Neu: 2002-02-19 Contents of this issue:
1. Preserving Tradition 2. Shore Leave 3. Pacific Pride 4. The Pacific Islands Forum leaders' 5. Best Dive ======================================================================== February 19th 2002 1. Preserving Tradition: Niue outrigger canoe fishermen are making an all out effort to preserve traditional methods and encourage more young men to gains skills in canoe fishing.The enthusiasts have formed a group which will be headed by Tamafai Fuhiniu. Others on the committee include Ricky Makani, Logo Seumanu and Avi Rueben. Mr Fuhiniu said the group will make wholesale purchases of fishing lines and support better safety at sea. He said canoe fishermen want their traditional fishing grounds protected and will ask dinghy fishermen to remain 100 metres from canoe when trolling. 2. Shore Leave: The Pacific cruise vessel Spirit of Oceanus made an unseasonal call at Niue during the weekend. Most of the 102 passengers and crew went snorkelling bushwalking and touring.The vessel called at Niue last month but passengers could not land because of rough seas. The Spirit of Oceanus anchored in the Alofi Bay roadstead and passengers were taken to the island's wharf by inflatable dinghies. 3. Pacific Pride: A select committee room at Parliament was yesterday dedicated as a place to recognise the contribution of Pacific people to New Zealand, writes Audrey Young in the NZ Herald. The room features a carved entranceway and displays art and gifts to NZ from Pacific states. The occasion was the culmination of efforts by the four MPs of Pacific descent: Pacific Affairs Minister Mark Gosche, fellow Labour MPs Taito Phillip Field and Luamanuvao Winnie Laban, and National MP Arthur Anae. The room is on the ground floor of Parliament Buildings next to the Maori affairs select committee room. In a ceremony on Parliament's forecourt in brilliant sunshine, Prime Minister Helen Clark said New Zealand was a "pan-Pacific nation". It had benefited from the energy and vitality of Pacific peoples and in turn, offered the richness and bounties of its shores. Representatives of Samoa, the Cook Islands, Tonga, Niue, Tokelau and Fiji spoke. The event marked more than the celebration of a room, said Samoan speaker Fa'amatuainu Tino Pereira. "There have been moments of Herculean generosity but there have also been periods that have been punctuated by political differences. But today is a symbol that we are moving forward. "Today we are celebrating more than a room or artefacts or a cultural space. We are recognising a process to heal." He said that 70 years ago, Samoa was under New Zealand administration but fighting for political recognition. Now he saluted new Zealand's contemporary leadership and the Speaker, Jonathan Hunt. "You have, through this noble gesture, given us as a community a place in your house we can call our own: a place for Polynesia, a place for Micronesia, a place for Melanesia." New Zealand's Pacific Island population of 227,000 is expected to more than double by 2051 and make up 12 per cent of the population. 4. The Pacific Islands Forum leaders' meeting and associated officials' meetings will be held in Suva 14-21 August, says Fiji Foreign Minister Kaliopate Tavola. He added the Forum will be held in Suva since the third African, Caribbean, Pacific heads of state summit will be held in Nadi, in western Fiji, in July. The west was chosen to host the ACP meeting because it is the centre of the tourism industry. It has hotels which can accommodate the more than 1000 delegates expected for the ACP meetings. Mr Tavola said both meetings will be a good chance to showcase Fiji to the rest of the world.Niue will be represented by its Premier and senior government officials. (PINA Nius Online). 5. Best Dive: Papua New Guinea has been voted as the "Top Dive Destination in the World" for 2002, according to the Reader's Choice Awards of Rosedale's Scuba Diving magazine. This is one of world's largest diving magazines and is published in the USA. The annual award was sent to the PNG Divers' Association. It relayed the good news through Executive Officer Vilia Lawrence and Walindi Plantation's diving instructor Max Benjamin. Scuba Diving has more than 120,000 subscribers in the United States and hundreds more around the world, they said. PNG also scored first place for Best Fish Life, Healthiest Marine Environment, Best Macro Life, and Best Underwater Photography: and second place for Best Wall Diving.(PINA Nius Online.) __END__
