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7 December 2024

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Promoting local crafts for Christmas gifts

As the festive holiday season approaches, the spirit of giving and community shines brighter than ever.

Business

Bank urges caution against scams during festive season

With the festive season underway, ANZ Cook Islands is reminding customers in the Pacific to be vigilant against scammers who take advantage of this busy time of year.

'Mental illness is not uncommon, shameful'

Husband-wife team Dr Joanna Patching and Stuart McPhail have five months’ paid leave from the University of Sydney, and they’ve chosen to spend it educating the Rarotonga community about mental illness and how to treat it. Both are mental health experts – Stuart oversees training of undergraduate nurses, and his wife is a senior lecturer […]

National

New fire truck for Puaikura service

The Puaikura Volunteer Fire Brigade is now better equipped to deal with emergencies, following the donation of a fire appliance and other resources from the New Zealand Fire Service. For more than eight years the brigade has managed with one appliance, and now its ten volunteers have twice the fire-fighting capacity. The new appliance holds […]

National

Local lawyer links up with Red Cross

An international humanitarian law dissemination officer has joined the ranks of the Cook Islands Red Cross Society (CIRC), through a one-year programme funded by the International Committee of Red Cross and Red Crescent. Fine Tu’itupou-Arnold will educate stakeholders and the population as a whole on international humanitarian law (IHL), which comes into effect during international […]

National

Budget advisory panel to be set up

After scrapping the budget committee last month Finance minister Mark Brown says he’s going to have a new budget advisory panel because it’s good to have outside opinion on how these things work. The former budget committee was made up of private sector individuals with experience in the field – they scrutinised ministry budgets and […]

National

330kW saved during Earth Hour

More than 300 kilowatts of electricity was saved by those on Rarotonga who observed Earth Hour between 8pm and 9pm on Saturday. The amount of energy saved – 330kW – is the equivalent of about 3300 lamps, each 100kW, being turned off for an hour. Earth Hour parties and gatherings were held in villages around […]

National

Vaka expected to leave today

Rarotonga farewells traditional vaka Marumaru Atua this morning. But whether or not she will leave at midday as scheduled depends on the weather. Anyone hoping to see the vaka and her crew off to Tahiti should assemble at the Avarua harbour before the start of the ceremony at 10am. “It’s a spiritual send-off from the […]

National

Reduced fees for foreign spouses

Long-term spouses of Cook Islanders should now be able to pay a reduced permit fee of $60 to remain living and working in the country each year. Under a 2008 schedule of fees used by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, the annual fee for foreigners in such relationships with Cook Islanders has been […]

National

Pa Ariki's genealogy same as mine

Dear Editor, I am saddened to read the divisions created amongst the families of Mata Pa Ariki of Takitumu. Individual families have their own version of their genealogies and their story that goes with it. I am part of the extended family that comes from Araura Enua and Manihiki, according to our genealogies and history. […]

National

Kare teia i te akatereanga ou

E te Etita, Kia orana koe e te tama, Te anoano nei au i te pa’u atu i te peapa a Mauke Tumu e pera ta “Not 100% kaakaa” i roto i taau reta ki te Etita. I toku manako noatu koe e “Mauke Tumu” e e tangata angaanga na te kavamani, kua poiri tangotango […]

National

Sun goes digital

Visitor guide Cook Islands Sun went digital last week. The newspaper-format guide, which has been published locally for over 20 years, decided it was ‘high time’ to launch a website, as more and more travellers are planning their holidays online. “Our aim was to build a site for visitors to help them plan, make informed […]

National

Immigration look to improve compliance

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration is stepping up to the mark by appointing a new compliance and immigration office manager. The position is a new one, after 15 years of the ministry being understaffed, director of immigration Kave Ringi says. In 1996 and 1997 the ministry lost 15 or 16 positions through a […]

National

World record holder diving for big one

Last Thursday, Wellington free-diver Dave Mullins boated to the Nikao fishing aggregate device, dropped a weighted line, gathered his thoughts, drew one breath of air and dove to 110 metres. It was a “good, fast and easy” dive, but for the world record holder – whose personal best is 118 metres – it was child’s […]

National

Possible reductions in health services

Health minister Nandi Glassie is working to ensure the Cook Islands community is adequately serviced by the Ministry of Health, which is facing a stagnant budget allocation and increased costs of operation and service delivery. The ministry recently presented its draft annual plan and budget as required by all government departments, which included proposed service […]

National

Tourism gears up for Aussie flights

Cook Islands Tourism (CIT) are focusing on getting the Cook Islands into Australian media in the months leading up to the launch of direct flights from Sydney to Rarotonga in July. CIT is hosting a media famil for Dilvin Yasa, a feature writer for Cosmo Bride and Cosmo Pregnancy. Each has a wide circulation within […]

National

Alcohol cause of accidents

Alcohol is believed to have contributed towards two of the three accidents that were reported to police at the weekend. Police have yet to receive the blood alcohol results from a woman who crashed her bike on the back road in Tupapa. The woman was thrown off her bike and found in the middle of […]

National

Minister takes on noni growers' concerns

Agriculture minister Nandi Glassie is taking on board the concerns facing noni growers, following a predicted reduction in the export of noni juice to Japan. Japan is the country’s largest noni export market, annually contributing about $1 million to the industry. Following Japan’s earthquake, the local noni industry has received warning about a cut to […]

National

Cabinet discuss development bank concept

Reverting the Bank of the Cook Islands back to being a development bank is an idea that has value, and the finance minister says government is now discussing ‘ways forward’. Finance minister Mark Brown says the concept has been discussed at cabinet and official level and he expects a firm position on the initiative will […]

National

Mangaia shuts down power at midday

Mangaia’s island council is showing its support for today’s international Earth Hour by closing down the island’s power plant for an hour from midday. Mangaia Island Administration secretary Helen Henry says the initiative is to support the National Environment Service efforts towards Earth Hour, which aims to encourage power conservation and recognition of climate change […]

National

Vaka to leave for Tahiti next week

Vaka Marumaru Atua departs for her big voyage on Tuesday, and the community has finalised the programme for her day of send-off. Tomorrow, crew will be attending a service at Ngatangiia CICC church and will then attend a kaikai at the home of Pa Marie Ariki in Vaimaanga. The departure ceremony starts at 10am on […]

National

Power prices on Raro to go up in May

Electricity is set to go up on Rarotonga a week from today. Homes can expect to pay five cents more per unit for usage of up to 60 units. The rate goes up eight cents for usage of 61 – 300 units and above 240 units. Similarly, commercial users are faced with an eight cents […]

National

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