PACIFIC BRIEFS 10/2/2017

Australia sells military vehicles to Fiji FIJI – Australia has agreed to sell 10 refurbished military vehicles to Fiji.

Australia’s defence minister Marise Payne said the Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicles will be used to support Fiji’s United Nations peacekeeping missions in the Middle East. Payne said the sale was a significant milestone in defence co-operation between Australia and Fiji, and underscores the importance of working with partners in the region. Defence relations between the two were cut after Frank Bainimarama’s coup in 2006, but they were restored in 2014 after Fiji held elections. Last year, Fiji’s military received a large shipment of weapons from Russia. Payne said the vehicles would be overhauled, serviced and repainted, before seven are deployed to the Golan Heights and Syria, and three sent to Fiji in the middle of this year.

KEY PUBLIC SERVANTS SUSPENDED

PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Seven key public servants in Papua New Guinea have been suspended in the wake of the controversial Manumanu land deal. Two cabinet ministers, Defence’s Fabian Pok and State Enterprises William Duma, were stood down earlier this week amid allegations of fraud in relation to a land deal for the purported new military base near Port Moresby. Now the Defence Ministry secretary Vali Asi, Lands and Physical Planning Secretary Luther Sipison, Central Supplies and Tender Board chair Philip Eledume, state solicitor Daniel Rolpagarea, the managing director of Motor Vehicles Insurance Ltd Joe Wemin, Valuer-General Gabriel Michael and Lands Title Commissioner Benedict Batata have been suspended. The National newspaper reports the suspensions would last until the findings of a commission of inquiry, which is yet to be appointed.

BILL AIMED AT PROTECTING CHILDREN

SOLOMON ISLANDS – The Solomon Islands National Parliament has been told economic pressures are weakening the country’s traditional family and community structures. Minister of Health and Medical Services Dr Tautai Kaitu’u was speaking at the presentation in parliament of the Child and Family Welfare Bill. He said modernisation was changing social behaviours among children, who are moving away from their families as they search for better education and jobs. Dr Kaitu’u said in the past in Solomon Islands, society placed great emphasis on the care and the nurture of children and the change leaves them vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. He said the Child and Welfare Bill aimed to counter some of these new social trends with provisions for children’s welfare and protection.

BANKS WARN OF ATM ‘SKIMMING’

Northern Marianas – Banks in the Northern Marianas are warning customers that skimming devices have been discovered at some automated teller machines or ATMs. First Hawaiian Bank said it is aware of ongoing police investigation of some ATM skimming devices again found on Saipan. Its management is advising their clients and customers of other financial institutions in the CNMI to remain vigilant and immediately report any incidents. The Bank said the alleged skimming incident did not compromise its system. Last April, skimming devices were found in two ATM terminals of First Hawaiian Bank on Saipan.

compo law amendment WELCOMED

FRENCH POLYNESIA – The French Polynesian president Edouard Fritch has hailed as historic the French decision to remove the term “negligible risk” from the nuclear compensation law. The National Assembly unanimously voted to amend the law, drawn up by Herve Morin when he was the defence minister in 2009. Most claims for compensation for ill health because of the weapons tests have been rejected which prompted sustained calls for the law to be amended. Fritch said the Assembly decision marks a historic day and a relief. He has hailed the territory’s parliamentarians in Paris for their work and praised the tireless efforts of the nuclear test veterans organisations and the Maohi Protestant Church.