Neu: 2001-12-20 Contents of this issue:
1. Debit Collecting 2. Cut Off 3. Graduation Time 4. Hearing Postponed 5. New Taro Variety ======================================================================== December 20th, 2001 1. Debit Collecting: Telecom New Zealand claims it is suffering the effects of the hard times in the internet industry and is owed $NZ20 million by internet service providers. The telecommunications giant has accelerated its efforts to collect the money, half of which is overdue by 90 days or more. Telecom was owed $22 million by ISPs this time last year but it says the situation has taken a turn for the worse in the past six months, during which the amount it is owed has increased by $4 million, or 20 per cent. New Zealand has about 85 ISPs, ranging from the dominant national players Xtra, Clearnet, ihug and Paradise, to regional providers Earthlight and PC Net. What proportion of Telecom's revenue comes from ISPs is unclear, because Telecom does not separately report the figure. (NZPA). 2. Cut Off: Telecom Niue has been collecting cellular telephones which have not been in use for the past four months. Most of the units have been disconnected because customers have not paid their accounts. A Telecom Niue spokesperson says customers who want their phones re-connected will have to pay their outstanding accounts plus a re-connection fee. Meanwhile international calls from Niue to NZ have been reduced from $1.60 to $1 per minute over the Christmas period. 3. Graduation Time: Around 50 Niue students who graduated between 4/2001 gathered in the Fale Fono yesterday for a ceremony to recognise their academic achievement. A similar ceremony was held when the Premier of Niue Sani Lakatani was inducted as Chancellor of the University of the South Pacific.The ceremony was organised by the National Training and Development Council. 5. Hearing Postponed: A Commission of Inquiry set up by the Government of Niue into e mail and internet services on Niue has postponed a hearing on the island scheduled for January 21. No reason was given for the postponement. The Commission is headed by a New Zealand Judge David Ongley. 6. New Taro Variety: Papua New Guinea's National Agriculture Research Institute has released three new hybrid varieties of taro. The three varieties - NARI Taro 01, 02, and 03 - produce high yields in the range of 8.0 to 9.0 tonnes per hectare and display good resistance to leaf blight disease, it said. Director-General Valentine Kambori said the varieties performed well under a range of diverse environments and were of good eating quality. Mr Kambori said the institute has been conducting a breeding program to develop taro varieties with resistance to taro leaf blight, high yield potential and good eating quality. He added that a number of trials were conducted at seven taro growing sites.. They ranged from dry to wet conditions located from low to high altitudes in Central, East New Britain, Madang, Morobe and Western provinces. These varieties outperformed farmer's fields giving over 50 per cent higher yield than standard popular check varieties like Numkowec. -( The National/PINA Nius Online). __END__
