National

New head of regional health protection

“I do believe that if there is a problem there are bound to be solutions, as long as people recognise the ties that they have with one another as a world community.” This is the opinion of Dr Yvan Souars, manager and medical epidemiologist of the Secretariat of the South Pacific’s (SPC) Health Protection Programme, […]

Siren test in Tupapa

Emergency sirens in Tupapa will sound today in their first test run since being installed earlier this year. The emergency sirens installed at the Tupapa Meetings House will be switched on about midday, giving the surrounding area a taste of what they could expect in warning of a tsunami or other natural disasters. Tupapa Pu […]

Young entrepreneurs get their chance

Students at Tereora College and Enuamanu School have been asked to think smart for the return of the young entrepreneurs programme. Pupils in both Rarotonga and Atiu have been included in the programme so far under the guidance of the Business Trade Investment Board (BTIB) and the Ministry of Education. Twenty-seven youth at Atiu aged […]

Australian numbers up

The emerging Australian market for visitors to the Cook Islands has continued to show growth in March, with almost 40 percent more people coming from the country in 2012 than they did last year. The number of Australians travelling to the Cook Islands during the month swelled by 39 percent when compared to last year […]

'Mineral potential attracts China'

Former government minister Papa Tupui Ariki Henry thinks there is plenty the Cook Islands can offer China, but the most important thing it has to offer is potential. Henry thinks that the People’s Republic of China would have a good idea of what lays below the sea in Cook Islands waters and what they will […]

Cabinet ministers abroad

Cook Islands politicians will scatter across the globe this week, with government ministers expected to have a presence in the United Kingdom, the Philippines and possibly Barbados in the coming days. Minister of Cultural Development Teariki Heather will leave for London this Thursday to head a 30-person dance team in celebration of the Queen’s Diamond […]

Lights up at Aitutaki

Aitutaki fishermen have begun collectively installing navigational lights in their lagoon. Last Saturday about 50 people came together to install lights around the lagoon – a process that involved planning where the lights would be most beneficial, driving 50ml reinforcing steel about one metre into the coral, slipping a four-metre PVC tubing over the steel […]

Receiving their thrust rewards

The heavenS were transformed into a classroom this week when Tereora College students ditched the science lab to send some hand-made rockets into the sky and learn all about force. Years 10 and 11 students have been shooting rockets at the school, seeing their projects come to a fast-flying and satisfying end this week. Head […]

Ombudsman's post vacant for 4 months

The Cook Islands has been without an ombudsman for four months now. Former ombudsman Janet Maki resigned in early December for personal reasons, and since then assistant ombudsman Jeannine Daniel has been managing the Nikao office. There is no acting ombudsman. The prime minister is responsible for appointing an ombudsman, and his chief executive officer […]

'Evidence of neglect' on Atiu

Having recently visited his Teenui-Mapumai electorate, Atiu MP Norman George says the “evidence of neglect by the present and past government” of his home island is “appalling and heartbreaking”. “The tar-sealed roads are full of pot holes inside the five villages, the airport road still unsealed, the street lights are barely working, electricity services hampered […]

Longest ever sailing leg completed

Vaka Marumaru Atua arrived in Tahiti on Monday morning. This is a condensed version of the latest blog update penned by voyager Alex Olah and circulated to members of the Cook Islands Voyaging Society. The vaka is expected to arrive in Aitutaki in the first two weeks of May, and in Rarotonga mid-May. It is […]

Service medal awarded to 7

Seven service members have had their time in the New Zealand defence forces recognised at an Anzac Day ceremony this year. Six men and one woman were included in the list of those who received the New Zealand Defence Service Medal at the Cook Islands Returned and Services Association headquarters in Nikao on Wednesday. Sapper […]

Anzac spirit in Rarotonga

Legal action possible over computer sale

The Business Trade Investment Board (BTIB) is considering taking legal action against Telecom Cook Islands (TCI). BTIB is seeking legal advice in relation to a dispute with TCI over its securing of a contract to sell computer hardware to the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC). In August FSC announced that TCI had won the tender to […]

Why not print photos of youth offenders?

Cook Islands Police say suggestions to publish the photographs of repeat youth offenders in the media face a number of legal and ethical obstacles. Cook Islands News was last week contacted by a member of the public who suggested that the newspaper should include a series of photos of youths who are known to police […]

Aeronautical charges won't be so dramatic

Proposed increases to aeronautical charges are not likely to be as dramatic as early drafts suggested because the Airport Authority will receive a share of the departure tax collected at Rarotonga, according to financial secretary Richard Neves. The authority had created its proposals, which included increases of up to 300 percent over three years on […]

'Internet doomsday' gets closer

Computers across the Cook Islands are at risk of a virus which has infected hundreds of thousands of computers world wide. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued a warning that those with the virus will simultaneously lose access to the internet on what is being called ‘internet doomsday’ on July 9. The virus […]

Student says aloha

Meeting other exchange students and learning the Hawaiian language were highlights for Hanamarie Koteka who recently returned from Hawai’i after an eight month student exchange programme. The 15-year-old Arorangi girl was chosen as the 2011-2012 exchange student to Kamehameha School in Honolulu, Hawaii. “I was sitting in class one day and Mrs Herman came in […]

Red Cross trains peer educators

To help train up new peer educators, the Cook Islands Red Cross hosted a youth peer education camp at its base in Tupapa during the school holidays. The camp had a turnout of over 35 young people and ran for a full week ending on Sunday. These camps are held every two years. The previous […]

Vaka fleet reaches Tahiti

The voyagers aboard Cook Islands vaka Marumaru Atua have reached Tahiti. Together with her six sister vakas, Marumaru Atua made landfall at Tahiti on Monday. Now anchored inside Passe d’Aiurua, her coordinates are S17 48.5 W149 07.8. She is joined by Haunui, Te Matau a Maui, Uto Ni Yalo, Gaualofa, Faafaite and Hine Moana. (Faafaite […]