Articles by Utopia Support

Composers' competition profiles

Wednesday 24 March 2010 | Published in Features

Teariki Adams. Adams is taking on the composers’ competition challenge for the first time.The Ruatonga resident believes that God has blessed him with many talents and composing songs could be one of them. His first compilation will be sung by Papa Kairua. “/> Tuwunga Mataora. Tuwunga have composed a number of songs over the years […]

It's odd, absurd, obscene

Wednesday 24 March 2010 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor Please allow me to clarify some issues raised by Wilkie Rasmussen in his comments on Monday in your paper. Firstly it not an oddity to have a leader of a party elected openly and fairly by the representatives and delegates of each puna in the Cook Islands. This is democracy at work. The […]

Shocked by tourism resignations

Wednesday 24 March 2010 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, The shock resignations of the acting CEO of Tourism, Glenda Tuaine, and Cook Islands tourism NZ manager, Chris Ingram, have the potential to cause serious, long-term damage to Cook Islands Tourism Corporation. If we are not careful, these unfortunate resignations could actually undermine and threaten the unprecedented growth and success that the country’s […]

Parties first, broken promises

Wednesday 24 March 2010 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, Political parties always put themselves first and the Cook Islands Party has broken their promise again. They promised earlier not to hold up necessary funding in government. Now they are screaming that the present Cabinet is failing the people of Aitutaki. The CIP don’t care about Aitutaki, all they care about is forcing […]

Our minority govt is akin to Fiji

Wednesday 24 March 2010 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, Good to see that Finance Minister Wilkie Rasmussen is back in touch again after being ‘out of touch’ for over a week. Pity though that rather than addressing the important issues which I raised last week, he has concentrated on perverting the essence of my statements and thrown in some cheap personal comments […]

Quit the hypocrisy!

Wednesday 24 March 2010 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, Sir Terepai Maoate has the gall to blame good honest people Doesn’t he know that he was the cause of all the problems the current government is facing? Has the man got a conscience? He drove hard for government to buy Toa. Instead he hauled in a huge debt and lots of costly […]

Good on Wilkie for exposing rotten deal

Wednesday 24 March 2010 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, If it is true what finance minister Wilkie Rasmussen explained on CITV earlier in the week in regards of how much this country’s really owes TOA petroleum, then good on him and this government for exposing the full story on the fuel farm debacle. The tax paying citizens of this country have every […]

Kata - March 24, 2010

Wednesday 24 March 2010 | Published in Kata

Bears and Bulldogs first league of week

Wednesday 24 March 2010 | Published in League

The Arorangi Bears and Titikaveka Bulldogs will start this week’s rugby league round today at the Titikaveka field starting at 4.30pm. On Thursday the Bulldogs will host their brothers from Takuvaine in the under 19 and reserve grades before the premier grade clash between the Sharks and Bulldogs on Friday afternoon. The Sharks have yet […]

An attempt at reform

Wednesday 24 March 2010 | Published in Smoke Signals

“It’s interesting that the PM in his letter of August 29 was trying to begin the process of political reform within the Demo Party, but it was obviously shot down by the Maoate/Tongia faction,” a smoke signaller writes. “Also interesting that the MPs refuse to answer any questions about reform, in fact they refuse to […]

New HOM wants 'clear' foreign policies

Tuesday 23 March 2010 | Published in Local

Jim Gosselin officially took up his new post as the new secretary of foreign affairs last week. Until this month, Mike Mitchell had been acting secretary. Gosselin, who has been a resident of the Cook Islands for over 30 years, speaks Pukapukan and Rarotongan dialects and has occupied various Cook Islands government posts since 1972. […]

Tourism heads quit

Tuesday 23 March 2010 | Published in Local

Acting Cook Islands Tourism chief executive Glenda Tuaine resigned yesterday amid continued controversy over board chairman Tata Crocombe’s ‘vision’ for the industry. It has also come to light that CI Tourism NZ manager Chris Ingram resigned last Friday. Both Tuaine and Ingram are reportedly citing ‘excessive interference’ by Crocombe and the tourism board. The Democratic […]

'Legend' painter new artist in residence

Tuesday 23 March 2010 | Published in Features

BCA has chosen its 2010 ‘Artist in Residence’ – Rick Welland, who will return to the island in April to begin painting a new series of works. BCA’s Ben Bergman says that Welland was “one of the first contemporary artists” on the island, and painted locally between 1962 and 1989. “Welland’s vibrant and expressive (realist) […]

'We will win our seats back'

Tuesday 23 March 2010 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, Your paper has an almost daily letter writer with a mission to discredit me, the prime minister and fellow cabinet ministers. For his information, both Jim and I will win our seats handsomely irrespective of whether we are in government as ministers or not. So will our colleagues. His comments that I was […]

PM has the mandate

Tuesday 23 March 2010 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Sir, What makes the CIP think that it can govern? It lost the elections and it does not hold the majority mandate. It was rejected outright by most of the constituencies. Its leader Henry Puna, an MP then was embarrassingly thrown out. For him to claim that Jim Marurai’s government has no mandate is […]

PA-systems overused

Tuesday 23 March 2010 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear editor, Last week I went to watch four impressive premier-grade rugby league teams battle it out in the local footy competition. Played on Friday afternoon at Ngatangiia, the first match was between the high flying Ngatangiia Sea Eagles against the snarling Titikaveka Bulldogs. In the second premier-grade match played at Avatiu on Saturday afternoon, […]

Kata - March 23, 2010

Tuesday 23 March 2010 | Published in Kata

Tourism needs fixing, fast

Tuesday 23 March 2010 | Published in Smoke Signals

Something is very wrong in the relationship between the chairman and board of Cook Islands Tourism with those employed at the tourism office. Especially when the chief executive John Dean resigned early and returned to Australia, followed by two very talented Cook Islanders over the weekend, reportedly throwing in the towel: acting CEO Glenda Tuaine […]

Tourists rescued from Rutaki passage

Monday 22 March 2010 | Published in Local

Police are calling for more warning signs near treacherous lagoon passages around Rarotonga after the rescue of four tourists from Rutaki passage on Saturday. Senior sergeant Ngatamariki Pouao says the incident points towards the need for more signs to warn the public. Police received a report of tourists stranded in the Rutaki passage and on […]

Income testing for benefits, key in review

Monday 22 March 2010 | Published in Local

Public views on welfare benefits have centred on whether people’s incomes should be tested to determine their eligibility. Internal affairs secretary Bredina Drollet says two directions of thinking on the system are emerging from public submissions received over the past month. One is that government has a social responsibility to care for children, the elderly […]