National
Vaka project short by $100,000
Tuesday 20 March 2018 | Published in Local
The Voyaging Society have said that they desperately need $100,000 if there is any hope for repair work to start on damaged vaka Marumaru Atua this year.
Preserving culture everyone's responsibility
Monday 19 March 2018 | Published in Politics
This is the fifth and final in a series of CINews articles on the new National Culture Policy initiated by the Ministry of Cultural Development. The policy addresses five strategic goals, and while its effects may not be noticed until later this year, it will introduce a number of significant changes. The final strategic goal is support and coordination.
Govt underspends on capital projects
Monday 19 March 2018 | Written by Rashneel Kumar | Published in Politics
The government only spent half of its capital expenditure budget in the last financial period, according to the December 2017 quarterly financial report.
Grinna almost ready for trip to Cook Islands
Monday 19 March 2018 | Published in Local
Taio Shipping owner Tapi Taio says the company’s new vessel “Grinna” is all set to sail from the port of Denmark and the only thing holding it up is the insurance.
Cable dispute continues
Monday 19 March 2018 | Published in Politics
Telecommunications minister Mark Brown has hit back at claims by the Opposition that the planned Manatua submarine cable won’t necessarily result in lower prices for consumers and businesses.
Revamped library stirs interest
Monday 19 March 2018 | Written by Jaimie Keay | Published in Education
Rhys Evans has been the driving force behind revamping and updating the school library at Apii Arorangi.
Grant a boost for Mitiaro
Monday 19 March 2018 | Published in Outer Islands
Financial assistance from the government of India has allowed the construction of sanitation facilities on Mitiaro.
Resort extension open for business in May
Monday 19 March 2018 | Written by Jaimie Keay | Published in Local
The addition of 16 rooms to Club Raro is expected to be completed by May.
Aussie puts his stamp on local museum display
Monday 19 March 2018 | Written by Jaimie Keay | Published in Local
Visiting Australian philatelist Robert Rex has made a significant contribution to the Te Ara Cultural Museum.
Submarine cable tenders open
Monday 19 March 2018 | Published in Local
The Manatua submarine cable consortium opened tenders for construction in Wellington, New Zealand yesterday (CI time).
Help for drought-stricken village
Monday 19 March 2018 | Published in Outer Islands
An Aitutaki village hard-hit by drought is to be one of the first to benefit from a new water supply system planned by Infrastructure Cook Islands (ICI).
Speaker checks out Fiji parliament
Friday 16 March 2018 | Written by Rashneel Kumar | Published in Politics
Cook Islands Parliament Speaker Niki Rattle is in Fiji, observing the Fijian Parliment sitting in an effort to review and improve national Parliamentary Standing Orders, among other things.
Power bill totals $5000 in 10 days
Friday 16 March 2018 | Published in Education
Tereora College has racked up a massive $5000 power bill in just 10 days – and the school’s modern new buildings are to blame.
Call for answers over Te Mato Vai project
Friday 16 March 2018 | Published in Environment
The Cook Islands government appears to have reached the bottom of the funding barrel for the long-running Te Mato Vai water mains project, says the Opposition spokesman for finance and the economy, James Beer
Turning bottles into sand
Friday 16 March 2018 | Published in Environment
Work now being done at WATSAN (Water, Waste and Sanitation) division of Infrastructure Cook Islands (ICI) could see most of Rarotonga’s empty glass bottles end up as sand. A cost-benefit analysis of glass crushing is one of three projects being undertaken by WATSAN’s first dedicated waste programme coordinator, Hilary Boyes, who hails from Wanaka in New Zealand and will be with ICI for the next six months. Boyes has been involved in waste management all over the world, most notably in Vancouver, Canada, where she helped set up organic waste collection for composting purposes. She also worked as an on-site coordinator during the construction of a large natural gas project site in Australia. “By crushing glass into the particle size of sand, the glass can be substituted for sand in concreting and leave the sand where it belongs,” says Boyes. “Speaking with experts in concreting they advise that coral sand isn’t actually ideal for concreting and crushed glass is the preferred option.” A side benefit of recycling glass bottles by crushing them into sand is that it also saves sand being mined for construction purposes. The rate of natural production of sand is much slower than extraction, which means using sand as aggregate in concrete is unsustainable, especially on small islands. And sand mining can also have other undesirable effects, says WATSAN director Jaime Short. “The continued mining of sand with the holes being filled with soil and worse still, hazardous waste that is often reported dumped in these holes, will have disastrous effects on lagoon and human health.” In the 2018/19 budget bidding, ICI is vying for an industrial glass crusher and the findings of Boyes’ cost-benefit analysis will ensure the correct size of crusher is purchased - and that parts are easily obtainable. “The long-term view is to have this operation taken over by the private sector and we do hope that it can be a profitable venture to attract a private-sector operator,” says ICI secretary Ngametua Pokino. “We also hope that it will create more attention and action on realising that waste actually is a resource.” ICI now asks the public to separate glass bottles when putting them out for collection, but the glass cannot actually be sent off the island as its international value is too low. Instead, the bottles are used as cover for the landfill and crushed glass from a small single-bottle feed crusher is used as fill on driveways. The industrial crushing idea has been floating around for some time and there are already private-sector initiatives out there. For example, Brad and Ngere from Brad’s Auto Body Repairs have their own crusher and use cullet-sized crushed glass in pavers – and in the construction of their home. Andy Olah of Timberland also approached ICI about glass crushing and has been a longtime proponent of the repurposing of glass bottles. All these local real-life examples for glass crushing will contribute to the analysis, and Malcolm Sword of General Transport is also providing some technical advice for the project. - Release/SB
National plan goals 'off-track'
Friday 16 March 2018 | Published in Politics
The Cook Islands have a long way to go in achieving all the 16 goals in the National Sustainable Development Plan (NSDP) by 2020.
A conversation with Marjorie Crocombe
Friday 16 March 2018 | Published in Local
“Fierce, formidable, strong, unstoppable…” Those are just some of the words used to describe Dr Marjorie Tuainekore Crocombe at a special event held at USP on Wednesday night.
Young artist in running for Pacfic award
Thursday 15 March 2018 | Written by Jaimie Keay | Published in Culture
Fe’ena Syme-Buchanan had a brief encounter with New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern during her visit last week, ahead of their next scheduled meeting later this month at the 2018 NZ Prime Minister’s Pacific Youth Awards in Auckland.
Seabed minerals study opportunity
Thursday 15 March 2018 | Written by Rashneel Kumar | Published in Environment
Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority is seeking applications for a new training and educational opportunity with their joint venture partner, Global Sea Mineral Resources NV (GSR) of Belgium.
Bid to boost business ties with NZ Maori
Thursday 15 March 2018 | Published in Politics
Last week’s visit by New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has reignited discussions between the Cook Islands Investment Corporation (CIIC) and the Federation of Maori Authorities (FOMA).
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