pukapuka’ about Niua School that appeared in the Cook Islands News. I want to be very clear that the principal and the staff of the school did not know about the article nor were they involved in any part of […]

Kata - February 27, 2012

Monday 27 February 2012 | Published in Kata

Solar desalination recommended

Monday 27 February 2012 | Published in National

Communities in the pa enua susceptible to experiencing water shortages would benefit from a German innovation that couples solar power with salt removal from ocean water, according to former Te Aponga Uira outer islands director Manfred Foertsch. Foertsch, a German national and Cook Islands permanent resident who is currently back on Rarotonga, said new solar-powered […]

Dallas helps with Marshall Islands project

Monday 27 February 2012 | Published in National

Cook Islander Dallas Young has been chosen by the government of the Marshall Islands to be part of a peer review programme in Majuro. As director of international affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, Young has been part of a team reviewing processes of budgeting, planning and development in the Marshall Islands. […]

Tereora College laughs and listens

Monday 27 February 2012 | Published in National

The current generation of Cook Islands leaders stopped by Tereora College on Friday to watch the next generation put their stamp on the school. The college welcomed in its new leaders for 2012, taking in 38 students from the year 13 heads all the way through to peace ambassadors from the younger grades. College heads […]

Avatea prefects aim to help improve attitudes

Monday 27 February 2012 | Published in National

Being a prefect doesn’t mean being the boss of the rest of the students of the school. These were the words of newly appointed Avatea Primary School head boy Michael Wood at the school’s prefect induction ceremony on Friday. “A prefect is a role model – we set a good example by coming to school […]

Aid for parliament

Monday 27 February 2012 | Published in National

The Cook Islands Parliament has been chosen as one of the priority focus areas for Australia and United Nations aid programmes in coming years. Tangata Vainerere of the Pacific Legislatures for Population and Governance (PLPG) last week explained that a man by the name of Russell Shaffer came from Western Australia to Rarotonga recently for […]

New law 'criminalises debt'

Monday 27 February 2012 | Published in National

New legislation to alter the rules for contempt of court will be examined by a select committee. The committee will be headed by Prime Minister Henry Puna, with leader of the opposition Wilkie Rasmussen chosen as deputy chairman. Vaipeka-Vaipae-Tautu MP Mona Ioane,Avatiu-Ruatonga-Atupa-Palmerston MP John Henry and Teenui-Mapumai MP Norman George will be on the committee. […]

'We are running out of time'

Monday 27 February 2012 | Published in National

Government must place greater emphasis on renewable energy, Mitiaro MP Tangata Vavia said in parliament last week. “Time and time again we have been reminded of the increase in the cost of fuel. As of yesterday the cost of a barrel of oil on the world market was $US 105, and the worse thing was, […]

Jetty on track

Monday 27 February 2012 | Published in National

Although there is not much observable progress at the site of the Arorangi cruise ship jetty, the project’s managers say the development is progressing steadily behind the scenes. Designs for the jetty are currently undergoing a peer-review to test the constraints of the design and safety of the structure being proposed. Included in the testing […]