Smoke Signals
A PM for the people
Thursday 6 May 2010 | Published in Smoke Signals
On the subject of a nationally elected prime minister, a smoke signaller writes: “Under our current Parliamentary structure the PM calls the shots – if he can control Cabinet, which operates under a system of the most stubborn gets his or her way. What the voting public needs is a PM who will try and […]
Alice's tropical wonderland
Tuesday 4 May 2010 | Published in Smoke Signals
A smoke signaller writes: “The recent screening of Alice in Wonderland was certainly timely for us here in the Cook Islands where, like Alice’s experience, reality seems to have been set on its head and all is back to front. On the one hand we have spent well over $1,000,000 chasing an allegation against Norman […]
Billboards spoiling enua manea
Monday 3 May 2010 | Published in Smoke Signals
A reader writes: “As we were driving around our beautiful island (enua manea!) enjoying the green, well kept sections and sweeping oceans views, our vision was suddenly obscured by a huge billboard, demanding attention to a business in Arorangi. It made the “OIRE RANGIATEA” sign seem less important! We continued driving and then another billboard […]
What about the others?
Friday 30 April 2010 | Published in Smoke Signals
“I was just reading through the Cook Islands News this morning (Thursday) regarding the sentencing of Danny Cook,” writes a smoke signaller. “My points are: There are other offenders who are facing the same sentencing but have not taken place yet. How quickly Danny’s case has been dealt with. His sentence is two years in […]
Local bums on empty seats?
Thursday 29 April 2010 | Published in Smoke Signals
A suggestion has been made that if taxpayers have to underwrite the new Sydney flights, surely taxpayers could expect first dibs on any empty seats. It would help keep the planes (looking) full and leave a sweeter taste in our mouths… of course we’d be hoping we don’t leave anyone behind permanently in Australia! It […]
New jetty questioned
Wednesday 28 April 2010 | Published in Smoke Signals
“How can it be justified for $2 million to be spent on a new jetty for cruise ship tender boats that will only be used a couple of times a year?” a smoke signaller asks “What about spending that money on roads and sewerage and other more immediate needs? It’s like a man whose house […]
2 faces of Tangaroa
Monday 26 April 2010 | Published in Smoke Signals
The logo for the new Rules of Attraction reality dating show (above) is neat: it can be seen as two Tangaroa faces looking at each other – in keeping with the theme – but stare at it a while and it could be a single Tangaroa face looking straight at you. Cook Islands Tourism has […]
Glenda must stay as CEO
Thursday 22 April 2010 | Published in Smoke Signals
A smoke signaller writes: “After reading the exit review from Cook Islands Tourism marketing director Glenda Tuaine in your Wednesday paper, all I can say to Minister of Tourism Robert Wigmore is: Persuade Glenda to return to the office immediately as CEO, invite her to bring her proven team around her, ask her advice on […]
Stress relief!
Tuesday 20 April 2010 | Published in Smoke Signals
“The audacity of the man!” exclaims a smoke signaller. “Brett Porter somehow got an agreement with ‘government’ to buy his failing company – with now just two years left on the troubled Toa Petroleum land lease – and now he wants taxpayer money to help him buy stock in order to stay in business, pay […]
Safe in young hands
Saturday 17 April 2010 | Published in Smoke Signals
Those lucky enough to have been at the national auditorium on Thursday for the Rarotonga schools’ culture festival were treated to a spectacular night’s entertainment and a resounding confirmation that the future of our country’s performing cultural arts is in safe hands with our young generation. All of the children, their teachers and their parents […]
$1.2m an acre?
Friday 16 April 2010 | Published in Smoke Signals
A couple of local websites that have land leases for sale have asking prices for vacant beachfront land that may surprise some people. For example, one beachfront section in Arorangi of 2500 square metres has an asking price of $750,000. That’s a little over half an acre (0.6177 acres) and if it sells for that […]
Tickets sell fast for culture night
Thursday 15 April 2010 | Published in Smoke Signals
Thirteen schools will take part in tonight’s highly anticipated Rarotonga schools’ culture festival at the national auditorium. If you haven’t got a ticket yet, you will be very lucky to find one today with many of the schools already sold out. Some tickets may still be available from the national auditorium at 4.30pm – so […]
Book helping to promote health
Thursday 15 April 2010 | Published in Smoke Signals
Liquor licensing A smoke signaller writes: “I watched an interesting TV programme on liquor licensing. Do the 150 licences issued to date include Catholic Churches around the island? I mean to say although they do not have a great variety of liquor available, they do dispense wine on a Sunday of all days, and admittedly […]
There when help is needed
Wednesday 14 April 2010 | Published in Smoke Signals
A smoke signaller writes: “In the letters to the editor’s column ‘Totally choked’ was really worried about the country because our latest candidates chosen by political parties are village based. Well, why doesn’t he try and put his hand up for the country to see if voters will vote for him? I doubt it! Whether […]
Noise complaints at weekend
Tuesday 13 April 2010 | Published in Smoke Signals
The weekend was nearly incident-free for police, whose biggest problem was a high number of excessive noise complaints. On Saturday morning at 4.50am, a car crashed into a taro patch on the back road at Takuvaine. The man sustained only minor injuries but blew a breathalyser reading of 490 mg/s and will appear in the […]
OIA request on Telecom documents
Tuesday 13 April 2010 | Published in Smoke Signals
An official information request has been made to the office of the Prime Minister Jim Marurai for documents relating to Telecom Cook Islands by local company Mervin Communications. Director William Framhein confirmed he made the Official Information Act (OIA) request last month and is expecting a final response shortly. Framhein did not wish to divulge […]
No worries
Tuesday 13 April 2010 | Published in Smoke Signals
“We all know that the Police are trying hard to clamp down on road speeders,” writes a smoke signaller, “but on a Saturday morning drive to town, doing 50k, I was overtaken by three boy bike racers doing 60 plus k without helmets. They don’t have a care in the world and apparently no fear […]
Local politics in a nutshell
Monday 12 April 2010 | Published in Smoke Signals
“Let’s summarise and quantify the political mess,” a smoke signaller writes. “The Democratic party is now in three parts: the Toa-gate bunch (6) and a Demo-splinter group (4) that sort of supports the third lot that happens to be in control (6). Then, there’s the Cook Islands Party including an independent (8) that certainly has […]
Political qualifications
Saturday 10 April 2010 | Published in Smoke Signals
“It would appear that Mr Maggie has all the prerequisites to become a very successful politician,” a reader writes. “Little education, convicted criminal, arsonist, done a bit of Porridge. He is one step ahead of the other contestants in that he achieved his qualifications before entering politics. Should he make it into the hallowed house […]
More tourists are not the answer, yet
Thursday 8 April 2010 | Published in Smoke Signals
“It’s not surprising to note that the composition of the Tourism Board is made up of hard core tourism operators,” writes a smoke signaller. “Their motives are clearly profit-driven as entrepreneurs and increasing tourism numbers is good for them. What about the rest of us? Don’t we know that tourism on one hand supports our […]