Articles by Utopia Support

Easy again

Friday 26 August 2011 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, Further to this relatively easy to implement tax on interest idea of Minister Brown. Would his financial secretary please publish another fact sheet advising how the many account holders at the banks who are charities like the Red Cross, non profit bodies and public authorities get coded as exempt as they are entitled […]

Satellite competition healthy

Friday 26 August 2011 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, Can we be so assured of the communications links to the Cook Islands, following the TCI chief executives comments on the feasibility of the Cooks linking into the Pacific Fibre, as reported on August 22? With the laying and introduction of a second and competing fibre-optic cable through the South Pacific, what is […]

Akamatakite kite au Atu Enua

Friday 26 August 2011 | Published in Letters to the Editor

E tama, Te uiui nei au ma te manakonako, eaa tikai te tumu e kapiki viviki ia nei te atu enua o te Atiu lands Incorporation, ki tetai uipaanga i Atiu e pera ki Rarotonga nei. Te ui katoa nei au e,me kua ki te te atu enua e te vai nei tetai tuanga moni […]

Kata - August 26, 2011

Friday 26 August 2011 | Published in Kata

Banks not ready for new withholding tax

Friday 26 August 2011 | Published in National

Governments new withholding tax will not be implemented until October as banks are struggling to re-code their computer systems in time for the initial September 1 deadline. Finance minister Mark Brown says regardless the tax will be backdated to September 1, so government estimates of how much revenue it is expected to generate in this […]

Family welfare group attends regional conference

Friday 26 August 2011 | Published in National

The Cook Islands Family Welfare Association (CIFWA) continues to grow in strength and capacity and this financial year hopes to implement some new initiatives. CIFWA executive director Rongo File has recently returned from Kuala Lumpur where she represented the organisation at the annual International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) Asia and Pacific conference. There she attended […]

Generator purchase under audit investigation

Friday 26 August 2011 | Published in National

Audit director Paul Allsworth says a review is warranted to determine whether the previous Democratic government acted inappropriately by purchasing four oversize generators for Manihiki last year. Allsworths interest of the matter was sparked by comments made during a government media conference in Rarotonga this week. Prime Minister Henry Puna announced the government is purchasing […]

4 new generators for Manihiki

Friday 26 August 2011 | Published in National

Manihiki is to have four new diesel generators, despite being in line for renewable energy infrastructure. Prime Minister Henry Puna detailed the purchase this week, citing $110,400 of a capital expenditure fund for outer island projects which will cover the cost of purchase and installation. Puna says the former Democratic government installed four generators on […]

Ministry closes wheelbarrow case

Friday 26 August 2011 | Published in National

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has finished an investigation into reports of a man sleeping in a wheelbarrow, saying they are satisfied his living conditions are adequate and he is happy. Secretary Bredina Drollett said the investigation showed the man aged in his 80s was not using the wheelbarrow as a bed full-time, but to […]

Aitutaki produce brings new money

Friday 26 August 2011 | Published in National

Aitutaki growers have dispatched a second container full of local fish and produce to New Zealand, where it will be distributed by and sold to Cook Islands communities. In an effort to tap into overseas markets, the growers of Aitutaki are exporting a container monthly, alternating between shipments of dry and frozen goods. Their most […]

60-plus makes 4

Friday 26 August 2011 | Published in National

The 60-plus club celebrated its fourth year of existence yesterday with song singing and, of course, cake. About 40 men and women gathered at the Cafe Ariki for lunch and laughs in commemoration of the minor milestone. The day was organised with the true spirit of the club in mind to provide the chance for […]

McCully received waiver, not exemption

Friday 26 August 2011 | Published in National

New Zealand foreign minister Murray McCully and his entourage were not made exempt from paying departure tax upon leaving the Cook Islands last month, says CIP Minister Teina Bishop. Instead, the 58-person delegation had received a waiver from paying the compulsory departure tax when it left the country on the Cook Islands leg of the […]

Outreach for teachers in New Zealand

Friday 26 August 2011 | Published in National

As part of an effort to fill teacher vacancies in secondary schools, the ministry of education conducted a recruitment drive (reo kapikianga mei te ipukarea) in New Zealand last month. The need for qualified and experienced teachers and educational personnel to fill vacancies in secondary schools and in the ministry of education main office has […]

Forum Pacific vessel skips Raro

Friday 26 August 2011 | Published in National

The Forum Pacific will be omitting Rarotonga from its upcoming voyage itinerary. Southern Express will instead be delivering her Rarotonga-bound cargo, and will arrive three days prior to Forum Pacifics scheduled date of arrival. Southern Express voyage 147 is expected to arrive in Auckland on September 1 and in Rarotonga nine days later. She should […]

Tsunami exercise drives upgrade

Friday 26 August 2011 | Published in National

New tsunami signs will be erected around Rarotonga in the coming weeks in anticipation of a Pacific-wide tsunami response exercise to be held in November. The new roadside signs will provide directions to village tsunami safe zones right around the capital island. They will be put in place before the regional disaster response exercise Pacific […]

Atiu trust fund up for discussion

Friday 26 August 2011 | Published in National

Atiu landowners whose assets were once bound up in the Enuamanu Lands Incorporation are meeting this afternoon to discuss the future of their trust fund. Teenui-Mapumai member of parliament Norman George estimates the dissolved incorporations trust fund contains about $100,000. He says the money has been sitting for over 30 years. George says stakeholders moved […]

New envoy wants to prove a point

Friday 26 August 2011 | Published in National

New Zealand High Commissioner to the Cook Islands John Carter is spearheading a research project to determine exactly how mutually beneficial the relationship between Aotearoa and the Cook Islands is. Speaking at a luncheon of Cook Islands business professionals in Rarotonga yesterday, Carter said it is easy for New Zealanders to criticise the amount of […]

PM takes communications advice

Friday 26 August 2011 | Published in National

Prime Minister Henry Puna is beginning to answer media demands for regular disclosure about his administration and has appointed a communications advisor to work in his office. New Zealand Maori journalist and media advisor Damiane Rikihana has been working at the Office of the Prime Minister for the last few weeks. She is a trained […]

PM meets Sarkozy, not Gadhafi

Friday 26 August 2011 | Published in National

Members of parliament enjoyed a laugh at the expense of Prime Minister Henry Puna on Wednesday evening, when he was likened to controversial Libyan leader Moamer Gadhafi. During a question and answer session within parliament, in Punas absence, independent MP Norman George asked where the prime minister was. Has he gone overseas to join Moamer […]

Battle of the east to launch soccer season

Friday 26 August 2011 | Published in Football

Titikaveka will host Matavera at their home field as the curtain-raiser game for this years soccer season. The 2011 Rarotonga Football season is scheduled to kick off next month on Thursday September 15 with seven clubs vying for the trophy over 14 rounds of football. The competition will be played over 14 weeks during September […]