Teilweise neu: 2001-10-06
Contents of this issue:
1. Delivery Delayed
2. Time Change
3. Bank Buy-Out
4. Cutbacks Commence
5. Burial Trauma
6. Counting The Cost
7. Easy Come Easy Go
8. Brakes On?
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Old contents were:
1. Cutbacks Commence
2. Burial Trauma
3. Counting The Cost
4. Easy Come Easy Go
5. Brakes On?
October 6th, 2001
1. Delivery Delayed:
Samoa Air which used to provide a weekly return air se vice from
PagoPago to Niue has been forced to delay the acquisition of a third
Twin Otter aircraft.
The airline was scheduled to take delivery of the aircraft this week.
But according to the airline's vice president, Jim Porter, Samoa Air now
is planning for the plane to arrive early next month.
He said the grounding of U.S. air travel in the aftermath of the
September 11th attacks in New York and Washington prevented maintenance
work on the aircraft and as a result the Twin Otter will not be ready
for several weeks.(Radio Australia).
2. Time Change:
Daylight saving in New Zealand begins today. That puts New Zealand on
the same time as Niue but a day ahead. Up to today New Zealand winter
time was one hour behind Niue.
Five years ago Niue was keen to adopt the same time and day as New
Zealand - it would have meant passing legislation placing the
international dateline to the west of Niue.However the matter was
dropped when the government changed in 1999.
3. Bank Buy-Out :
The Australia-based ANZ bank has bought seven Bank of Hawaii branches in
the South Pacific for $US50 million.
The deal includes two branches in Papua New Guinea, two in Vanuatu and
three in Fiji - with total assets of $180 million and 196 employees.
It will bring Bank of Hawaii one step closer to wrapping up a plan
announced earlier this year to divest all of its South Pacific
operations, with the exception of American Samoa.
Bank of Hawaii's remaining South Pacific assets consist of investments
in Banque de Tahiti in French Polynesia, Bank of Hawaii-Nouvelle
Caledonie in New Caledonia and operations in the Solomon Islands. A sale
agreement for those banks is expected later this year.
For ANZ, the acquisition moves the company closer to its goal of
doubling the size of its Pacific business.
ANZ has total assets of about $93 billion and a market capitalization of
$11.8 billion. The company's main market is Australia and New Zealand,
but it is represented in 29 countries in Asia, the Pacific, Europe and
America.(PINA Nius)
4. 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.
5. 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)
6. 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, $7.2 million
would be raised through levies on overseas athletes and officials for
accommodation, meals and transportation.(PINA Nius Online)
7. Easy Come Easy Go:
Tonga's acting Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Police, Clive
Edwards, has made a speech in Parliament in an effort to clarify the
status of the Tonga Trust Fund.
Mr. Edwards said he was compelled to issue a statement to help pacify
parliamentarians and the people of Tonga.
He said the American advisor to the Tongan government who recommended
the transfer of some US$ 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
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