Articles by Utopia Support

Slump a major concern

Friday 7 January 2011 | Published in National

Cook Islands maire exports have hit bottom, says Hawaii-based agent Dave Thompson. While there is huge demand for Cook Islands maire in Hawaii, production continues to fall off and the supply continues to dwindle. Maire earns a potential $300,000 per annum for the country but Thompson reckons exports are down by 60 per cent, which […]

Sole woman MP 'sad'

Friday 7 January 2011 | Published in National

Former CI politician disappointed that more women not in parliament Former Cook Islands politician Fanaura Kingstone says she’s happy the Cook Islands Party is back in power but also saddened that there is now only one woman left in the House. “Naturally as a CIP supporter, I am glad they are back as the caretaker […]

HIV name confidential

Friday 7 January 2011 | Published in National

Radio New Zealand International yesterday reported that the government of the Cook Islands has decided it will not identify the first person to test positive for HIV in the country. The decision follows criticism from many commentators after the government sought legal advice over whether to identify the HIV positive resident. RNZI’s website report says […]

Fix-it man just does it

Friday 7 January 2011 | Published in National

Minister of Infrastructure and Planning Teariki Heather wants to start work to stop pollution of the lagoon – and is doing everything in his power to get things moving. He says that the time for talking about which septic tank to use is over. “There were so many examples or suggestions of how to solve […]

Movies are 'cheaper here'

Friday 7 January 2011 | Published in Smoke Signals

Responding to Wednesday’s signaller who hoped that the clampdown on pirated video sales might lead to a reduction in the price of going to the movies, a smoke signaller writes to TXT188: “Why should Empire [Theatre] drop their prices? At the end of the day they still have to pay movie companies every time they […]

Cooling gear under survey

Thursday 6 January 2011 | Published in Environment

Young people recently surveyed the island to find out how environmentally friendly our cooling units are. Businesses and homes answered questions on their use of HCFC (hydrochlorofluorocarbon) in refrigerants. The survey was organised by national ozone officer at the National Environment Service, Tauraki Raea. The aim was to find out what impact phasing out of […]

Still promoting Pacific Ombudsman

Thursday 6 January 2011 | Published in Local

Andrew Turua Pamatatau has been awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his 33 years in public service. “I owe this to my wife and family and all my associates, especially my family who have tolerated so many absences from home. “We are often reluctant to recommend our own people for an award. […]

Punanga Nui expansion in the pipeline

Thursday 6 January 2011 | Published in Local

Minister for the Cook Islands Investment Corporation Mark Brown says government is likely to give further consideration to a proposal to expand the Punanga Nui marketplace through reclamation. Brown said the materials dredged from the Avatiu Harbour during its upgrade over the next 18 months could be used to fill in part of the lagoon […]

Island council structure criticised

Thursday 6 January 2011 | Published in Local

As the team at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Planning prepares for the four-yearly outer island elections on Thursday January 13, the structure of the outer islands councils faces criticism. Aitutaki Mayor Tai Herman has been in office for five terms. He said that the structure of outer islands council has been severely neglected by […]

There's a feeling of betrayal

Thursday 6 January 2011 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, After my second letter, I received more visits, and repeated phone calls from disgruntled CIP caucus members and supporters. Their grievance has now changed to one of feeling betrayed and demeaned by their party leadership. They alleged they were led to believe that they owed their seats in Parliament to the CIP and […]

Kata - January 6, 2011

Thursday 6 January 2011 | Published in Kata

Strangers become friends

Thursday 6 January 2011 | Published in National

More confident and responsible Seventh Day Adventist youth is what Cook Islands SDA president Pastor Eliu Eliu is expecting from his young congregation after last week’s Pathfinders camporee. Pastor Eliu says that the camporee, which attracted close to 1000 youths from across the Cook Islands, New Zealand and Tahiti, was about getting the youth to […]

UK website draws visitors

Thursday 6 January 2011 | Published in National

John Roberts is working wonders for the Cook Islands in the United Kingdom. His website www.cookislands.org.uk has had a quarter of a million visitors in the past year. Because of his fascination with all things Cook Islands, Roberts has spent the last four years researching the life of Palmerston’s founding father William Marsters, and has […]

Duo win 'trip of a lifetime'

Thursday 6 January 2011 | Published in National

Two Auckland-based Cook Islanders were among the 25 Air New Zealand staff members who won a trip of a lifetime flying to Los Angeles last week and retuning on Christmas Eve on the company’s brand new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Property and Facilities Department officer Yolande Browne and Financial Shared Services Department officer Tara Marie Aperau […]

War hero, Ettie Rout

Thursday 6 January 2011 | Published in National

Moves to preserve prominent woman’s Rarotonga grave A New Zealand safe sex advocate is hoping to preserve the Avarua gravesite of Kiwi World War One heroine Ettie Rout as a memorial, 74 years on from the pioneer’s death. Wellington-based Dr Dame Margaret Sparrow has started the Ettie Rout Fund to be able to start regular […]

Samoa PM rejects call

Thursday 6 January 2011 | Published in National

APIA, January 6 – Samoa’s Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has rejected a call by a leader of the Congregational Christian Church to ban all business operations on Sunday. The call followed claims by the church that Sunday business was the reason why people are not attending services. He says it is not for the […]

Fiscal update upholds tourism

Thursday 6 January 2011 | Published in National

The government aims to increase tourist arrivals in 2011-12 by 13 per cent with three-year airline underwriting agreements and concerted destination marketing efforts. The Government’s Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update, issued last week, states that spending on underwriting flights is capped at $10 million, and the additional spend on marketing will be $2 million. […]

Live with the vehicle abuse

Thursday 6 January 2011 | Published in Smoke Signals

A smoke signaller writes in response to yesterday’s front page article ‘Govt vehicle policy’: “While the Public Service Commissioner is asking heads of government ministries if they should hang up their car keys after hours, it would make just as much sense for the Ministry of Justice to ask the prisoners at Arorangi where the […]

Police presence works

Wednesday 5 January 2011 | Published in Local

The increased police presence and patrol over the New Year weekend has been credited for the low number of incidents on Rarotonga. Police attended three minor motor vehicle incidents, one excessive noise complaint, four unlawful taking cases, one burglary and one theft from December 30 to January 2. Police also forbade six motorists from driving […]

Govt vehicle policy

Wednesday 5 January 2011 | Published in Local

The office of the Public Service Commissioner plans to introduce a blanket policy on the use of government vehicles this year. Public Service Commissioner Navy Epati says there is currently no policy on the use of the hundreds of vehicles used by public servants every day. He says since the 1996 reform, government ministries have […]