More Top Stories
Cook Islands passport proposal
6 January 2025
Top cop position advertised
7 December 2024
Police need numbers and bigger budget
9 December 2024
Niki Rattle: A call for stronger human rights protections
10 December 2024
Solid and Hazardous Waste Bill referred to Parliament committee
10 December 2024
DPM defends CIIC finance and travel policies
6 December 2024
Cook Islands has its first mosque
14 November 2024
CI Muslim opens up about her faith and journey
16 November 2024
RAC to address mosque legality
19 November 2024
I don’t expect much change: PM Brown on US Elections
6 November 2024
Fifth weekly Sydney flight to Rarotonga announced
23 October 2024
CIIC directors seek $350,000 in damages over defamatory claims
21 October 2024
Man found guilty of rape, burglary
24 September 2024
Tenants face water bill burden
8 October 2024
Concerns over Minister’s role in inmate work releases: PAC
5 October 2024
Tourism contribution set to surpass half-billion dollar mark
25 September 2024
Parliament Clerk sparks outrage over deep sea mining statement
23 September 2024
Deep sea dilemma: Cook Islanders weigh the cost of mineral riches
21 September 2024
Anxiety on the rise: Cook Islands faces mental health challenge
7 September 2024
Cook Islands deep sea mining poll sparks controversy
7 September 2024
MCI rejects ‘dark fleet’ label
3 August 2024
Rising seas, rising costs: Climate impacts on Cook Islands economy
2 September 2024
Inflation eases but concerns remain
31 August 2024
Prime Minister defends $659,000 MPs travel bill
23 August 2024
Taxpayers foot $659,000 bill for MPs travel and allowance
22 August 2024
Corruption report exposes ‘bribe and sexual favours’
17 January 2023
PM Brown eager to hand over Forum chair role to Tonga
13 August 2024
Challenging ‘rape culture’
8 July 2024
Articles by Utopia Support
Give raui greater mana
Friday 5 February 2016 | Published in Local
A traditional chief in Titikaveka says aronga mana have been waiting too long for the raui to be given greater mana and be legislated by Parliament – almost 20 years – and they’d like the ministry of Marine Resources to now move quickly on this.
FIU to investigate DPM
Friday 5 February 2016 | Published in Local
A Financial Intelligence Unit investigation into the activities of deputy prime minister Teariki Heather as a minister of the Crown is to shortly get underway now that a formal complaint has been lodged with the agency.
Bluesky moaners abuse the system
Thursday 4 February 2016 | Published in Smoke Signals
Too much moaning, Bluesky this, Bluesky that, obviously you moaners are the ones abusing the system, hence why a high bill.Cut down on Usage = No High Bills, simple as that.
Tepaki was not bankrupted
Thursday 4 February 2016 | Published in Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor, I refer to your Smoke Signal headed “Pie in the Sky”.
Authorities should show zero tolerance
Thursday 4 February 2016 | Published in Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor, I refer to Saturday’s CI News highlighting the savage beating of a young Cook Islander by a Samoan national Feleti Iona.This person has a history of violent behaviour both on and off the rugby field since he has been in the Cook Islands as his record in the court and disciplinary hearings in both rugby union and rugby league now show.
Just Play back
Thursday 4 February 2016 | Published in Local
The curtain will be drawn on the first Village Festival of the 2016 Just Play Programme on Tuesday next week at Victoria Park in Tupapa. Project manager Michelle Paiti met with partners and schools involved with the programme on Tuesday to confirm its calendar to get everyone up to par with events planned for the year. With schools resuming this week, Paiti is excited to launch the sport for development programme again for its sixth year running. The first Village Festival set for next week will touch on key messages surrounding gender, teaching children from ages 5-13 years about respecting one another, reiterating that violence is not okay, and the importance of equality on-and-off field. These active learning sessions will be delivered by the gender division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in between fun sporting activities set out for children. “Through the integration of social messages, children also learn to develop healthy lifestyle habits and promote social inclusion and gender equality,” says Paiti. Just Play Cook Islands has seen tremendous success since it’s an inception in 2011. Now well into 18 schools and 12 community groups across four islands, the incentive has a reach of over 1878 children participating in the sport for development programme and a total of 120 trained facilitators. Paiti hopes to further expand the reach of her project to other outer islands including Mauke and Mitiaro. She also hopes to increase the participation of younger children in the 5-8 year-old bracket over the course of this year. All children ages 5-13 years from the village of Tupapa and anyone else who is interested are invited to join in the festival next Tuesday at the Victoria Park from 2.30pm. The session will run for an hour and parents are most welcome to join in the fun. - Just Play
PM photo with thug is journalistic assault?
Thursday 4 February 2016 | Published in Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor, So a letter writer asks you to publish a photo of this thug and you print a large photo of him with the Prime Minister? Of all the thousands of photos you must have of rugby games, is this the only photo you have of this person?
Minister replies to challenges
Thursday 4 February 2016 | Published in Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor, I would now like to take this opportunity to respond to the questions raised in your newspaper on Friday January 22 by someone who hides behind the name “Get Real” or should I name him “Nit Picker”. It seems to me that “Get Real” is a person who has little knowledge and understanding of the process if one wants to meet a Minister. All he/she had to do is ring my office phone 29030, make an appointment and I would gladly receive him/her and explain Government’s position today regarding agriculture and environmental issues. The huge hole in Arorangi “Get Real” is referring to I presume is the one in Betela. For your information, sir, this hole is outside the 30 metres foreshore area of concern as legislated by the Environment Act 2003. Also the waste material dumped in that hole is carried out by the public and not by the contractor. This issue has been addressed by National Environment Service (NES) staff, and additionally the NES is undergoing a review of its legislation to address gaps, grey-areas and overlaps with it and other legislation. Regarding the Muri lagoon algae issue, I agree that agricultural activities over the years have partly contributed to the problem in Muri Lagoon over the last 40 years. “When people referred to agriculture as the back bone of this country there was excessive use of fertiliser and chemicals during that time. While families benefited from agriculture exports, there was little regard for the damage to the environment. Today Sir, tourism is the back bone of our economy and it is continuing to grow. In recent years, we have seen a shift on tourism philosophy moving towards sustainable tourism models which aim to provide for the industry while maintaining environmental standards. Personally, I believe the Muri area is over developed for tourism. The Muri community should take ownership of what has happened so far, and how they would like to see Muri in ten or maybe 20 years time. Government is there to help them achieve their dream. An Environmental Impact Assessment (ElA) report has been called for to look at the Muri Lagoon problem going right down to Avana passage. Once the report is completed it will be released for public consultation before being considered by the Rarotonga Environment Authority (REA) for approval. Unfortunately, there is a process in place to follow and it’s a long and tedious one. The reticulation system has been talked about and I agree this will perhaps be the best alternative for us to consider for the future. WATSAN and Public Health are doing work in ensuring that the installation of future septic tanks comply with the new safety regulations both domestic and commercial to minimise the nutrient problem in Muri Lagoon. The lack of water flow in the lagoon over these years has also contributed to this problem. The question here is for Get Real is, Do you have any solutions to the problem in Muri? I assume you have. Feel free to comment on the EIA Report when it is completed. So “Get Real” I will not make any more comments until the EIA report is completed. With regards to agriculture, Get Real is saying that he is a Noni grower. Well, all I know is the Noni factory in Titikaveka is crying out for Noni paying at 70 cents per kilogram which to me is a good price. We are encouraging outer island growers to go into Noni production because at least it’s a crop they know how to grow. Get Real should get off his bum and encourage Noni farmers to plant more and increase their production. The market demand for Noni juice in China is unlimited. When Get Real refers to the fact that there is no export, yes, I put a stop to it. The main reason is the inconsistency of supply and the cost of producing these crops is very high. To add to these, the NZ Bio-security requirements are very tough today. It’s just not worth it. The local price of paw-paw and taro is much better than that in New Zealand. Anyway we should be concentrating all our efforts to support our booming tourism industry today. The recently distributed small agriculture machineries from China will definitely help the growers increase their production of Noni and a host of other crops they may wish to grow. Already the response from the growers and grower groups has been very positive as a result of these machineries. As for providing food on the table Mr. Editor, can you recall any case of anyone that died of hunger here? All I know is people are dying here of over-eating - GET REAL. Cabinet Minister KiriauTurepu
ANZ launches campaign
Thursday 4 February 2016 | Published in Local
It was a great start to the week for the team at ANZ Bank when they officially launched their first 2016 campaign across from the Banana Court in Avarua, on Monday morning.
Tourism awards seal sponsors deal
Thursday 4 February 2016 | Published in Local
Organisers of the 2015 Cook Island’s Tourism Awards have finalised the sponsors for all of this year’s categories that will be awarded in April.
Seaweed everywhere
Thursday 4 February 2016 | Published in Environment
Algae smothering the Muri lagoon floor and now extensive amounts of seaweed being swept on to the beach at Avana are creating an ugly, smelly mass all along the foreshore.
Small grants for local fishers
Thursday 4 February 2016 | Published in Local
The Ministry of Marine Resources (MMR) is again inviting applications for the annual fisheries grant scheme this week for the fifth year since its inception.
Pitt slamming over PM jet
Thursday 4 February 2016 | Published in Local
A roving prime minister with an apparent yearning for his own jet, two brothers and a newspaper have proven good fodder for a battle of words…Pitt against Pitt.
Cook Islands sends taro to Samoa for improvement programme
Thursday 4 February 2016 | Published in Local
Twenty-eight samples of taro from a breeding programme in Cook Islands have been taken to Samoa for testing against the Taro Leaf Blight disease.
Weather prevents cruise ship shore visit
Wednesday 3 February 2016 | Published in Local
Adverse weather and sea conditions in Rarotonga disrupted a cruise ship carrying 341 passengers yesterday.
Why no departure forms?
Wednesday 3 February 2016 | Published in Smoke Signals
Can anyone recall the benefit if any, of government abolishing departure forms? In my recent travels, I noted it is still a requirement when departing New Zealand and Australia, so why are we out of step with border control issues? How do we ensure that all tourists have left the island when their holiday is over?
A great initiative
Wednesday 3 February 2016 | Published in Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor Congratulations to Tim Tepaki and company on news of a new airline. What a great initiative on the depopulation issue, and making pa enua travel more affordable.
It was a majority decision
Wednesday 3 February 2016 | Published in Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor, I will ignore all the nasty name calling your correspondent Sholan Ivaiti threw at me in your edition of Saturday the 31st of January. This distorts the picture.
No argument
Wednesday 3 February 2016 | Published in Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor, A great problem in debate is non-specific criticism. Mr Porter seems unhappy with my recent letter about the PAC, but doesn’t really say why.
Please turn Rehab speakers around
Wednesday 3 February 2016 | Published in Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor This letter is a plea to both the Liquor License Authority, which also involves the Police, and to Rehab Night Club.
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