Opinion

Deal disadvantages subsidy payers

Tuesday 28 February 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, The points made by the CEO and Chairperson of the Cook Islands Tourism Corporation to justify the continuation and increase in subsidy to Air NZ for the Los Angeles and Sydney routes are all valid. However, equally valid are other points that have not been covered and should have been explored. Why has […]

Avatiu rock wall 'dangerous'

Tuesday 28 February 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, Your letter writer who called the new rock wall at Avatiu useless did not get it quite right. It is in fact both illegal and dangerous. Many people have been asking about this so I make the following points: (1) When he was told the Japanese JIKA report recommended a rock wall for […]

Promote Rarotonga as 'a stopover'

Tuesday 28 February 2012 | Published in Smoke Signals

“This massive subsidy to Air New Zealand [$12.5 million] is certainly a talking point in the Cook Islands where the people are finding it hard to come to terms with such a sum to attract tourists,” a smoke signaller writes. “From Sydney to Rarotonga seems a reasonably sensible subsidy given the population of Australia and […]

Kata - February 28, 2012

Tuesday 28 February 2012 | Published in Kata

Kata - February 22, 2012

Tuesday 28 February 2012 | Published in Kata

Kata - February 27, 2012

Monday 27 February 2012 | Published in Kata

CISNOC has robbed us

Monday 27 February 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, It is interesting (and sad) to note in recent newspaper articles about how disappointing and depressing it is to be robbed by your own people, when a lot of people including our own system, don’t get it that the same trait has happened where CISNOC has robbed the local athletes of funding that […]

4 dropouts in 16 minutes

Monday 27 February 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, There is no perceived slow connection. If your Skype drops out because of an internet connection fault, is this perceived or real? Come on TCI, come clean and explain this, you cannot keep adding more connections to the same outlet and expect the speed to remain the same. Would you get four dropouts […]

Get them to lay a fibre-optic cable

Monday 27 February 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, Firstly, a comment on the article ‘$55m offer for exploration’ in relation to a Canadian mining company’s application for an exploratory seabed licence in the Cooks. In the interests of the continuing developments of our telecommunications services, while they are at it, why do the Ministers of Telecommunications and Deep-Sea Mining not negotiate […]

Out of sight, more in mind

Monday 27 February 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, I am writing regarding the article ‘Volunteer dreams in Pukapuka’ published on 15/2/12. The article does not exaggerate the needs of Niua School. I have served the Ministry of Education for 44 years. I worked as a science teacher at Niua School for the last 20 years. Since 1992, I tried to get […]

Looking for solutions

Monday 27 February 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, I am writing in regards to the article I wrote ‘Volunteer dreams in Pukapuka’ about Niua School that appeared in the Cook Islands News. I want to be very clear that the principal and the staff of the school did not know about the article nor were they involved in any part of […]

Kata - February 25, 2012

Saturday 25 February 2012 | Published in Kata

Koru lounge or staff pay?

Saturday 25 February 2012 | Published in Smoke Signals

A smoke signaller writes: “It is actually quite devious of the high-ranking CISNOC defenders to let us know coincidentally that the Air NZ Koru Club members of the team have repaid the money they took for their memberships. The treasurer should be the one reporting this, but once again it’s part of the make-it-up-as-we-go spin […]

Smile at our visitors

Saturday 25 February 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, Visitors do seem to be fewer but it is the off peak season after all and perhaps we just notice them more because so many of our own people have left our shores. The Air NZ subsidy debate is a difficult one, because on the one hand, the taxpayers via the government are […]

Not so cultural

Saturday 25 February 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, Where has the “cultural” in Punanga Nui cultural market gone? In support of Just Wondering (February 16) I would like to add that government should remember that Punanga Nui market was initially funded by NZODA as a hand-up for Maori people with small businesses – not as a profit-making scheme for government. While […]

Disclaimer: check your acronyms!

Saturday 25 February 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, The following letter is a disclaimer and we implore you Mr Editor to print this to save the reputation of our organisation for what is a terrible case of mistaken identity. On Thursday you ran a disrespectful letter from the Peoples Popular Front of Judea (“PPFJ”) which pillaried Mark Brown, Henry Puna and […]

Face it, it's an environmental problem

Saturday 25 February 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, Regarding the Ngatangiia Farm Stench, I see in Tuesday’s CINews the Minister of Health Nandi Glassie has finally managed to see through the bunch of crap being put forward by the Director of Environment Vaitoti Tupa and come to the conclusion that this problem is, and always has been, the responsibility of the […]

Kata - February 24, 2012

Friday 24 February 2012 | Published in Kata

Love birds, more like it!

Friday 24 February 2012 | Published in Smoke Signals

“Torrid? Is that what Wilkie Rasmussen and Henry Puna call it? Ha!” quips a smoke signaller after predictions that this would be the nature of Parliamentary debates between the opposition Democratic Party and ruling Cook Islands Party. “These two guys are as torrid as two love birds on the Rarotonga Golf Club course!” An on […]

Useless rock wall

Friday 24 February 2012 | Published in Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, It’s ironic that the newspaper had the photo of the new rock wall in the Avatiu harbour with the caption ‘New wharf used for the first time’. The fact that the rock wall is a total waste of money and cannot be used for any harbour function begs the question as to whose […]