National
Low rating for CI 'procurement'
Tuesday 5 June 2012 | Published in National
A Public Expenditure and Financial Assessment (PEFA) conducted by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Management (MFEM) in conjunction with AusAID has rated the Cook Islands’ procurement system lowly. Procurement is a term that denotes the government’s purchase of goods, works and services to implement public projects or provide services like infrastructure, health and education. […]
Local Samoans celebrate independence
Tuesday 5 June 2012 | Published in National
The local Samoan community rose with the sun on Friday to celebrate 50 years of Samoa’s independence from New Zealand. Samoans and supporters convened at the home of Navy and Florence Epati in Matavera at 6.30am, ahead of a 7am flag-raising ceremony. The group re-convened after work at the Nikao golf club for a formal […]
Akirata to follow Royal's footsteps
Tuesday 5 June 2012 | Published in National
As Rarotonga based dance troupe Akirata is busy preparing for their tour to Europe in August, veteran dance troupe manager Ingrid Caffery remembers a similar tour that took place over 20 years ago. The Royal Rarotongans, a dance group of 22 members, travelled to Europe in 1991 for eight weeks to perform at many of […]
$50,000 prize won by Rotorua Atiuan Millie Kautai
Tuesday 5 June 2012 | Published in National
Rotorua based Atiu islander Millie Kautai will be packing her bags and travelling the world after being drawn the $50,000 winner of the Atiu hostel raffle. While the lucky winner wasn’t on the island to pick up her cheque, her family visiting from Kansas, Mary Kautai-Mateariki and her daughter Claire Boaza were more than happy […]
Bank expert sees scope for reform
Tuesday 5 June 2012 | Published in National
Following his initial appraisal of Cook Islands banks, founding chief executive of Kiwibank Sam Knowles says that interest rates are high not because banks are aiming to turn a profit, but because the state of the economy and the structure of the local banking system are such that local banks have to account for additional […]
Text vote for 'your' Miss Cook Islands
Saturday 2 June 2012 | Published in National
Let your fingers do the talking and vote for your favourite Miss Cook Islands contestants in the Miss SMS competition now open to the public. The contestant with the most votes will win the Miss SMS sash and voting will run right up until competition night on June 7. All pageant enthusiasts, friends and family […]
Port fees going up 4.5%
Saturday 2 June 2012 | Published in National
New port fees are set to come into action at the end of this week. The new fees, valid from Friday June 1, are to increase on average 4.5 per cent. Ports Authority general manager Bim Tou says the fee increase was not a revenue-gathering exercise, but is based on the annual Consumer Price Index […]
Visiting surgeons keep the tradition
Saturday 2 June 2012 | Published in National
Doctors visiting Rarotonga this week are continuing with a 20 year tradition of medical assistance from New Zealand. Dr Andrew MacDiarmid, an orthopaedic surgeon from Tauranga, has spent years providing care to patients in the Cook Islands – a task which he has now passed on to the current visiting doctors Dr Vaughan Poutawera and […]
Papa Tauira a NZ citizen
Saturday 2 June 2012 | Published in National
With his New Zealand citizenship certificate in hand – Papa Louis Tauira, originally from Tahiti, says he hopes to get across to New Zealand to visit his kids. Eighty-year-old papa Tauira received his New Zealand citizenship certificate at a special and intimate ceremony at the New Zealand High Commission residence in Ngatipa yesterday. While presenting […]
Pa enua programmes
Saturday 2 June 2012 | Published in Environment
Aitutaki vainetini are embroidering cloth bags for an art competition as part of its ‘Say YES to Reusable Bags’ campaign. Aitutaki is also keeping its annual tradition of a float parade around the island after a much smaller-scale beauty pageant contest called the Miss Ozone contest in support of the 25th anniversary of the Montreal […]
Distributing green materials
Saturday 2 June 2012 | Published in Environment
NES are distributing Waste Education Handbooks and other resources (DVDs, posters and fact books) to all schools within the Cook Islands in time for Environment Week. This will be used to supplement classroom lessons on the environment, in particular regarding waste management. The Waste Education Handbooks are great for any group, including youth and community […]
Bag and sculpture comps for conservation
Saturday 2 June 2012 | Published in Environment
The National Environment Service (NES) has organised two events on Rarotonga to celebrate Environment Week, and the NES pa enua offices have also developed their own programmes. NES encourages all Cook Islands residents to get involved and enter a sculpture of a sea creature made from recycled materials into a nationwide competition. Participants will be […]
Celebrate the environment
Saturday 2 June 2012 | Published in Environment
Nikao Maori School students, Grade Seven and Eight, share more of their creative writing with us this week. Environment Week also begins today, so for the next two weeks the Kids Page will feature word puzzles with an environmental theme, supplied by the National Environment Service. The National Environment Service also has some T-shirts to […]
Local effort
Saturday 2 June 2012 | Published in Environment
The Rarotonga Lagoon Conservation Trust, created and funded by Koka Lagoon Cruises, is embarking on a long-term reef restoration and revitalisation project within the Tikioki ra’ui. Koka has collected healthy corals, which are ready to be attached to the reef, where they can spawn and where snorkelers can ogle them. Marine biologist Tina Weier, who […]
Silt shuts sub
Saturday 2 June 2012 | Published in Environment
Silt from the Avatiu Port dredging operation has covered the ocean floor from Avatiu to Tupapa, worrying tourist operators. Raro Reef Sub co-owner Sheryl John, who takes tourists out to the reefs in a semi-submarine she runs with husband Huw, says for the last couple of days the water visibility has been so bad they […]
Pension increases
Saturday 2 June 2012 | Published in Local
The forthcoming Budget makes provision for an increase in the old-age pension for Cook Islands residents over 70. Minister of Finance Mark Brown yesterday announced the budgetary measure, which puts the pension up by $50 per month for this year. In subsequent years, he said, the government will phase in further increases in order to […]
Finance minister opens up the Budget
Saturday 2 June 2012 | Published in Local
In an unprecedented effort to be more transparent about all things Budget, finance minister Mark Brown has devised a schedule according to which he will make one announcement per day before tabling the Budget on June 7. On Wednesday Brown released a general overview of the Capital Book, which earmarks funding for infrastructure and maintenance […]
New group confronts domestic violence
Saturday 2 June 2012 | Published in Local
Domestic violence is too often kept a shameful secret – but a new group in Arorangi is sweeping domestic violence out into the open and making it the whole community’s problem. Ru Taki Vaine Tini – meaning women’s organisation in the community – is now running eight nights of workshops for people in their community […]
60 Plus cooking up a recipe book
Saturday 2 June 2012 | Published in National
Members of the 60 Plus social group gathered for their regular catch up this week which included a photo shoot for the club’s cookbook titled ‘Raurau ki to rima.’ Kitchen-tested and time-honoured, the recipes featuring in the cookbook are a blend of local and non-local dishes submitted by club members. Initially – about two years […]
'Over the moon'
Saturday 2 June 2012 | Published in National
Selina Napa says she is ”over the moon“ with how well her campaign is going. The first female to stand for election in Titikaveka has been busy asking the people of the village what they think needs to be fixed. ”It’s an eye opener to go into people’s homes and find out what issues and […]
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