Neu: 2001-10-06 Contents of this issue:
1. Cutbacks Commence 2. Burial Trauma 3. Counting The Cost 4. Easy Come Easy Go 5. Brakes On? ======================================================================== October 6th, 2001 1. Cutbacks Commence: While Air New Zealand has axed seven return flights from Sydney to Los Angeles because of reduced demand since last month's terrorist attacks in the United States there has been no talk of cutting the four times a week code shared Royal Tongan Airline flights from Auckland to Tonga.Those flights provide seats for passenger travelling to Niue. The airline, which received an $885 million bailout from the Government this week, is reviewing all its domestic and international flight schedules. Smaller centre business people in New Zealand and local government leaders have expressed concerns about any reductions in the number of flights to provincial towns and cities. Air New Zealand's annual report shows it made a profit on domestic services in the last year, but lost money internationally, particularly in flights to Australia. 2. Burial Trauma: A Tauranga New Zealand funeral company and a Samoan woman are rowing over a longstanding local practice that led to her son being buried the wrong way around. Ten months ago Lalago Ah Honi lost her 30-year-old son Motina, one of eight children, to suicide. She says his death was made more distressing for her when she discovered he had been buried at the local Pyes Pa Cemetery with his feet - rather than his head - facing his headstone. This was in accordance with a longstanding practice in Tauranga where people are buried facing the morning sun - or facing east. At Pyes Park Cemetery, where headstones run back to back, people buried on the west side of the double berm have their feet facing their headstone so the head gets the morning sun. According to Mrs Ah Honi, the fact her son was buried this way violated Samoan customs which she claimed stated that a person could only rest in peace if the head was buried directly under the headstone. Upset about the way her son had been treated, Mrs Ah Honi complained to her funeral company, Jones and Company, and a fortnight after her son was buried the body was exhumed and "turned around the right way". However, even today she says she is struggling to cope with what she calls the "trauma of the whole ordeal" and is seeking compensation - plus what she claims is a long-awaited apology. Jones and Company director David McMahon said while the incident had been distressing to everyone, his company had done nothing wrong.(NZPA) 3. Counting The Cost: Sports Minister Isireli Leweniqila said the 2003 South Pacific Games in Suva would cost Fiji about $13 million - in addition to millions now being spent on facilities. He said sports would become the focal point and important tool for reconciliation and nation building as Fiji prepared to host the games. Addressing Parliament, Mr Leweniqila said the Government had allocated $16.8 million for the development of facilities. He added: "The Government of the People's Republic of China has agreed to provide assistance totalling $23 million for the construction of a new multi-purpose hall, a swimming complex and an artificial hockey turf.'' Mr Leweniqila said of the $13 million operating costs, $7.2 million would be raised through levies on overseas athletes and officials for accommodation, meals and transportation.(PINA Nius Online) 4. Easy Come Easy Go: Tonga's acting Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Police, Clive Edwards, has made a speech in Parliament in an effort to clarify the status of the Tonga Trust Fund. Mr. Edwards said he was compelled to issue a statement to help pacify parliamentarians and the people of Tonga. He said the American advisor to the Tongan government who recommended the transfer of some US$ 26 million from the Bank of America to Millennium Capital Management, Jesse Bogdonoff, was to blame for misleading the trustees. Deputy Prime Minister Tevita Tupou and Minister of Education Dr. Tutoatasi Fakafanua, trustees, already have resigned over the matter. Ms. Edwards could not confirm specifically how much money had been lost. He said he feared Tonga would be a laughing stock for it only had papers now and not hard cash. Tonga's Attorney General is in the U.S. trying to track down the money. 1. Brakes On?: A major drop in tourist arrivals in the Cook Islands will mean lower economic growth, a halt on expansion in the business sector -- and lower demand for employment reports the Cook island News. The resulting fall in tax revenue will also mean the government will have to reduce expenditure, says Bredina Drollet, Policy, Planning, Economics Manager with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Management. In a report to the Cabinet last week, looking at the possible economic effects of a "worst case" downturn in tourism as a result of last month's terrorist attacks on the US, Drollet says the immediate worry is that the fall in tourism will shift total consumption down. The immediate effect on taxation revenue will be a direct drop in VAT -- in proportion to the fall in tourist arrivals, she says. A fall in consumption is a signal to the business sector to stop expanding, and to supply less goods and services. Employment hours could be reduced, particularly in the accommodation and restaurant sectors __END__