National

Young entrepreneurs get their chance

Monday 30 April 2012 | Published in National

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

Monday 30 April 2012 | Published in National

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'

Monday 30 April 2012 | Published in National

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 […]

Ombudsman's post vacant for 4 months

Saturday 28 April 2012 | Published in National

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

Saturday 28 April 2012 | Published in National

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 […]

'It's about iti tangata'

Saturday 28 April 2012 | Published in Crime

The proposed Judicature Amendment Act aims can assist not only banks and other big creditors, but also the “little people” who aren’t being heard, says a local solicitor. He believes there is a misperception within the community about the proposed bill, which will authorise the court to find in contempt those debtors who refuse to […]

Oil leak under investigation

Saturday 28 April 2012 | Published in Local

About half a barrel of waste oil leaked in to the Avatiu stream earlier this week when rainwater flooded a catchment tank, according to a Te Aponga Uira spokesman. TAU communications advisor Trevor Pitt said the quick response of workers at the power station meant that much of the leak was contained and removed from […]

Cabinet ministers abroad

Saturday 28 April 2012 | Published in National

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

Saturday 28 April 2012 | Published in National

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

Saturday 28 April 2012 | Published in National

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 […]

Kaino brings World Cup

Friday 27 April 2012 | Published in Local

All Blacks star player Jerome Kaino and the Rugby World Cup will touch down on the rock this Sunday for a whirlwind visit. A World Cup parade is being planned for Wednesday, May 2, through Avarua from 4pm to 6 o’clock giving the public a chance to see both the Webb Ellis Cup and Kaino […]

Diesel leaks into stream

Friday 27 April 2012 | Published in Local

Heavy rainfall is being named as the cause of a waste oil leak at the Avatiu Valley power station, which flooded in to the neighbouring Avatiu stream. People living in Avatiu Valley this week said they were becoming concerned with the strong odours and residue leaking from the Te Aponga Uira (TAU) power station. The […]

Longest ever sailing leg completed

Friday 27 April 2012 | Published in National

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

Friday 27 April 2012 | Published in National

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

Friday 27 April 2012 | Published in National

Legal action possible over computer sale

Friday 27 April 2012 | Published in National

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?

Friday 27 April 2012 | Published in National

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

Friday 27 April 2012 | Published in National

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

Friday 27 April 2012 | Published in National

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 […]

Samoa vessel completes first voyage to north

Thursday 26 April 2012 | Published in National

The MV Samoa Express’s first voyage to the northern group islands has now finished, providing organisers and the islands’ inhabitants with a few headaches and plenty of useful knowledge along the way. The ship stopped by Nassau on Saturday as the final destination in its five-island shipping route that looped around all of the Cook […]