Articles by Utopia Support

New store and takeaway almost finished

Friday 24 June 2011 | Published in National

Construction on the newest branch of grocery chain Manea Foods is nearing completion. The shop formerly Ooa Petrol in Tupapa should open next week, owner James Beer said. On Thursday it had power installed, and staff are already running equipment tests and refrigerators. In past months work crews have been working hard to get Manea […]

Kids embrace kitesurfing competition

Friday 24 June 2011 | Published in National

Schools on Aitutaki are getting into the kitesurfing spirit ahead of next weeks competition. Seventy-six students from grades five and six at all three of Aitutakis primary schools participated in a kite-making challenge this week. They spent yesterday flying their kites, which will be judged on Tuesday. Contest organiser Ianis Boaza, himself a competitor at […]

Thousands go local at night market

Friday 24 June 2011 | Published in National

About 40 vendors and 4000 punters packed the Punanga Nui market on Wednesday night for the first annual Go Local Night Market. A mixture of Cook Islanders and tourists filled the market from 6pm to sample the countrys local produce, products and performance. Mana Etches of the Business Trade Investment Board (BTIB) said crowd numbers […]

Lady Hillary explores the Cooks

Friday 24 June 2011 | Published in National

Lady June Hillary, wife of the late New Zealand explorer Sir Edmund Hillary, was among the passengers to disembark at Rarotonga this week from the visiting Paul Gauguin cruise liner. Lady Hillary and just over 300 passengers aboard the ship left the Cook Islands yesterday after spending two days in the country. The ship is […]

ANZ charges escalate at ATM

Friday 24 June 2011 | Published in National

ANZ automatic teller machine (ATM) charges for customers using some foreign and international cards in the Cook Islands have increased to as much as $6.50 for each cash withdrawal. The fee does not apply to Cook Islands ANZ customers but will impact tourists with certain cards accessing cash while in Rarotonga. An ANZ spokesperson says […]

Goodbye to Cook Islands bright star

Friday 24 June 2011 | Published in National

Hundreds attended the Titikaveka funeral of Te Tika Mataiapo Dorice Reid, one of the countrys most prominent leaders who passed away suddenly last week. The main road was blocked off to make way for her casket and a sombre funeral procession. Te Tika Mataiapo friend, mentor and national leader was flanked by her family and […]

Countrys real wealth is its people

Friday 24 June 2011 | Published in National

The performances at the Tereora College cultural festival last Friday rival anything this writer has seen in a quarter century of live performance in the Cook Islands, a smoke signaller writes. The enthusiasm, natural talent and unadulterated joy of our young people was infectious and there were more than a few wet eyes in the […]

Complaint over night in cell

Friday 24 June 2011 | Published in National

A complaint has been made to police commissioner Maara Tetava about the remand in custody overnight of a 62-year-old woman with heart problems. In the Cook Islands High Court at Avarua yesterday lawyer Lavenia Rokoika told Justice of the Peace John Kenning she had written to Tetava about the police handling of her client Antonina […]

New financial secretary due

Friday 24 June 2011 | Published in National

The employment contract for a new financial secretary has been put before cabinet and signed. It is expected the new secretary will arrive in the Cook Islands next month. Details are scarce while Public Service Commissioner Navy Epati is in Auckland and not responding to a request for comment. It is rumoured Richard Neves from […]

Harbour work gets official opening

Friday 24 June 2011 | Published in National

The head of the Asian Development Bank (ABD) and the banks representative to the Cook Islands walk towards the edge of the Avatiu Harbour, squinting in yesterdays bright sun. They drop a stone, marking the official beginning of redevelopment works at the site that the bank has backed with a $25 million loan. A few […]

Environment partnership fund reviewed

Thursday 23 June 2011 | Published in Environment

Te Ipukarea Society (TIS) programme manager Jacqui Evans has returned to the Cook Islands from Fiji where she was involved in a mid term review of the Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund (CEPF). Evans says the fund is a joint initiative of the French Development Agency, Conservation International, Global Environment Facility, Japanese government, MacArthur Foundation and […]

Te Tika Mataiapo Dorice Reid comes home

Thursday 23 June 2011 | Published in Local

Dozens turned up to the Air New Zealand cargo hangar yesterday to meet Te Tika Mataiapo Dorice Reids casket. Wrapped in a korowai, the casket arrived on NZ46 in the late afternoon to be greeted by throngs of people dressed in black and white and bearing eis for their sister and friend, the late Te […]

ANZ mortgage agreement kept secret

Thursday 23 June 2011 | Published in Local

An agreement has been reached between the ANZ bank Cook Islands branch and a Rarotonga couple over a $95,000 loan for a house which was never built. Details about the agreement, formalised this week, cannot be disclosed publicly due to a confidentiality agreement. Tangi and Nooroa Samuel, who have come to an agreement with the […]

$25m seabed mining offer

Thursday 23 June 2011 | Published in Local

Canadian banking group Endeavour Financial has made a fresh, $25 million offer to the Cook Islands government for an exploratory licence for manganese nodule mining. But the company appears to have been largely ignored by the government in its latest attempts to obtain a licence. Cook Islands News was told by a source close to […]

Whats behind the power price hikes?

Thursday 23 June 2011 | Published in Letters to the Editor

A smoke signaller writes to TXT188: Im just wondering if the price hike of power is due to diesel prices going up or is it to stock the staff social club beer fridge as it looks to me as though some Aponga staff can afford to drink every night after work? SmokeSignals: Unfortunately its the […]

Lagoon cruise leaves all speechless

Thursday 23 June 2011 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor I would like to express our extreme gratitude to Captain Tama and his crew for the awesome, fantastic and educational trip for Apii Rutaki on Friday. I am positive that the students from ECE to Grade 6, teachers and parents alike were absolutely speechless with the knowledge they gained, and the experience of […]

Time will reveal the truth

Thursday 23 June 2011 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, I strongly support TTs letter to the Editor on June 18, PM protecting PSC?. Before the PMs trip to Japan, he stated that he knew nothing about the police complaint into the Public Service Commissioners secret dealings into matters involved with the Taiwanese fishing licenses. I find this hard to believe, certainly as […]

Kata - June 23, 2011

Thursday 23 June 2011 | Published in Kata

Gender equality policy a big step

Thursday 23 June 2011 | Published in National

Cabinet yesterday approved the National Policy on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women, which Cook Islands National Council of Women (CINCW) president Vaine Wichman says is a big step. We dont have to fight anymore this means they (government) have committed to a lot of things, Wichman said. In the old days our womens organisations […]

Fearless patron for all CI women

Thursday 23 June 2011 | Published in National

Akaeke ia ngaru e.akaeke Akaeke ia rangi e. akaeke Tutuki anga marokura e…tutuki Tutuki anga mamae ngakau e …tutuki Te Tika was our fearless patron and accepted this position in 2002. She assumed her position as patron for all the women of the Cook Islands with shared visions and immaculate judgement. She grew us, in […]