PACIFIC BRIEFS: pm blames parents for child obesity

Samoa – Samoa’s Prime Minister, Tuila’epa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, has blamed parents’ laziness for obesity among Samoa’s young.

Tuila’epa, who was speaking at the launch of the Ministry of Health’s “nobesity” programme, said many Samoan parents rely on fast food nearly every day to feed their children. Tuila’epa says parents have an important role in feeding their children healthy food instead of oily pancakes, fish and chips and other fast foods. Tuila’epa is requesting assistance from New Zealand and Australia for the programme. The Ministry of Health’s CEO, Leausa Dr Take Naseri, said Prime Minister Tuila’epa – as a father and grandfather – was speaking from his heart.

600,000 children not attending school

PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Reports from Papua New Guinea say 30 per cent of school aged children are not attending school. The Post Courier reports about 600,000 children do not go to school at all, have dropped out for various reasons and do not complete their basic primary education. The paper quotes the Education Secretary Michael Tapo saying major challenges remain despite enrolment rates increasing over the past several years. Tapo told the paper these include poor access to schools, low student retention rates and issues around the quality of education. He says another reason for poor attendance is parents’ fear of violence in schools which particularly affects girls.

Warning over fake WORK recruiters

SOLOMON ISLANDS – The Solomon Islands foreign affairs ministry has issued a warning to people seeking seasonal work in New Zealand and Australia to be wary of fake recruitment agents. The popular seasonal workers scheme is attracting more and more Solomon Islanders with some even leaving permanent jobs for the temporary work abroad. The ministry’s Labour mobility coordinator, Jack O’oi, says the programme can change the lives of people, but false agents are exploiting the situation by promising immediate access to seasonal work. “All we can do is warn the people not to give any money to any agents who maybe asking money from them in promising them to recruit them to maybe Australia or New Zealand. We also ask the workers if they could possibly take this further to report these issues with the police”. There are about 500 Solomon Islands workers in New Zealand and a lesser but growing number in Australia with 20 more due to depart this week.

Namah to stay in PNG opposition

PAPUA NEW GUINEA – The outspoken MP for Vanimo Green Belden Namah has confirmed he will be staying with Papua New Guinea’s parliamentary opposition. Local media reports have speculated that Namah was about to join the Peter O’Neill-led government, despite being its most ardent critic since 2012 when he became opposition leader. However, after being removed as opposition leader late last year in favour of Don Polye, Namah has complained publicly about the manner in which he was replaced. He has accused Polye and the deputy opposition leader Sam Basil of conducting a meeting to elect a leader while he was sick in bed. Namah said he will remain as a member of the opposition but not under the Polye–Basil leadership.

Japan war graves emerge in Palau

PALAU – Documents showing the existence of a mass grave in Palau for Japanese soldiers have been found at the US Navy Seabee Museum in California. The cemetery for Japanese is highly likely to have been established by the US military on the island of Peleliu, where about 10,200 Japanese soldiers died in a fierce battle with US troops during World War II. The Chicago Tribune reports that discovery of the documents may facilitate efforts to collect the remains of around 2600 Japanese soldiers yet to be found in Palau. While some bereaved families of the Japanese war dead have referred to the possibility of the cemetery’s existence, this is the first confirmation of documents indicating the cemetery’s location. The Japanese government intends to seek the Palau government’s cooperation in locating the cemetery.