Dear Editor, the Russian boat wanting to have a Cook Islands flag to hide behind can join the other dubious boats the Maritime Cook Islands have supposedly done due diligence on.

Then have gone on to be bombed by Libyan fighter planes, one seized in Italy for being full of drugs, another detained in Scotland with crew abuse problems.

It seems our flag is flying on a lot of boats with no reference to our island or our economy except for the fees they are paying Maritime. Someone should ask for a list of boats flying our flag out in the world right now, that will be interesting reading.

R Ero

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Nothing wrong with Roman (Abramovich, Russian oligarch and former Chelsea football club owner). I’d be keen to do a deal and charge a fee (for Cook Islands maritime flag) to support football in the Cook Islands. $20 million over the next three years and guarantee Kuki Youth Football development with the European football league and access for European Youth football players and professional mentors to stay and play in the Cooks Islands. Better to teach these young Europeans and Kuki players how to defeat war, build peace and prosperity with sport and what a better place to do all of that in the Cook Islands.

Bevan Rakoia

(Facebook)

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‘Abandoned’ Govt vehicle

GA 684 – small dark blue Government car has been parked near the stream going up to Wigmore Falls since at least last Saturday. Why is it there unattended? Have the Police even noticed it, or included it in a report? Their patrol vehicles must have gone past that vehicle 50 times, yes visible from the main road.

Does this look odd or out of place? Or is this normal? One would have thought that the Police would be trained to notice such oddities. Which government ministry is it registered under? And who is the designated driver? This might be a Government vehicle, but it is still taxpayers’ money.

(Name and address supplied)

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Weather conditions

I was there during the world record five cyclones in a month, three of them in two weeks. This is but a taste of the true force that nature throws at Raro. And as before, the people will clean up and carry on. They’ll have the usual debates and meetings to strategise the best ways for infrastructure management, and then time will pass and nothing.

Take heart in knowing that our people are resilient and will overcome this. God bless the Cook Islands. They going to need it, there are worst things than Ocean surge coming their way.

Francis Vonnel Williams

(Facebook)