August 2013 by Islands Business

August 2013

Vol. 39, No. 8

Contents 38 Cooks PM eyes a year at the Forum helm

‘We’re a unique region of unique cultures’

Business

40 VDS out, islands adopt tuna for cash

Part of the US transitional agreement

41 Tax haven label irks Cooks: Brown ‘It is absolute nonsense’

42 PNG coffee in crisis

Good old “cash-cow” fast running out of milk

Environment EUROPEANS ISSUE EPA ULTIMATUMS. Cover report—pages 16-17. Cover photo:

Expert

weavers producing finely woven mats which the Marshalls are famous for. By Karen Earnshaw.

46 Weather and climate services enhance economic growth 47 Choiseul’s project, model for islands Must address

people’s aspirations

Regular

Cover Report

16 No Access, no deal

Europeans issue ultimatums as race to conclude EPAs heats up

Forum Feature

20 Big decisions for small is lands

Marshall Islands faces a series of big decisions, which looms larger with each passing year

26 Forum to test Majuro’s housing limits

Features

6 Views from Auckland 7 We Say 12 Whispers 14 Pacific Update 48 Business Intelligence 50 Book Review

But hospitality will be on high wattage

28 Marshalls wants Forum climate action

We can’t afford to wait for global action: Muller

28 Rudd heading to the Forum?

Uncertainty prevails

29 Where to now for nuclear test victims? No full compensation for victims

30 Forum not fractured: SG Tuiloma Small groupings add great value

32 Leaders: Please carry rather

than be carried by your people!

33 A talanoa session

on progress

Politics

36 Blackbird no more!

South Sea islanders mark labour trade

37 PNG a haven for sex trafficking ‘Mosko Girls’ in cities

Islands Business, August 2013 3

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Column

Views from Auckland BY DEV NADKARNI

Polynesia will see demographic changes in mere decades

their families; and geopolitical compulsions like political instability, terrorism and ethnic strife. Whatever the reason, migration-led changes in the ethnic composition of the regions is happening in greater volumes and faster rates. The smaller the country and more homogeneous the population, the sooner and stronger will be the perceived change. In the Pacific islands region, Polynesian countries like Tonga, Samoa in the past, however, this happened slowly, almost In a novel that is set one thousand years and the Cook Islands will more probably perceive imperceptibly and comparatively infrequently. into the future, in AD 3001 to be precise, my changes in their ethnic composition far sooner One would hardly notice it when one lives favourite science fiction author, the late Arthur than other larger countries of the Pacific. through the times. But if one were to somehow C Clarke, has an interesting character—a scientist Geopolitical compulsions that have led to fast forward by every hundred or so years and stop who has Japanese first and last names but who is closer relationships with Asia, particularly China, to take a peek, one would see perceptible differbrown skinned, yet has Caucasian features, Afro have resulted in an ever increasing presence of ences every three or four generations. hair and comes from Scandinavia! people drawn from ethnic Asian stock in Tonga Ever the master craftsman who had a ready, and Samoa. Anecdotal evidence and testimonies Faster, bigger scale rationally credible explanation for every single from regular visitors to the countries tend to point The scenario today is different. World statistics detail in his fabulous storytelling, Clarke exto the fact that as well as people, the Asian presshow that migration is taking place on an unprecplained what seems to us an anomaly today as ence in commerce, retail and general economic edented scale in our times. And it is happening at the norm a thousand years from now: because of activity such as trade and investment is increasing a pace faster than at any time before in the history large scale migration and interbreeding across 40 by leaps and bounds. of humankind. generations, ethnicities as we know them today A BBC report last month outlined how ChiMore people are moving to countries far away had become so mixed up that in the 30th century nese presence is growing even on Tonga’s outer from where they were born and raised to live and it was impossible to guess which geographical islands. The report told the story of a young work semi permanently or even permanently. region a particular person came from merely Chinese businessman whose retail business is The runaway growth in remittances is testimony based on their looks or names. thriving on an outer island. to that. Migration has existed ever since early humanCaught in a whirlpool of perpetually depressed oid bipeds ventured out of Africa’s Olduvai economic circumstances and no prospects Gorge—all those hundreds of millennia of any worthwhile growth, small Tongan ago. Eventually they branched out into and Samoan businesses obviously see merit every continent, setting up civilisations in selling off to the first cash buyer that wherever they went, flourishing and perishcomes their way. And there is no dearth of ing, while also pushing their geographical Chinese businesspeople that will offer them range ever further. It is this migration and a fair price in exchange for a chance to live the intermingling of different strains of and work in Tonga. diverse humans across the ages that has Shrinking populations, cultural comproduced the diversity of ethnicities that pulsions and an absence of any prospects we know today. of economic growth make a country like Being in the middle of oceanic migratory Tonga as unattractive for native Tongans as it routes, the Pacific islands region has been makes it attractive for globetrotting Chinese witness to several waves of migration down entrepreneurs who are on a mission to cast the centuries—more than many peoples their business net as far and wide as they from larger landlocked regions. possibly can. Despite being isolated geographically, the These businesspeople, having gained reshuman gene pool of some of the Pacific is- Demographic change? World’s demographics are in the throes of a major idency, will be a part of the local landscape lands has a high degree of diversity because realignment. Photo: Paradise in no time. Their numbers will multiply of this reason. In the past millennium or so, faster in relation to those of the natives and ethnicities from several parts of the world they are bound to become more prosperous have made the islands their home and interand eventually play a bigger role in the country’s Interestingly, such high migration levels are mingled with people who came here generations commerce and politics. taking place at a time when immigration regimes before them, continually adding to the diversity. Owing to their smaller size, comparatively lax are becoming tougher with each passing year and The last major migration happened in comimmigration policies when it comes to geopolitigovernments are making it ever more difficult for paratively recent historical times—the past two cally ambitious and big ticket donor nations like people to migrate when compared to the rules of centuries. China, an eagerness to readily accept economic past decades. The region saw Europeans, Asians and Indians favours in exchange for poorly strategised conThere is little doubt that the long-held settle down in the islands, both preserving their cessions, the effect of demographic rebalancing relationships between geographical areas and separate identities by marrying within their own will be far more palpable in Tonga, Samoa and ethnicities are in an ever increasing state of flux. ethnicities and also intermingling with local Tuvalu over the next two decades than in other The world’s demographics are in the throes of a populations, thus producing newer diversities countries of the Pacific. major realignment. in succeeding generations. It is therefore quite There is no doubt that before our very eyes, While in past centuries the drivers for migracommon to come across people with greatly the demographic composition of Polynesia is tion were primarily the imperatives of survival mixed heritage living in the islands. changing and unlike such changes in the past, and commerce, the drivers today are almost exClarke’s AD 3001 phenomenon is not new. It the present changes are discernible even within clusively economic growth and its concomitant has been happening since times immemorial. But the space of our own lifetimes. of the quest for better lives for individuals and 6 Islands Business, August 2013

WESAY ‘It is time Australia stood up and took some touch decisions on the boat people problem, even if it risks the opprobrium of humanitarian groups in the process. It should be prepared to wear that criticism if it promises a result in the end. But involving smaller, powerless nations to transfer its problems and trying to forge a solution by the charade of a collective regional solution that it is now pursuing can only do more harm than good— especially to the small vulnerable islands nations of the Pacific’

rom being a constant nagging headache that progressively worsened across decades, the asylum seeker problem has now become one of Australia’s biggest nightmares ever. Not having been able to deal with it with any degree of success over all these years, the country appears to be now embarking on a strategy to export the problem to hapless Pacific Islands countries on a scale bigger than it has done before. Over the years, Australia has pursued the strategy of offshore detention centres to hold asylum seekers till their claims to asylum are assessed, which could take years. Determining the genuineness of claims is proving increasingly difficult because of the growing sophistication of highly-organised people smuggling networks across the world. There are now indications that governments and bureaucrats are colluding with people smugglers to encourage migration of certain ethnic groups in what could well be a new version of ethnic purging. Genuine or not, asylum seekers typically pay their life savings to people smugglers and make the journey in search of a new life in a perceived new land of peace and plenty taking extraordinary risks. Despite being aware that their chances of success are slim to none they are driven to take risks, which if they get out of alive could land them in detention centres for long years after which they could simply be deported to the place where they began. In the past twelve months, Australia has deported 1000 prospective asylum seekers back to Sri Lanka alone. None of the patchwork policies of successive Australian governments to deal with the increasing flow of asylum seekers has worked. That is mainly because of the extreme complexity of the problem, humanitarian compulsions, legal complications and political will, to name just a few factors in the mix. In the process, the problem is only getting worse as more and more unseaworthy boats make a beeline for Australian shores, many of them capsizing in treacherous waters, with dozens of asylum seekers meeting their watery graves. Last month, Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr said his country was looking for at least one other Pacific nation to host the constantly growing ranks of asylum seekers while their claims were being processed on the Australian mainland. This facility would be in addition to processing centres that are

in existence in Nauru and Manus, one of the islands of Papua New Guinea. The minister was already in talks with the government of the Solomon Islands. In the recent past, other sites in countries like East Timor have also been considered. The minister is packaging the proposal as an invitation to the Pacific Islands to participate in efforts to combat the global menace of people smuggling and be part of setting up a “regional resettlement solution”. Australia throws big bucks for the construction and maintenance of such facilities, which indeed turns out to be a significant revenue stream for an impoverished economy like Nauru—and that proves a more important consideration than being part of some nebulous regional solution that could hardly do any good for the host country. In fact, involvement in this new Australian export can only do more harm than good for everyone concerned—including Australia itself. There are no winners in this game plan. If at all there can ever be any, it is the people smugglers—the very group Australia is trying to combat. That the host countries participate in the scheme at great risk to themselves and their unsuspecting people was borne out by the riots that broke out at the Nauru detention centre that caused destruction running into several million dollars. More than 100 asylum seekers have been charged over the riots that were sparked because the detainees believed it was taking too long for their claims to be processed by Australian authorities. Australian Immigration Minister Tony Burke said those involved would face the full force of the Nauruan law. “The way the criminal law of Nauru will come down on the people who were involved in the riot will send a message that won’t be lost on anyone, anywhere in the detention network,” he is reported to have told the media. How very convenient. Australia’s problem has been effectively transferred to Nauru to be dealt with. All because the once rich nation that was plunged into penury in a matter of just about a decade by its overly greedy politicians in cahoots with crooked Australian businesspeople has no choice but to pick up the crumbs that Australia throws its way.

Asylum seekers Aust’s biggest nightmare

Islands Business, August 2013 7

WESAY The people of Nauru, Papua New Guinea—and soon perhaps the Solomon Islands—get sucked into this mega-Australian nightmare because of a total lack of a culture of genuine political consultation in their countries. The power of Australia’s geopolitical clout and financial muscle to jockey itself in a position of advantage by getting Pacific Islands politicians to toe the line is lost on the ordinary people of the islands, whose leaders submit easily to Australia’s gilt-edged proposals. As well as law and order problems as demonstrated in last month’s Nauru incident, local populations, which are in any case deprived of proper and adequate infrastructural facilities to support their own numbers, are burdened by an inflow however temporary they might be. This additional infrastructural need is certainly addressed by Australia’s considerable investment in facilities and does create local jobs but it also brings greater and newer risks. Though there is supposed to be a rigorous regime of health checks and vaccinations on those being housed in the detention centres,

there are hardly any guarantees against foreign disease outbreaks in insular environments like Nauru, which are ill-equipped to deal with major medical emergencies in the first place. It is unfortunate that the people of the Pacific have little say in the way their political masters risk their lives, livelihoods, law and order, peace of mind and environment while they please a rich, regional big brother and get suckered into a neatly packaged scheme, which in fact is designed to export its own problems while making it look like their countries are part of a “global solution” to help stateless people. It is time Australia stood up and took some tough decisions on the boat people problem, even if it risks the opprobrium of humanitarian groups in the process. It should be prepared to wear that criticism if it promises a result in the end. But involving smaller, powerless nations to transfer its problems and trying to forge a solution by the charade of a collective regional solution that it is now pursuing can only do more harm than good—especially to the small vulnerable islands nations of the Pacific.

‘PNG’s leaders need to do everything they can to lift large numbers of people from the bottom rungs of society. Businesspeople setting up new ventures are already beginning to say that the much touted fact that the country is a market of 7 million that will soon grow to 10 million is but a myth. They contend that with a majority of the people out of the cash economy, the real numbers are not much more than 1.5 million, at the most two million’

o country in the Pacific islands region offers the stark and deep contrasts that Papua New Guinea does. That country has been well known for its natural contrasts—from alluring coastlines through high, majestic mountains to scarcely explored lush forests. Such natural contrasts are an extremely bankable attribute for any country and PNG has not even scratched the surface of its immense tourism potential. But the country is a long way off from capitalising on this potential. And this is not the least because of the man-made contrasts that are beginning to undermine the recent impressive economic achievements of the country. Unlike a country’s natural contrasts, which can greatly benefit its economy, man-made contrasts act as a brake to progress, bringing uncertainty on future growth prospects—and if left to drift, threatening the very fabric of society. It is clear to anyone familiar with PNG that the fabulous economic growth of the past decade or so has lifted the country’s standing not 8 Islands Business, August 2013

only in the Pacific Islands region but also among industrial nations across the world. Its economy has grown at a pace faster than almost all the developing world. In the past 15 years, thanks to its natural resources, almost every big global player in the energy, minerals and mining sector has had something to do with PNG, catapulting the country to its status as the region’s economic powerhouse. Countries like Australia and New Zealand as well as several others in the Pacific Rim have been organising trade and investment missions into PNG over the past few years. PNG has proved to be a veritable magnet to big business. Next month, another major business and industry event that will see Australian, New Zealand and Asian businesses descend on PNG looking for opportunities is being held in its capital, Port Moresby. This side of the PNG success story would raise the spirits of any capitalist anywhere in the world, especially under the highly depressed economic circumstances that continue to plague the world since the global financial crisis that began five years ago.

WESAY Unfortunately for PNG though, there is a rather dark side that starkly contrasts with this success story. Going by the news reports of happenings throughout the country, it is quite clear that sooner rather than later, this dark side is bound to have a deleterious effect on the country’s hard won economic achievements. While stories of systemic corruption have formed the leitmotif of the discourse in the country for some time now, rapidly growing social inequity—the widening gap between the haves and the have nots, a law and order situation that seems to be spiralling out of control and brutal, anachronistic sociocultural practices—are turning into a tinderbox that threaten to blow the country’s recent achievements to smithereens. The lack of social equity and any mechanism to make it happen are the country’s biggest problem. The riches that the country has earned in the past 15 years have clearly not percolated down to any levels below the upper middle class. Most Papua New Guineans remain poor, and in areas hard to access with modern transportation and with no communication infrastructure, are left out of the cash economy, living subsistence lives as they have for thousands of years. The problem is that for thousands of years PNG a of such existence, they had few aspirations. veritable magnet Now they have many—particularly when for big business they see a section of their kind moving up in life. That’s when frustration sets in and a need to hark back to old ways suddenly seems the way to go. So when on front the country seems to be making great economic progress, those who are left out of that forward movement head for the opposite direction. PNG’s leaders need to do everything they can to lift large numbers of people from the bottom rungs of society. Businesspeople setting up new ventures are already beginning to say that the much-touted fact that the country is a market of 7 million that will soon grow to 10 million is but a myth. They contend that with a majority of the people out of the cash economy, the real numbers are not much more than 1.5 million, at the most two million.

This just shows the latent potential that exists in the country. It will take several years of working with the right mix of socioeconomically equitable policies driven by caring governments to bring more people into the cash economy meaningfully. Present and future PNG governments have a long-haul ahead of them while catching up to fill yawning gaps in basic human development goals. Primary healthcare, basic education, water and sanitation and food security need to be addressed for any meaningful progress to be achieved. Failing which, growing social inequity will drive a further wedge between the rich and poor and create greater social tensions—something that has plagued the country with disturbing regularity. In repeated surveys relating to the country, law and order, lack of social equity and poor infrastructural facilities besides endemic corruption show up as major concerns for investors and those doing business or looking to do business in the country. In the past couple of months, happenings in the country such as the witchcraft killings and the attack by the PNG armed forces on the nation’s top medical facility have been bizarre enough to undermine investor confidence in the country’s future as a stable society that is on the path to economic success, distributing the rich spoils of earnings from its mineral wealth through the various rungs of its complex society. As well as the government, businesses big and small that are operating in the country have a stake in the country’s future. While the government might be hamstrung by the lack of human capacity to implement policies to lift the majority of the people to realise their full economic potential, businesses could very well rise to the occasion and chip in—not just with funding but also know-how and helping build human capacity. Incompetence on the part of the government and apathy on the part of businesses while being focused on short-term gains would undoubtedly leave the majority of the country’s population behind, creating even bigger gaps between the rich and the poor and an environment of greater uncertainty accentuated by violence, tribal warfare and even a mutinous law and order machinery—shades of all of which we have seen in the past two months.

‘One such innovative project made the headlines in the Pacific region last month but did not receive the news coverage it deserved. A small island in Fiji officially became the first certified organic island in the country—perhaps even in the region’

he single most significant activity that has shaped human development and sustained humanity’s overall progress around the world since the dawn of time is agriculture. Without agriculture, there would have been no civilisation; humans would still have been hunters and gatherers (in

fact, there are still communities in remote parts of the world that have little to no agriculture and depend on hunting and gathering for their day-to-day survival). The knowledge of growing food has stood humanity in good stead and down the millennia, people have learned and developed new techniques, perfected the art of growing crops by trial and error, Islands Business, August 2013 9

WESAY sheer perseverance and hard work. against mass produced, factory processed, chemical laden foods with Agriculture forms the solid backbone of the economies of several poor nutritional value but high calorific content. High food prices countries around the world even today. Despite the near double that deliver poor nutrient value are delivering a double whammy digit growth rates that countries like China and India are registering for the world’s poor, who have been pushed out of the traditional through the industrial development route in the past few decades, agriculture space in the first place. the bedrock of their economies is still agriculture, both in the formal Fortunately, there is a slow, committed movement for growing and informal sectors. healthy food locally, free of potentially harmful chemicals and The march of industrialisation transformed agriculture, which fertilisers taking root all over the world including in the Pacific. was once the art of growing food for subsistence, into There are a couple of organisations that are sucthe business of growing food for profit. Agriculture tocessfully raising awareness and conducting proday is a complex activity involving some of the world’s grammes to get more and more farmers and small biggest corporate houses, progressively diminishing holders involved in the activity of growing food the value of small agriculturists, often driving them out as it had always been grown before the advent of of business, into indebtedness and even mass suicides industrialisation. (as has been happening in India for several years now). One such innovative project made the headlines Industrialisation and the entry of big business into in the Pacific region last month but did not receive agriculture saw the introduction of mechanisation and the news coverage it deserved. A small island in Fiji with more and more sophisticated machinery emofficially became the first certified organic island ployed in farming, the sizes of farms grew to the super in the country—perhaps even in the region. Cicia farms they are today. Simultaneously, the number of Island in Fiji’s eastern Lau Group was declared a people personally engaged in the activity of growing fully organic island last month. food plummeted sharply. The Pacific Organic and Ethical Trade ComConcentrated farming freed up land for industrialimunity (POETCom) with the support of the sation as economies the world over made the transition International Fund for Agricultural Development from agrarian ones to those dependent on industry Mere Salusalu...most of the islanders’ (IFAD) through the Secretariat of the Pacific Comfarming methods are already organic. for income and growth. Yields skyrocketed because The only intervention is the certification munity (SPC), has been working with members of of newly synthesised chemicals and fertilisers and big so they have access to niche markets. the Cicia Rural Development Committee and the farming businesses maximised their profits by entering Photo: SPC community on this project of having everything food processing industries. grown on the island certified organic. As a result, much of the food produced agriculturally today unThe Fiji Ministry of Agriculture, in collaboration with the residergoes a high degree of refinement and processing ending up in dents, banned the importation of inorganic fertilisers and chemicals packages on supermarket shelves with all sorts of additives that in six years ago. The concerned groups are building farmer capacity recent years have been proved to be less than conducive to keeping through a method of organic certification known as a Participatory good health. Guarantee System (PGS), and developing local market chains for A cursory glance of food products on supermarket shelves reveals organic produce. that nearly 90 percent of packaged food contains either highly Traditional staple foods, including taro, cassava, yams, sweet processed wheat or corn. Much of that is laden with high salt, potatoes leaves, drumstick leaves and tapioca leaves are some of the sugar and fat, not to mention preservatives and chemicals many of produce that is grown organically on the island. This farming at its them progressively banned in many parts of the world. This is the best—as it was always meant to be before the advent of industrialisaunfortunate consequence of industrialisation and big global scale tion and mass production for the pursuit of profit. businesses entering the basic human activity of food growing. It is rather sad to see that the forces of industrial farming forced the farmers of Cicia, who always grew organically since they first Though they have their footprint across the settled the island hundreds of years ago, to abandon their traditional Cicia, first globe by way of their worldwide distribution farming methods and techniques for a few decades, only to return certified networks, global food businesses are highly to their original methods—now certified as “organic”. organic island centralised and heavily dependent on logistics, As Principal Agriculture Officer of the Eastern Division Mere which in turn is based on the oil economy. The Kini Salusalu puts it, “Most of their farming methods, which are costs of food, which have to be ultimately borne by the consumer traditional, are already organic. The only intervention is the certiat the end of the distribution chain, are subject to fluctuations in fication so they have access to niche markets.” the prices of oil and as we all know, fluctuations are always on the The declaration encourages farmers to value age old and time upward scale, never downward. tested traditional farming practices that have been handed down This has driven food prices up and created severe shortages leadfrom one generation to the next. ing to riots and political stability in many parts of the world in past The project next plans to concentrate on coconut oil. The Govfew years. Some political commentators point to the food crisis as ernment of Fiji and indeed all Pacific Islands Governments should the starting point of the Arab Spring, the effects of which are still forthwith scale up this project because of its multiple benefits— being felt in the Middle East today. The world’s decision-makers nutritious food, grown locally, environmentally friendly because are swiftly realising that there is a severe need for an alternative way it does not depend on fossil fuel for transportation, local income of growing and distributing food. generating, traditional wholesome food that is shorn of high sugar, Also, the runaway increases in non-communicable diseases salt, fat and a horde of harmful chemicals and preservatives. (NCDs), otherwise also known as lifestyle ailments like heart disGovernments would ignore such projects only at their own ease, obesity and diabetes to name a few, are slowly turning the tide peril—and that of the people they are charged with serving. 10 Islands Business, August 2013

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Whispers Dr Rodgers’ replacement? A new DirectorGeneral of the premier organisation Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) is expected to be announced in November at its annual conference to be held in Fiji. The incumbent DG is said to be finishing his term in mid-January next year and wants to take a well deserved rest after six years on the job. He reliably told Whispers that the recruitment process had already started and a lot of applications have been received. And within that, there are a lot of “good contenders”. So expect the the selection committee to have “a very interesting time selecting”. “I’m hoping the new DG will be able to start in January, so I can head off to take a well-earned rest,” the outgoing DG smiled.

of the islands are said to be taking a closer look on the operation of a Chinese mining company that since last year has been shipping tonnes of soil to mainland China. While these freighters set sail for the Orient fully-laden, they return to the islands with their cargo holds virtually empty. Or so it seems. Now, it appears that some containers have been landed un-announced and without proper documentation. A new industry has reportedly cropped up overnight in the area where the Chinese work. Ladies of the night now ply their trade given that these men stay away from their mainland-based wives for longer periods of time.

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Sleeping on the job: You don’t need to go far in the Pacific to find out that the State of Origin series is a state of religion for many diehard fans. But so inebriated with fanly support and pride was one leading politician from a certain part of Melanesia, that he showed up to an official launch the morning after a certain Blues-Broncos match broadcast and promptly started snoring through the build-up remarks from the MC and his introduction as keynote speaker! So exhausted was our ministerial VIP that he started to keel off his chair and into another VIP from the diplomatic corps, who promptly put his diplomatic finesse to the task at hand and helpfully patted the snoring VIP upright. Minutes later, when murmurs of dialling emergency services started to replace the awkward silence, the VIP startled himself to life, looked around and realised he had a speech to deliver. Thank goodness the speechwriters had something prepared...and the food provided after the event was enough to satisfy a very hungry hangover... apparently this is not exclusive to leaders and is not an isolated event for some public servants. We can’t fault AFL, but perhaps a copy of a conduct code needs to be circulated and posted to the desktops of those who choose to fall asleep at the taxpayers expense?

Talking about appointments...Peter Forau’s term as director-general at the MSG Secretariat is also coming up. Few names have been thrown around as possible replacement. One name Whispers was told would be a good candidate is Kaliopate Tavola, a former Fiji foreign minister. Tavola’s name was also put up for the Forum secretary-general’s job. Whispers was told the former minister would be a very good candidate, but the question is—would he be interested? Well at the Forum Secretariat, deputy secretary-general Feleti Teo’s second three-year term, which expired in May 22, 2013, has been extended. Word is he will remain with the Forum Secretariat until the end of the year. One of his immediate tasks is the Leaders Summit in the Marshalls in early September, where leaders amongst other things will discuss Sir Mekere Morauta’s Pacific Plan review. What happens after the end of 2013 will be interesting to see. But don’t rule out the possibility of him being re-hired by the Forum Secretariat.  Raising eyebrows: One so-called higher institute of learning in one Pacific Island is raising eyebrows with its endless carrying ons. Like the head of one of its research arms who has not released any research findings or publish a paper, let alone a book under his name to-date. He usually comes to school two hours after the rest of the staff and knocks off two hours before knock-off time. Any moves to send him home for good has been met with threats of getting the powers that be to pull the rug on future funding. As if that is not enough, what about the case of another generous donor who turns his own office in campus as his studio apartment? Apart from his work desk, this institute of higher learning has allowed him to add two beds in the room—one for him and the other for his secretary, who also earns the privilege to use his luxurious car when it’s time for him to travel abroad.  Booming Chinese trade? Authorities in one 12 Islands Business, August 2013

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 From sinking into slumber…Who can blame Samoa’s Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi for falling asleep whilst waiting for one particularly late event on the RAMSI 10th anniversary schedule? Like many other Pacific Islands Forum Leaders, Tuilaepa had chosen to make the most of the free travel on offer from RNZAF to travel with New Zealand’s John Key to the Honiara celebrations. Problem was, the early flight time meant the delegations were up at 3am and were in for a long day and afternoon of action-packed shuttling between events, before flying out in the early evening back to Auckland. The shuteye from Tuilaepa was induced by one particularly long wait for a photo shoot amongst the Pacific leaders because Solomons’ Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo had extended a 10-minute chat on bilaterals with New Zealand into more than an hour. At least Tuilaepa had the

courtesy to give a speech to his other Pacific Forum colleagues that he was off for a snooze and should be recalled when the host leader arrived...as they say in the Pacific, Pacific time respects no man... or schedule, no matter how many events you try to cram into one day.  PNA vs Kiribati: Sources at the recent Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) meetings have told Whispers that fisheries officials from Kiribati have been particularly rude to the PNA Secretariat and its chief executive Dr Transform Aqorau. Dr Aqorau has been telling them in these meetings and in the media that the value of their proposed fishing partnership with the European Union worth US$1.7 million for 15,000 tonnes of tuna is much lower than what they would have got under the PNA Vessel Day Scheme (VDS), which limits the number of fishing days in each nation. That proposed deal with the EU is estimated to be worth US$3600 per vessel day compared to the US$6000 the PNA has been able to approve for other foreign fishing vessels. Based on the assumption that purse seiners catch an average of 32 tonnes each day, it would take about 469 available fishing days to catch 15,000 tonnes. Kiribati was allocated 5480 VDS days for 2012. Greenpeace campaigner Seni Nabou aptly puts it in her blog recently: “Either the pressure on Kiribati’s officials by the industry or EU officials was too much to bear or other perks sweetened the deal, tempting Kiribati’s officials into underselling the value of their nation’s tuna resources.” So much for PNA unity!  Time will tell: Lots of words spoken during the recent RAMSI 10th anniversary, and many more unspoken, not least of them remarking on the true progress—or irony—of having former militant Manasseh Maelaga—now Solomon Islands Deputy Prime Minister—receive the RAMSI ‘Helpem Fren’ exhibition, gifted to the Solomon Islands to mark a decade since the July 24, 2003 intervention forces landed. Maelaga, as Lilo’s deputy prime minister, is the most visible and high profile sign of the willingness of individuals to move on from the troubled past. As one guest puts it, “it’s either ironic, or a sign that peace has truly come”. As another watcher puts it, what he could not change back then with a gun, he should be able to change now with a government. Time will tell.  PIFS in OCO saga: The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) in its capacity as the Regional Authorising Officer of the European Development Fund granted to the Oceania Customs Organisation (OCO) has acknowledged that some issues regarding OCO’s finances have been brought to its attention. What those issues are, PIFS has

Whispers has declined to reveal. Whispers understand the concerns were raised by members of the organisation at their meeting in Tonga this year where the annual report revealed that the OCO Secretariat incurred $1.5 million in personnel costs which represents 65 percent of the total expenditure of $2.3 million. PIFs deputy secretary-general Andie Fong Toy said PIFS was also aware of an anonymous letter circulated to members at the meeting and has sought clarifications from OCO. “We are also aware of an investigation being undertaken regarding the allegations made in the anonymous letter,” she said. “It would be inappropriate for us to discuss the contents of the anonymous letter. If approached by the investigation team, the secretariat will fully cooperate.”  Looking for opportunities: What were nine out of 10 of the world’s top aircraft leasing companies doing at the Association of South Pacific Airlines (ASPA) meeting in Nadi last month? Whilst many have been lamenting about the way airlines were cutting down and how the global cash crisis has slowed development down in the aviation industry, it has not stopped businessmen from exploring new horizons particularly aircraft companies from around the world coming to the South Pacific. Soon after their presentation at the ASPA meeting, Fiji Airways (formerly Air Pacific) was already in deep discussion with one of these companies.  Celebrations at whose expense? It was a show to remember. Solomons put up an elaborate programme to mark its 35 years of independence. It flew in Fiji soldiers and members of the police band to help them celebrate the anniversary. It even invited Fiji’s PM Voreqe Bainimarama to be their chief guest. Of course, the Solomon Islands Government paid for all the expenses including the chartering of an aircraft to and from Nadi, internal transport, accommodation, food, etc. In the meantime, Solomon Islands governmentsponsored students were crying because they had yet to receive their student allowances.  Still on the celebrations: Fiji’s strongman, Voreqe Bainimarama, has something about him that imbued many. His Solomon Islands’ counterpart is one of the Commodore’s many fans. When he was the only head of government to turn up at the Solomon Islands’ 35th independence anniversary last month, the Honiara government ensured he was well looked after. And he was. The foreign ministry in Honiara even bought a flashy looking brand new vehicle for the Commodore’s use during his two-day stay in town. As part of the security arrangements for Bainimarama, even the purchase of the new vehicle was reportedly

Advertising & Marketing Manager Sharron Stretton Advertising Executive Abigail Covert-Sokia

handled personally by the head of the department. Whispers was reliably told that she eventually explained the vehicle purchase after it was raised in a staff meeting As Bainimarama was boarding his flight back to Fiji, instructions came from Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo’s Office that the vehicle used by Commodore Bainimarama is to be returned to the Prime Minister’s Office. PM Lilo wants the vehicle for his use.

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Hotel nightmare…Well, surprise, surprise… journos who travelled with Bainimarama to the Solomons’ independence celebrations found themselves in an embarrassing situation. Trying to check-in into their hotel, they were told they were not able to do so, because the government owed the hotel money. Lucky, a good Samaritan turned up and took them in.

Liti Tokona ltokona@ibi.com.fj subs@ibi.com.fj

 Fattest in the world? It is official. American Samoa is officially ranked the fattest in the world—with almost 94 percent of the population overweight. Majority of the food in American Samoa is imported because the fast food chains are popular because of their fixed, low-cost menus. But islanders are paying a high price with their health.  NDCs NOT natural disasters? Asked about his views on the latest buzz in the region over natural disasters, a senior official from a regional organisation quickly shot back: “NCDs are the most deadly natural disasters around. They’re killing more Pacific islanders than cyclones and earthquakes!” After a jolt of realisation at the truth in those words, Whispers does wonder why NCDs as a health issue are not considered natural disasters. NCDs or Non Communicable Diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart disease among others are fast becoming a force to be reckoned with in the region. A recently released World Bank report on NCDs in the Pacific, based on the study in Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu, reported that they are the leading cause of death in the Pacific Islands Countries in which data are available. In some countries, they account for over 70 percent of all deaths.  Missing in action: Whispers hears an island MP has been missing in action from his country for quite a while now. Apparently the MP is in Fiji with his O2, who is understood to be studying at one of the local tertiary institutions. • Whispers is compiled and edited by Laisa Taga. If you have any Whispers, please contact us on editor@ibi.com.fj

Sandiya Dass sdass@ibi.com.fj Regional magazine sales agents Pacific Cosmos – 89 Brisbane Street, Oxley Park, NSW, Australia Pacific Supplies – Cook Islands Yap Cooperative Association – Federated States of Micronesia Hachette Pacifique – French Polynesia Kiribati Newstar – Kiribati One Stop Stores – Kiribati Robert Reimers Enterprises – Marshall Islands Pacific & Occidental – Nauru South Seas Traders – Niue Nouvelle Messageries Caledoniennes de Presse – New Caledonia Wewak Christian Bookshop – Wewak, PNG Boroko Foodworld – Boroko, PNG UPNG Bookshop – Waigani, PNG Lucky Foodtown – Samoa Wesley Bookshop – Samoa Panatina Chemist Ltd – (Honiara) Solomon Islands Officeworks Ltd (Panatina Plaza - Honiara) Solomon Islands Friendly Islands Bookshop – Tonga Tuvalu Air Travel, Shipping – Tuvalu Trade and Consultancies – Tuvalu Stop Press – Vanuatu A year’s subscription to 12 issues of Islands Business within Fiji costs $50 and includes a complimentary copy of Fiji Islands Business.

Islands Business, August 2013 13

Pacific Update

So much history, so little time...while the Solomon Islands spread events out over three days of celebration, virtually all the Pacific leaders flew in and out in the space of eight hours via RNZAF. Photos: Lisa Williams-Lahari

RAMSI realities: 10 years later Restoring lasting peace has only just started By Lisa Williams-Lahari

ho said nation rebuilding would be easy? Definitely not the Solomon Islands, where the July 24 date marked the 10year anniversary of the Regional Assistance Mission to the country, known as RAMSI for short, and branded under ‘Helpem Fren’. The milestone moment allowed the government and RAMSI’s special coordination unit to bring in Pacific Islands Forum leaders to celebrate the achievements of the decade since 2000 peacekeeping troops first landed and made their home at Honiara Airport in July 2003. But beneath the hype and pan-pipes, three days of public events and closed door briefings across Guadalcanal province also highlighted a blaring reality: ten years out from troop touchdown, the work of restoring lasting peace has only just started. “It was just surreal,” recalls journalist Dorothy Wickham of the thousands who witnessed the first ‘intervention’ of Pacific troops on July 24, 2003. “We were there, early in the morning, waiting for the first plane to arrive. I just remember it being a beautiful, quiet, dawn. The sunrise colours all over the sky. Me standing there watching for the first troops to come. And so many people, men women and children, all crowding and waiting there. “It amazed me to be standing there, waiting to report on the first ever military intervention in my country. I never thought I would see the day…and you should have heard the cheers from the crowds at the fence, it was an amazing feeling. The people who were there will never forget that morning. “One thing I knew for sure from the moment they landed. I knew Honiara would be different

14 Islands Business, August 2013

from that very night. And it was. The feeling on the street was there—people felt good about the fact someone new was in town, even the militants. I don’t know about their leaders but on the street, some of them were relieved, as if they knew they had lost the plot.” Ten years on from the peace agreements, collection and destruction of firearms, people’s surveys, peace rallies and reconciliation ceremonies, reviews and laws, arrests and court cases, reports and many news stories, what stands out? Wickham shakes her head, lost for words, and chuckles. “There’s a big difference—apart from the potholes. They are still the same.” While the potholes provide a taunting reminder for the RAMSI brigade that some challenges just keep emerging no matter what you throw at them, what’s clear is that the Regional Assistance Mission achieved the short-term goal of bringing a country back from the brink, and is now itself already in the midst of massive change. Of RAMSI’s three arms—the police, military and civilians—the military presence will be the most absent after a decade of helping restore law and order, with final troop rotations leaving this month. That doesn’t mean a shutdown of the GBR compound which housed them. Around 150 police officers from across the Pacific will continue to be based at the Henderson HQ to support policing work and backstop the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force. Streamlined RAMSI Special Coordinator Nicholas Coppel and his special assistant, Fiji’s Masi Lomaloma, will continue to lead the smaller, streamlined RAMSI pres-

ence from their current headquarters on the Lelei seafront. The downsizing at Lelei and GBR reflects the key switch in focus for RAMSI, from military to civilian and policing support—with the Pacific policing support being the continuing feel-good factor in the Solomon Islands’ partnership with its Pacific family. While the Forum’s role in the RAMSI partnership is largely that of the Pacific Police Forces and the regular review processes, it is the shift in organising civilian advisers that has taken up much of the development budget talks of late. Key shifts in the RAMSI budget lines are coming via bilateral agreements led by Australia and New Zealand, aimed at absorbing the ranks of around 60 advisers and technical experts into new partnership programmes via AusAID and NZAID. The RAMSI public affairs machine has had three years to build up public awareness—and acceptance—that RAMSI in its military form was ‘leaving’ the Solomon Islands. Annual ‘People’s Survey’ polls on public perceptions and opinions have helped send a message to successive Solomon Island’s governments—and people themselves—that having a conversation with citizens is a great way to keep tabs on the things that matter. The ‘People’s Survey’ polls also revealed the levels of credibility and ownership which have made RAMSI a word for security to Solomon Islanders, and served as a Pacific role model for global peacekeeping. Special Coordinator Nicholas Coppel notes the core lesson RAMSI highlights to the global community in conflict resolution and peacekeeping is that “each situation is different and what you need to do is tailor it to circumstances.” At a 2012 international best practices gathering in peacekeeping, the Pacific’s RAMSI story was lauded for the relatively peaceful return to law and order. “Yes, there’s been interest from the UN,” says Coppel. “People are admiring RAMSI and looking at the situation…they understood it was a breakdown not just in law and order but in functional government and services. The key lesson is you need to know the environment, the causes and what needs to be fixed and design assistance accordingly. All the elements have to be brought together. The key word in the Solomons’ context is coor-

dination.” His role in coordinating the switch in RAMSI’s character to a singular policing focus will largely be in peer support and training assistance to the RSIPF, which has been an iconic feature of the country’s rebuilding programme. The re-emergence of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force and the strengthening of their policing work in the community has been key to restoring public confidence in the force, perceptions of law and order and RAMSI’s exit strategy. In the last decade, the growing profile of women in the RSIPF ranks and the introduction of legislation ensuring some independence for the police from political interference, along with an open door policy for the media have signalled a new beginning and helped regain credibility for the RSIPF.

“The country was basically on its knees—what people would call a failed state,” recalls Honimae. “For many, RAMSI was like a breath of fresh air coming through. Ten years later, we’ve moved ahead, past the militants and guns. Law and order is back. Security is there. Development is happening. “We have to think about where we want to be in the next ten years, knowing RAMSI is not here forever, that they are scaling down more in 2017. As a Solomon Islander, I think we need to ask ourselves as individuals, what needs to be done now, and what can I do make it happen?” Island Sun founding Editor Richard Toke agrees. He says the core issue is leadership and political will to address underlying and complex issues around reconciliation and land tenure that will not go away. From his vantage point in communications work for the Church of Melanesia more than 10 years ago, he watched the leading role of faith-based groups and networks in brokering peace, and is constantly struck, over the last ten years of reporting his country, by the need for leaders “to stop beating around the bush, face reality, and get down to difficult choices.” The comments echo a word of caution from RAMSI’s Special Coordinator. “I don’t want to paint a picture that’s too rosy,” says Coppel after listing all RAMSI’s achievements. “The challenges facing this country are very real. That’s all the more reason for every dollar to be spent well. It’s going to take a long time.”

Respect for media For Wickham and her journalism colleagues who’ve tracked the tension period and the road to recovery via RAMSI, the past decade has also resulted in a major shift in public and state perceptions of the media. “One thing RAMSI bought was respect for the media from the police. We never got that recognition before. “When RAMSI came in, they always made sure the media was there at the forefront witnessing and reporting what was happening and I think the police came to understand that we were a missing link in keeping the peace,” she says. “As with all other sectors, the media also had to handle criticism in the last decade Trust critical ingredient to peace of how it has handled itself. The most critical inOne thing we’ve learnt is not gredient for lasting peace? to take freedom for granted Trust, says the Solomons’ but also not to be intimidated National Council of by a uniform. Now, we watch Women President Jenny the police very closely because Tuhaika. we understand their role and Like many Solomon Ishow they are supposed to do Nick Warner, meet Nick Warner...Inaugural lands entrepreneurs who the work of keeping law and RAMSI Special Coordinator, Nick Warner, who lost businesses during the order in society.” served from 2003-2004, had an emotional meeting Wickham and other me- this week with his namesake, Nick Warner from tensions and whose family dia leaders also share another the Weathercoast of Guadalcanal province. The was displaced during the trend under RAMSI—the im- 10-year old got to meet the older Warner in an tension years, she says the pact of deregulation on tele- informal gift exchange organised by his family and lessons of the past have shown the fragile nature of communications and services the first RAMSI SC. different ethnicities living to consumers, and the growth under one nationality. of independent media and indigenous media man“People say we are a sovereign country, but I agers in the last decade. don’t think we uphold that word. We still have facFrom her work as a stringer for overseas news tions within, and for me that damages the whole outlets, Wickham now leads the country’s first TV meaning of being a sovereign country, under one news company, and is eyeing a return to free to air flag…this generation is already polluted with all the from pay TV. Many of her news company’s foundbad memories,” says Tuhaika. ing directors are leading freelancers. She says the work of restoring lasting peace reTwo more newspapers have joined the country’s quires active ownership in the spaces that are at iconic Solomon Star. Along with a thriving social methe heart of engagement for Solomon Islands famidia presence, Solomon Islanders are more informed lies—their churches, and their homes. She sees the and more keen to share what they think on the isresults of her one flag, one family approach in her sues of the day than they have ever been. four-year old grand-daughter. RAMSI’s Public Affairs manager Johnson Honi“She doesn’t know the difference between a mae was himself a journalist with the national brother in her home and a brother in her church. broadcaster through the tension years, taking up She sees them all as Solomon Islanders, not as eththe General Manager role during the recovery benic group. And until this happens for all, we have fore stepping out for a six-year media stint with the no lasting peace.” Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.

Sort out land and we’ll have peace: Liloqula

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Land is the most important issue in addressing the ethnic tension. We’ve done everything else, addressed law and order, done a lot of other things, but we have not touched on the root cause. No one wants to touch the land.” So says the former Lands Commissioner for the Solomon Islands, Ruth Liloqula. Recognised and awarded for her outspoken commitment to transparent and effective governance, Liloqula was part of the documentary screening of a commemoration programme produced by RAMSI, in which she featured. “We need to touch base and deal with it (land tenure, access and use),” she says, claiming the Government is losing billions in revenues it should be getting from state-owned land. “It’s a chronic issue. We must address land or we will impact into ethnic tension again. There will be no lasting peace unless we sort out land availability, land access, land rights and everything else to do with land to enable this country to go forward.” Many at the various events commemorating the decade of RAMSI—including a rather lively futures forum that danced around questions on minerals and mining—were also quick to identify land as the biggest worm in the unopened can of unresolved issues for the Solomon Islands. Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo has long acknowledged the scale and size of the challenge, and has appointed Liloqula to a special Land Reform Taskforce. Liloqula, however, says what’s needed is a Commission of Enquiry to broaden the terms of reference of the taskforce and allow for more public participation. With 85% of land being under custom title, the issues around communal ownership and questions over development has no legal reference other than a Land and Titles Act which covers state-owned land. “At the moment, people are using that legislation and applying it to custom land and that’s where the danger lies. We need to have a different legislation governing customary land ownership, titles, accessibility, and availability for development—it needs to be sorted out.” Not just a source of tension for home owners, investors, and those without land, the issue is a constant source of frustration for development projects. Issues over access and landowner permissions have cost millions in delays and bottlenecks, and roading and water development in parts of Honiara. Add to that, the mushrooming rise in squatter settlements or informal settlers paying annual ‘rent’ fees to landlords under a poorly understood system, perceptions and evidence of corruption and illegal acquisitions, and a real estate rental bubble created by Honiara’s expatriate workforce, and the conditions for simmering tension are already in place. “The other thing you see in lands is that it’s where corrupt activity comes together,” says Liloqula, whose probing style as Lands Commissioner led to her abrupt transfer. For Liloqula, the buck begins—and stops—at the very top.

Islands Business, August 2013 15

Cover Report

Backlash? A proposed motion is to go before the European Parliament that seeks to confirm the Europeans’ refusal to grant any more market access concessions for Pacific tuna unless their boats are allowed to fish in the Pacific’s fishing waters. Photo: www.euobserver.com

NO ACCESS, NO DEAL Europeans issue ultimatums as race to conclude EPA heats up

By Samisoni Pareti

he European Commission has hit back hard at Pacific ACP states for refusing to negotiate fisheries’ conservation measures at their recent negotiations for a comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) that ended in Brussels on July 5. While the Delegation of the European Union for the Pacific based in Suva is silent about Brussels’ latest response, Islands Business has obtained a copy of a proposed motion—to go before the European Parliament—that seeks to confirm the Europeans’ refusal to grant any more market access concessions of Pacific tuna unless their boats are allowed to fish in the Pacific’s fishing waters. The 13-page motion document is titled ‘Draft Report for a Comprehensive EU Fishery Strategy in the Pacific Region’ and dated 19 June 2013. Demands It was presented for discussions by the Committee on Fisheries of the EU Parliament. Among other things, the document: • Calls on the Commission not to grant any further derogation on rules of origin in the EPA negotiations with the Pacific ACP countries, without the granting of reciprocal benefits to the 16 Islands Business, August 2013

EU fishing industry, such as access to fisheries resources in those countries’ EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zones). • Calls on the Commission to provide for the establishing of a longer-term strategy on access for the EU fleet to the EEZs of the countries of the region, perhaps based on a regional framework agreement between the EU and the countries of the Western and Central Pacific, negotiated with the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) and centering on the following aspects: 2 The agreement should outline the arrangements for access for the EU fleet, which would then be given concrete form in bilateral fisheries cooperation agreements with the countries concerned. 2 The agreement should establish a system of transparent governance which would in particular ensure the combatting of IUU fishing and specify the tools that should be used. 2 The agreement should be based on the VDS, as an alternative to the current system, provided that measures are adopted to ensure the transparency of the VDS, its implementation by all the parties concerned and its compliance with the best available scientific advice. 2 The negotiation of the agreement should explore ways of channelling EDF development assistance for the region through the FFA, since the Pacific ACP countries do not have the human and technical resources to adequately utilise

that funding. The briefing paper urged the EU Parliament to stress that EC negotiators should push for regional access into Pacific ACP fishing waters, that it should be a multilateral fisheries agreement and not done bilaterally as is the position of the PACP states. The proposed EC motion paper was also scathing in its attack against the Vessel Day Scheme (VDS) initiative that some members of the PACP (through their membership of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement) have adopted as a way to manage their fisheries. “The system suffers from a lack of transparency and poor results in terms of meeting objectives, with reductions always being significantly overshot. According to WCPFC (Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission) statistics, 35,738 fishing days were to have been allocated in 2008, but this became 38,120 days, while in 2010, the target was 40,732 fishing days and 49,614 (22% more) were allocated. For 2011, 54,685 fishing days were allocated rather than the target of 35,136 days, meaning that this target was overshot by 56%.” Derogation counter-productive According to the proposed resolution obviously drawn up by EC officials, asking for derogation is counter-productive to PACP states as it could encourage other tuna producing countries like Thailand to demand for similar concessions. When this happens, it will only lead to the demise of the PACP tuna industry, the EC draft motion claims. “It seems paradoxical for such disproportionate importance to be awarded to fisheries, since in the short term, only Papua New Guinea could benefit from derogations from the rules of origin

Cover Report on account of the difficulty of exporting to the EU owing to distance, absence of any economies of scale and high production costs arising, inter alia, from high electricity costs. “All these limit its competitiveness in comparison to other major players in the tinned products sector such as Thailand. If the EU were to enter into a free trade agreement with that country that included tinned tuna in a zero-rate tariff scheme, this would put paid to the possibility of any expansion in the tinned products sectors of the Pacific islands states. “One of the possible explanations for this paradoxical interest in including fisheries in the EPA is that this could provide a means of bypassing Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 establishing a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, especially since the Commission has issued notification to certain countries such as Vanuatu and Fiji, possibly for being identified as non-cooperating countries under that regulation. Fisheries roadblock “Were these countries indeed to be identified as non-cooperating countries, they would be prohibited from exporting to the EU. “Other countries in the area are also under investigation, which gives some idea of the

He had complained about the EU’s seemingly lack of interest to conclude the EPA negotiations and issued an ultimatum that if no agreement was sealed by the end of 2013, the PACP states were going to walk away from any further talks. No response came from Brussels until its director responsible for EPA Peter Thompson gave an interview on Radio Australia expressing surprise at the tone of Dr Latu’s letter. He rubbished the insistence by the PACP for an end of 2013 deadline and alluded to the need for the islands states to convince the EC of the sustainability of their tuna stock. The interview was aired on June 18, the draft motion to the EU Parliament is dated June 19 and EPA negotiations with PACP states resumed four days later, on June 24. Islands Business was informed by its sources at the latest Brussels’ negotiations that while progress was made in a number of areas like market access offers, rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures and technical barriers to trade, agriculture and trade and development cooperation, the chapter on fishery became the roadblock. “The EU tried to introduce its views on conservation and management of fisheries resources at the WCPFC,” a member of the PACP negotiating team told the magazine in confidence.

Our tuna...subject of a battle in the European Parliament. Photo: GIff Johnson

problems created by the lack of transparency and sustainable fisheries management in the region. “In order to avert the risks inherent in the extension of the derogation on rules of origin, guarantees need to be obtained that IUU fisheries products would not be able to benefit from that derogation, that measures to combat IUU fishing would be stepped up and that the VDS arrangements would be improved, so that sustainable fishing took precedence over financial profits. “Access to the resources of the EEZs of those countries must also be secured as a counter party to the granting of a derogation—a form of compensating the EU fishing industry.” It says Fiji and Vanuatu were notified of these breaches on November 15, 2012. The sequence of events surrounding the drafting of this EU Parliament motion is interesting in itself. PACP’s lead spokesperson on EPA negotiations, Tonga’s minister for commerce, Dr Viliami Uasike Latu had sent a strongly-worded letter to Brussels on June 4.

“However, most of these measures were rejected by the PACP states as they were not in line with their national laws and sub-regional measures. Some of the EU’s proposals will undermine the sovereignty and sovereign rights of PACP states. “Having failed to impose its views at the WCPFC, the EU tried to re-introduce its views on conservation and management of Pacific fisheries resources through the EPA. “However, trade and fisheries officials who participated in the last round of EPA negotiations rejected the EC’s proposal to re-write their conservation and management measures in a trade agreement.” Our sources were surprised to note that the EC was making specific recommendations in a trade agreement to amend a fisheries treaty, which is called the Palau Arrangement that deals with the Vessel Days Scheme (VDS). Trade agreement not fisheries treaty The VDS is a tool which is used by the eight

PNA members to manage their fisheries resources which has been effective in conserving their tuna stocks. Skipjack tuna stock is in very good health for example, and has also received the globally-recognised Marine Stewardship Certification. Yet the EC thinks the VDS is not an effective fisheries conservation and management tool. “During the last round of EPA negotiations, trade officials made it clear the EPA is a trade agreement and not a fisheries treaty, therefore, any changes to the VDS should be discussed at the relevant forum, which is with PNA members and not in the EPA,” says a source. “It is important to note that the EU is the only major developed country that does not recognise the VDS. Recently, the US has also come under the VDS and other major distant water fishing nations including Japan have all accepted the VDS. “The EC has been criticised by the EU Members of Parliament for not recognising VDS in the bilateral Fisheries Partnership Agreement that it signed with Kiribati in 2012. “The EC is now arguing that it will not give global sourcing to PACP states unless they accept specific commitments in the EPA to change the VDS. “It’s clear that the EC is no longer negotiating the EPA in good faith. The EPA is supposed to be about development but judging by recent developments, it looks like the EPA is now being used to push the EU’s commercial interests. “The EU should put its development foot forward and go back to the original goal of the EPA, which is development. If the EC continues to push its commercial interests, very few PACP states will have the appetite to sign the EPA. “Trade officials stood their ground and informed the EC that the EPA cannot be used to compromise the region’s effective fisheries conservation and management measures. As a way forward, PACP states invited the EC to discuss issues pertaining to the VDS with the PNA members.” Islands Business sources also confirm that the Europeans refused to set a date for the next round of negotiations, although PACP negotiators did propose some dates. “The PACP states informed the EC that the EPA negotiations should be concluded before the end of the year as directed by the PACP Leaders. “The PACP nations also stated that EPA negotiations are putting a lot of strain on human and financial resources and cannot go on indefinitely. However, the EC still wants the negotiations to keep going and was not even keen to set a date for the next meeting. “At the end of a two-week long negotiation session, the EC requested for time-out to reflect on the EPA, especially the position that has been taken by PACPs that complex conservation and management measures should not be discussed in the EPA but at the relevant fora, that is the WCPFC or with the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA). “PACPs proposed that the next round of negotiations at senior officials and ministerial level should be held in September to finalise EPA. “However, the EC requested for more time to reflect on the EPA, including the PACP position on conservation and management measures. “PACPs also indicated that if negotiations cannot be finalised this year, it is better to suspend them rather than continue without an end in sight.” Islands Business, August 2013 17

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Marshalling the Pacific Response to the Climate Changeâ&#x20AC;? the Pacific Way. This year we are very fortunate to have the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. It is an honor to have the very important people in the Pacific region visiting our small country. The Marshall

Islands Visitors Authority (MIVA) would like to welcome each and every one of you who will be landing on our shore. Marshall Islands is a very unique place to visit, consist of 29 coral atolls and 5 single islands spread out over an exclusive economic zone of nearly 1 million square miles. Majuro Atoll is the capital of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, where offers visitors a glimpse of nature and beauty of sports activity during the day time, and a very relaxing and safe evening anywhere in town. As a General Manager for Marshall Islands Visitors Authority, a sincere welcome you to our small country and encourage you to enjoy Majuro on your week stay, and visits our small stores of fine weaving of handicrafts made

only by the Marshallese, or visit our small islands for a day of water cruise and swimming, diving or just experience a great day outdoor. I certainly hope that your few days with us, will certainly leave some good “Marshalling” experiences as we Pacific Islands charter the course under the important meetings of the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders with the theme “ Marshalling the Pacific Response to the Climate Challenge” the Pacific Way. Wish you all a pleasant stay.

Iakwe and welcome, please visit our www.visitmarshallislands.com. for more information or stop by the Marshall Islands Visitors Authority (MIVA) while you are in town.

RMI Chamber d President for an A IV M r fo GM dison with her Brenda Alik Mad of Commerce, n. n Lami Maddiso daughter Kirste

“ As also Presi dent of Chamber of C ommerce, we would like to invite and welc ome the “Priva te Sector Dialo participants” to gue the island.. it is a smile of h that with us to ope gether business sector will gro our governmen w and t leaders will co ntinue to partn with us for a fu er ture of usiness w o rl d in th e most Pacifica W ay....

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Seat of government...the Capitol Building in the Marshall Islands ready for this year’s 34th Constitution Day on May 1. Tough choices face the country—looming bankruptcy for the

BIG DECISIO FOR SMALL IS

The Marshall Islands faces a series of which looms larger with each passing By Giff Johnson

Unpopulated white sand beaches lapped by lazy swells from a turquoise lagoon are a trademark of the Marshall Islands’ 1200 plus coral islands. Is this Maldives East, a tourist Mecca? Could be. But the only problem is the government airline’s multiIslands Business, August 2013

million dollar losses—which ballooned this year—have produced such a record of unreliability that tourism to these remote islands is virtually non-existent. In June, the United States’ State Department released its global Human Trafficking report, downgrading the Marshall Islands from a “Tier 2” ranking to “Tier 2 Watch List”—a consequence of no government action in an island group the State Department says

retirement system, lack of money in the national trust fund, tax reform and others are crowding the government’s agenda. Photo: Marshall Islands Journal

LANDS big decisions, year “is a destination country for women from East Asia subjected to sex trafficking.” But the State Department’s evaluation of a government-wide lack of action in the human trafficking realm could be revised to include any number of government ministries and priority areas: Hospital services, Millennium Development Goals, cultural preservation and government financial accountability.

Last year’s annual government audit debacle, which nearly resulted in the U.S. sanctioning the Marshalls for the late delivery of the audit, offered a view of the government pro-action: the Ministry of Finance did not reconcile its bank accounts for 20 months. After being a leader among U.S.-affiliated islands in the region in government accountability and audit completion in the mid-2000s, the country is trying to dig out of an accountability black hole that includes significant theft of U.S. and other foreign grants, as confirmed by the audits and several successful criminal prosecutions over the last year. Now halfway through the Compact of Free Association’s 20-year funding package, the Marshall Islands has benefited from the U.S. government routinely ignoring spending questioned by auditors. But earlier this year, the U.S. took unprecedented action to hold up the release of US$1 million in unspent Compact funding from previous years—normally simply rolled over for use in a future fiscal year—until the government justifies over US$5 million it spent in recent years that was questioned by auditors. From here to where? Founding father Amata Kabua led the Marshall Islands as president for 17 years with a vision and direction. In the intervening 17 years since he died in office, there have been five presidents, including four in the past six years. The longest term since Kessai Note’s eight years in office in the 2000s has been slightly over two years. This lack of consistency is partly to blame for the malaise afflicting many government services in the country. But the Marshalls has a lot of history to overcome. The country receives about 60 percent of its national budget from the United States, a figure that has not changed appreciably in years, despite stated goals of increased self-reliance. The dependence on the aid pipeline from Washington has lulled many into believing that funding from Washington and elsewhere, Islands Business, August 2013 21

Forum Feature will continue to pour in regardless of performance. But Marshall Islands leaders, as they’ve positioned to host this year’s Pacific Islands Forum, have found that some long-term aid donors—while all are helping—are unable to pitch in as in the past because their own economies are facing financial challenges. The Marshalls has not had the benefit of a national development plan in years. This, for obvious reasons, makes it hard to evaluate things like the millions of dollars tossed at state-owned enterprises (SOEs) annually. A recent evaluation of state-owned enterprises said the level of subsidy to SOEs has doubled over the past 10 years and has turned into a huge drain on locally generated revenues. Some ministries have strategic plans, but there is little in the way of cohesive national action aimed at tourism or any other economic development, although there has been concerted partnership between the Ministry of Resources and Development, the government’s utility company, and donors in the energy field, particularly the installation of home solar units in rural islands. Raising the academic bar Still, two key appointments by President Christopher Loeak could have long-lasting impacts: Dr. Hilda Heine is now nearing her second year as Minister of Education; and Marie Maddison is nearly a year into her term as chairperson of the government’s Public Service Commission. Public education has been a quagmire of long-standing dismal results with resulting high dropout rates from all levels of school and few Marshallese studying medicine, dentistry or engineering at university. Heine has raised the bar on academic expectations at all schools, including plans to enforce teacher qualification requirements next year. Significantly, there are now two public schools—one primary and the other secondary—have achieved U.S. accreditation, and Heine is promoting two a year for consideration, another way of raising the academic bar. Still, an important—and generally unasked—question is what is the public school system and its national College of the Marshall Islands educating Marshall Islanders for? For the most part, traditional knowledge has been marginalized in the public schools for a focus on reading, writing and arithmetic. There are virtually no new jobs in the country to absorb the over 200 secondary schools’ graduates each year. Government reports show that national employment remained static during the 2000s. A key statistic is the heavy out-migration to the United States, where the 2010 U.S. census confirms about 30 percent of all Marshall Islanders now live. The figure is likely to be significantly higher as islanders vote with their feet in search of jobs, educational opportunities and health care. The Compact with the U.S. allows for visa-free entry and over a thousand people annually are leaving for the U.S. Maddison has been mandated with overhauling a lackluster civil service that has skyrocketed to over 2,400 people since the Asian Development Bank-inspired cuts in the mid-1990s reduced the government workforce to under 1,500. Maddison has focused on policy development and implementation in her first months in the post in order to set a framework for evaluating workers and to establish some order to pay scales, hiring and firing. A key challenge for the government is that many of its managers and key personnel are at or near retirement age, but often without an obvious replacement. Maddison’s job is a complex and largely thankless task in light of the fact that government jobs have historically been seen as a method for sharing foreign aid money with little requirement of performance. Islands Business, August 2013

Marshall Islands President...Christopher Loeak. Photos: Giff Johnson

Whether she can reform the unwieldy and corruption-tainted public service is an open question, but she has the resume for it, having been permanent secretary for many government ministries as well as having the perspective of extensive work in the nongovernment sector. The bright spots Some of the most interesting developments are the result of NGO action to re-engage people who have dropped out of school and had little hope of improving their lives. Life and practical skills development by the Waan Aelon in Majel (Canoes of the Marshall Islands) program, which focuses on outrigger canoe building to teach carpentry, math and work skills, has changed the lives of dozens of young men and women, most of whom dropped out of elementary school. The University of the South Pacific Campus has revived the nearly lost art of “jaki ed”, the fine weaving for which Marshall Islands women were known until the turn of the 20th century. Through an annual auction started six years ago and the roll out of intensive weaving trainings throughout the country over the past year, USP has brought back this once dying art and in the process showed the income generating potential of traditional skills. The NGO Juren Ae has run numerous skills trainings for young women in craft making and sewing that have developed marketable skills for people who had mostly dropped out of school and had few prospects. And Youth to Youth in Health and Women United Together Marshall Islands (WUTMI) lead training and advocacy work for marginalized young people and women respectively, with WUTMI doing exceptional work in combating violence against women. The Marshalls Energy Company (MEC), the government’s utility company, has come back from the brink of bankruptcy four years ago. In 2010, it produced a recovery plan and has managed to implement many of its objectives with welcome results. The U.S. Rural Utilities Service, to which MEC is paying back a long-term loan, gave it a two-year loan deferment and a grant to overhaul one of its two main engines—a financial package worth

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Forum Feature US$4 million. With government backing, it obtained a loan from The plan to introduce Valued Added Tax (VAT) and net business ADB for a debt swap from a commercial, high-interest loan to tax is controversial but has strong support of donors as well as some ADB’s one percent interest rate. locally who see the need for reforming the tax structure. And it recently signed a fuel supply deal with Taiwan-based WinBut some critics raise the point that a two-pronged reform effort son Oil, which provides fuel on consignment—ending the requirein the late 2000s focused on both a tax revamp and a comprehensive ment of up-front payments that were undermining the company adjustment program (CAP) on the spending side—while the tax financially in this era of high global fuel prices. legislation has now been drafted and submitted to parliament for Finally, Winson Oil is providing a US$5 million loan for MEC action, no similar action has been taken to curb spending as recomto refurbish an aging but valuable 6 million-gallon fuel farm in the mended by a CAP Commission established by presidential order. hope of turning it into a sub-regional supply President Loeak says his government base. is not hurrying to implement the new Fisheries revenue continues upward, thanks tax plan, which he says probably won’t to the Marshalls’ membership in the Parties be implemented until 2015. to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) and its joint “I won’t rush on it unless I’m assured venture deal on one purse seiner with Taiwanthe reform is workable,” he says, adding based Koo’s Fishing Company. that he supports a tax plan to eliminate The fishing joint venture is anticipated to current problems such as “smuggling produce close to US$2 million this year, while and other practices hindering our tax PNA-generated income has about tripled in collection effort”. three years. Unfortunately, not much of this By all accounts, the national trust new revenue stream has been re-invested in the fund will not be funded adequately to Dr. Hilda Heine..Minister of replace U.S. grant funding that is slated domestic fisheries sector because the national Marie Maddison... Public Service Education. government has needed the money to fund Air Chairperson, to end in 2024. This is partly because Commission. Marshall Islands’ plane repairs, electricity bills the fund was not invested until two and other government recurring costs. The years after the Compact went into efMarshalls has also gained international attention for establishing fect, and also reflects a couple of bad years on the stock market and a shark sanctuary in its 200-mile exclusive economic zone—and an overall rate of return of about 4.5 percent since 2006. enforcing the ban on finning, which has netted it several hundred In fact, the International Monetary Fund projected the trust fund thousand dollars in fines. would be able to provide only half of the funding U.S. grants under The country’s ship registry is the third largest globally in tonnage the Compact will provide in 2023—a situation that would cause behind only Panama and Liberia. Its continued growth has stepped economic chaos in the country in light of its dependence on U.S. aid. up the revenue the registry is injecting annually from US$2 million Marshall Islands’ leaders have asked the U.S. to consider a a year in the 2000s to US$5 million starting with the fiscal year 2014. two-year extension on the funding package to give more time for capitalizing the trust fund that the U.S. invests in annually as part Key decisions of the Compact. Getting the U.S. to address this concern continues Marshall Islands’ leadership is faced with a slate of increasingly to be a priority of the government. urgent decisions. High on the list is the government retirement fund For the second year in a row, parliament is being put on the spot that is projected to be just eight years from bankruptcy unless the about its intentions for preventing fraud and ramping up accountretirement legislation is ability in government by amended to change the the country’s Auditorcurrent setup. General. But since he took Stagnant job growth office in 2011, Auditorhas seen the retirement General Junior Patrick tax revenue plateau has been unsuccessful in while benefit payments securing funding to fill continue their upward more than half the posigrowth, forcing the sotions in his office. cial security agency to During a Public Acwithdraw increasingly counts Committee hearlarge amounts from its Unreliable service...an Air Marshall Islands flight picks up passengers in Jaluit Atoll. Despite millions of ing in early July, Patrick dollars of government subsidies, the government airline continues to struggle. investment fund to pay bluntly told MPs: “Our benefits. responsibilities are misThe National Telematched to the resources communications Authority has defaulted on its monthly made available to the Office of the Auditor-General,” Patrick said. US$200,000 payments to the U.S. Rural Utilities Service over the Since assuming the role of Auditor-General, he revised the orgapast year, forcing government to pick up the tab. nizational structure of his office, adding 12 new staff, a performance There is now a World Bank-backed move to open up the commuaudit unit and an investigations unit. But this is still not enough, nications sector to competition, with Digicel Pacific waiting in the according to Patrick. The revelation in 2010 of a major fraud within wings. But the liberalization plan could put the Telecom Authority the Ministry of Finance spotlighted the need for an independent out of business, hoisting its US$30 million debt onto the governprosecutor. “Fraud cases need to be handled faster,” he said and ment, which guaranteed two loans from the U.S. government. called on parliament to establish a special prosecutor to address The first legislative overhaul of the tax system in over 20 years fraud in government. is on the agenda of the Nitijela (parliament), with the first public The Marshall Islands faces a series of big decisions, which looms hearings on draft tax laws anticipated for the August session. larger with each passing year. Islands Business, August 2013 25

Forum Feature

E r e c t o r s e t . . . Th i s prefabricated, fourstory apartment building in Majuro is on fast track for opening in time to house delegations attending the Pacific Islands Forum in September. Photo: Giff Johnson

Forum to test Majuro’s housing limits But hospitality will be on high wattage By Giff Johnson WIth an estImated 400 people descending on Majuro in early September for the Pacific Islands Forum meeting, the capital city’s hotels and apartments will be taxed to the limit. The country has AIR Marshall Islands welcomes to our fewer than 200 hotel shores distinguished delegates to the rooms, so local orga44th Pacific Islands Forum. nizers are tapping into We trust that your deliberations on numerous apartments to supply needed space. marshalling the Pacific response to The big question for climate challenge will come up with a many islands and donor great plan. partners planning to attend has been, “where will we stay?” But while the Marshalls would not be able to accommodate the 600 who attended last year’s Forum in the Cook Islands, it will manage with the numbers anticipated for September’s summit. The private sector— and in particular PaRedelivery flight of Dash 8 on July 22, 2013 cific International Inc (PII)—has taken heed of the government’s prodding to help with accommodation. PII, which already Your meeting coincides with the operates a 50 pluslaunching of our Business Plan, apartment complex in providing a road map to better serve our Majuro, started erecting people and to improve our fortunes in the Waffle-Crete structure of a new four-story, the next 5 years. 32-apartment building in early June, with the Islands Business, August 2013

expectation of having the facility open for the Forum. By July 12, the roof was on and PII construction crews were working feverishly to get the facility done. If anyone can deliver a fast-track construction project in this remote location of the Pacific, it is PII CEO Jerry Kramer and his team, led by son David Kramer, who doubles as construction manager on the new project and is a senator in the country’s parliament representing Majuro. In addition to working quickly to have the new 32-apartment building ready for Forum arrivals, PII recently bought the Airport Motel and is renovating the 10 single bedroom units to reopen in time for the Forum. The government’s Forum logistics coordinator Doreen deBrum, who works at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed that housing is the key issue for organizers, but expressed confidence they will have the needed rooms by early September. Flight scheduling Another important breakthrough for Majuro is the scheduling by United Airlines of four special flights to support the hundreds of officials expected to attend the Forum in Majuro. Planning for a gala opening program is progressing well, deBrum said. Marshall Islands culture will be the centerpiece of the opening on September 3. Viewing the Forum through a hospitality lens, the event is like a grand celebration for the Marshall Islands—and one thing the Marshall Islands does extremely well is hospitality. So while housing may be a bit tight and Majuro doesn’t have five-star hotels, it has plenty of experience with and enthusiasm for providing hospitality to visitors. That hospitality will be on high wattage for the Forum.

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Rudd heading to the Forum? By Davendra Sharma Just lIke a Wedd W Ing, It’s noW all aBout the date as Australians prepare for a new government in the next few months. To be or not to be: it’s a question Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has to ponder as he decides to stick with September 14 or extend the deadline for polling day, which has to happen by the middle of November. As Rudd was restored as Labor leader on June 26, a number of questions was being asked over whether he should stay with September 14 or delay the poll date. When Islands BusIness approached the Prime Minister’s office about the government’s plans to attend the annual heads of government meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum in the Marshall Islands in September, there was no response as the government itself was still unsure about its tenure. Rudd has resurrected the Labor party from a near-ruin to one with as much chance as the opposition Nationals-Liberals coalition to form a new government. Several public opinion polls now indicate neck to neck race to the elections. If the elections are put off to November, there is a ‘good’ chance Rudd will attend the Forum meeting next month, even if it means for a day. Otherwise, there are others like foreign minister Bob Carr or trade minister Richard Marles who could attend on Rudd’s behalf. Judging by Rudd’s first trip abroad to Port Moresby for a couple of days in July, it appears the new leader will try and ensure he does go to the Forum—where issues like the push for West Papua’s freedom and Fiji’s readmission are certain to top the agenda. Rudd’s predecessor, Julia Gillard made a strong presence in the Cook Islands last year, alongside the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. The Forum Trade Ministers meeting in Apia last month has also prepared a broad agenda on ways of bolstering trade between islands member countries. They discussed World Trade Organisation (WTO) proposals, negotiations of regional trade agreements especially the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) Plus and the review of the Pacific Aid for Trade Strategy. Rudd’s investment in the South Pacific region runs deep with PNG and Nauru housing important detention centres for illegal immigrants. When he touched down in Port Moresby, he noted a number of issues including trade, tackling crime and the controversial detention centre on Manus Island. “It’s wonderful to be back here in PNG,” he announced as he landed in the country, which receives above A$500 million a year in aid handouts. “I look forward to my discussions with Prime Minister O’Neill. I come here as a friend, a long-standing friend, someone who believes in PNG’s future.” Islands Business, August 2013

Storm surge closes airport...Majuro’s Amata Kabua International runway was closed briefly after storm surges coupled with a high tide destroyed a portion of the seawall around the runway, flooding the airstrip with water, rocks and coral. Photo: Marshall Islands Journal

Marshalls wants Forum climate action We canÕ t afford to wait for global action: Muller By Giff Johnson W Ith a drought dIsaster in the northern islands from December last year and storm surges flooding parts of Majuro in late June, Marshall Islands officials believe they are getting a taste of the predicted future climate change today. “Climate change has become the number one threat to my country,” said Foreign Minister Phillip Muller in an article published in the Washington Post in June. To emphasize the point, the theme for the Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Majuro next month is “Marshalling the Pacific Response to the Climate Challenge,” and the Marshalls is keen to see not only a strong statement issued by Forum leaders, but for Forum donor partners to ramp up implementation of climate funding pledges, which have generally been slow to materialize. Muller sees the Forum declaration as a means for the Pacific to deliver a unified appeal to a global summit on climate change that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is planning in 2014. “In the Pacific, we cannot afford to wait (for global action,” Muller said. “We want the September Forum to set the stage for a new, bolder approach. We will propose a Majuro Declaration for Climate Leadership as a roadmap for tangible action in an effort to set aside the you-go-first dynamic that has stalled international climate talks. We call on not just governments but also intergovernmental organizations, the private sector and civil society to sign on to our declaration with their own measurable commitments aimed at averting a climate catastrophe.” The new normal in the era of climate change is seeing trees falling into the lagoon, roads washing out and school buildings under threat by rising

seas. It is “not difficult to imagine what will happen over the coming decades while standing, talking, sleeping and raising one’s family on land that is just a couple of feet in elevation above the high tide mark—a line that is now always slowly moving inland—when there isn’t anywhere else that’s easy to retreat to,” says Marshalls’ senior climate change advisor, Steve Why. A recent assessment of Ailinglaplap Atoll, home of President Christopher Loeak, found “the majority of Ailinglaplap shorelines eroding,” with infrastructure including three airstrips, roads, causeways and schools also at risk of eroding President Loeak doesn’t intend to suffer in silence. “It’s why we’ve chosen climate change as the theme for the Forum summit in Majuro later this year,” he said, adding he is hopeful this annual gathering of heads of state will deliver a strong message to the world about the need for action by nations of the world. “We will not stop telling people that climate change is a real issue for humanity,” Loeak said. “We will be the first to feel it, but it will come to them (bigger countries) and they should realize it.” Loeak said the island where he grew up in Ailinglaplap, Buoj, has experienced significant erosion. “The end of the island gets shorter every year. Some places where we used to stand on the beach to (cast lines to) fish are now in the water.” For this and other low-lying nations, rising seas is a question of basic human rights, Loeak said. If the islands are ultimately engulfed by the ocean, “we become refugees”, he said. “The Pacific Islands Forum is a big opportunity to give the issue more visibility,” he said. Loeak said he’s happy to see President Obama and other world leaders talking more about climate change. But so far, it hasn’t changed the fact that sea levels continue to rise in the Pacific.

Forum Feature

Where to now for nuclear test victims?

by 6pm the night before the test that atmospheric “conditions were getting less favorable.” At midnight, six hours before the Bravo detonation, the weather report said there were “less favorable winds at 10,000-25,000-foot levels” with winds “headed for Rongelap to the east.” Second, a secret report on winds during the Bravo test was finally approved for declassification in 1994. This report showed that from 10,000 to 50,000 feet the winds were blowing towards Rongelap, Ailinginae, Rongerik, Utrik, and other northern atolls at speeds ranging from 10 to nearly 40 knots. These measurements were made aboard the US Navy vessel USS Curtiss at 0507 hours Declassified nuclear test era reports now By Giff Johnson Marshall Islands time, more than one-and-a-half confirm fallout exposure was far broader than For 13 years, the marshall hours before the 0645 hours detonation of Bravo. the four atolls acknowledged and compensated Islands has patiently waited for The US command had the information before by the U.S. government. Simply put, the U.S. the U.S. Congress to reply to a the button was pushed but ignored it. government by concealing this information from petition seeking more nuclear As bad a light as the foregoing casts on Joint Marshall Islanders did not negotiate in good faith test compensation. The lack of Task Force-7 and Atomic Energy Commission ofand the compensation deal reflects this fact. a response prompted the nowficials, perhaps even more damning is an Atomic Finally, once-secret documents demonstrate retired Representative Gary Energy Commission weather report prepared beyond doubt that the U.S. government covered Ackerman from New York City to criticize the before the hydrogen bomb test series in 1954. up the real story of the March 1, 1954 Bravo test U.S. government’s response to its nuclear legacy This briefing paper explained that winds from at Bikini and the statements used for nearly 60 in the Marshall Islands, saying: “We’re going to January-to-April normally blew in the direction years to explain the exposure to fallout of many just wait for these people do die, right?” of inhabited islands to the east of the test site. islanders were a package of carefully crafted lies Whether this lack of action on the nuclear This report “Climatology of the Eniwetok-Bikini that have guided US policy towards the islands compensation issue is a policy or Area for the Months of January, Februsimply indicative of its lack of unary, March and April”, explained that importance to the U.S. Congress “as one goes aloft, one finds that is not known. the winds turn more westerly with What is known is that not a elevation until at about 20,000 feet single nuclear victim awarded they lie between northwest and compensation in the Marshall southwest…The easterly winds Islands has received 100 percent will vary in direction with height, of their compensation award and becoming very strong westerlies most have died. above 30,000 feet and reaching as What is remarkable about the high as 100 knots at 45,000 feet on situation is the unfairness of the occasion…This situation is the one compensation for Marshall Islandto be the most wary of during this ers when compared to the U.S. period of operations.” compensation program. This weather report was only In the U.S., the U.S. governdiscovered earlier this year and ment compensates Americans confirms the “unexpected wind whose highest average radiation shift” story is a myth created by dose is less than the lowest dose U.S. government officials in March received by Marshall Islanders, but 1954 to deceive the public, and then the majority of Marshall Islanders repeated by successive generations are not considered eligible for of U.S. government officials. compensation and health care by AmericaÕ s biggest hydrogen blast...The 15-megaton hydrogen bomb tested at Bikini in 1954 The U.S. government has was 15 megatons. Islanders living on atolls nearby to Bikini were not evacuated prior to claimed since 1954 that Bravo’s the U.S. government. In 1990, when the US Congress this hydrogen bomb test as they had been before the small tests of 1946. Photo: File Photo yield was unexpectedly large, as adopted the Radiation Exposure much as three times the anticipated Compensation Act (RECA), it appropriated explosive power. This purported “fact” has been since 1954 and continue to stand as a roadblock US$100 million for compensation. From the time used to justify the decision not to evacuate Ronto resolving the many problems caused by U.S. the law came into effect through August 2012, gelap Atoll before Bravo even though the hydronuclear testing. over sixteen thousand Downwinders received gen bomb was far bigger than the 1946 atomic In a book I wrote—“Don’t Ever Whisper— US$817,420,000 and over two thousand one bomb series known as Operation Crossroads, Darlene Keju: Pacific Health Pioneer, Champion for hundred onsite participants at the Nevada Test when Rongelap and other islands were evacuated Nuclear Survivors”—that was published in June, Site received US$155,825,410. as a precaution. Numerous U.S. reports since the I pointed out how declassified documents from The Congress has repeatedly appropriated 1950s have claimed that Bravo surprised U.S. ofWashington eliminate the credibility of the U.S. additional compensation to meet the claims of ficials by detonating at two-to-three times more government’s account of the 15-megaton Bravo American citizens eligible under the RECA legpower than expected. test, the largest hydrogen bomb tested by the islation. But in the Marshalls, the U.S. provided But there was no surprise shown by U.S. United States. a US$150 million fund, now exhausted, and has officials five days before Bravo. A February 23, Since 1954, the U.S. has claimed that an “unrefused to provide more, even though the U.S. 1954 memorandum, partially declassified in expected wind shift” after Bravo was detonated tested about 100 times more megatonage in the 1986, reports on a Joint Task Force-7 meeting in resulted in fallout “accidentally” and “unexpectMarshalls than in Nevada. preparation for the Bravo test. edly” exposing people on nearby islands. A key part of the equation, again ignored by A group of U.S. officials “attended a positionAlthough thousands of US government reU.S. government officialdom, is that all nuclear ing meeting for the purpose of determining the ports, memos, and statements have repeated the fallout exposure data was concealed by the United final positions of all aircraft participating in Shot “unexpected wind shift” assertion concerning States during negotiation of the compensation Bravo,” said the memo. Bravo, it is false. Secret US government weather agreement in 1982-1983, so Marshall Islands neThe aircraft were being positioned so that reports obtained in the mid-1980s show that the gotiators had no clue as to the extent of the fallout. Joint Task Force-7 Command had been warned ...to page 31

No full compensation for victims

Islands Business, August 2013

Forum Feature within broader regional policies, and also provides support for the annual SIS Leaders’ Summit which precedes the annual Forum Leaders’ meeting.” I slands B usIness also sought Tuiloma’s views on the following: It appears the MSG is growing too powerful. Do you agree? “We don’t believe these things need to be framed in terms of power. The emphasis should be on strengthening regional cooperation and integration and, as indicated, such sub-groups can play a useful role in Pacific regionalism.” What is your view on the Pacific Islands Developing Forum that Fiji has established. Do you think it is undermining the Forum? “We function to cooperate with and to coordinate all valid contributions to the Forum’s broader regional mandate. Otherwise, we can say that any such new body will not change the mission, goals or the focus of our work as determined by the Forum Self-determination talk? Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat secretary-general Tuiloma Neroni Slade with French Polynesia’s Oscar Leaders.” Temaru (right). Photo: Islands Business

Forum not fractured: SG Tuiloma Small groupings add great value By Samisoni Pareti the emergence oF smaller groupings within the 16-member Pacific Islands Forum states is not a sign of fragmentation, but one that adds great value to the regional organisation, so says the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS). The reassurance comes as Forum Islands Leaders, minus Fiji, prepare to travel to Majuro, the capital of the Marshall Islands, to attend the 44th Leaders’ Forum which begins September 3. Fiji’s Frank Bainimarama has been excluded from attending the annual meeting since he led his army to remove Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase’s Government in a bloodless coup on December 5, 2006. The Suva-based regional body has also refused to be drawn into suggestions that the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) has grown into a powerful grouping in the Pacific, nor would it want to comment on the feeling that the newly formed Pacific Islands Development Forum that Fiji has created would undermine the workings of PIFS (Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat). It also accused the European Commission of being too slow in the negotiations for an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Islands Business, August 2013

14 of the 16 Forum members, and rejected the commonly heard complaint that PIFS is heavily dominated by its two biggest and wealthiest members—Australia and New Zealand. Islands BusIness had sought answers to wide-ranging questions it sent to the office of the Secretary-General of PIFS, Tuiloma Neroni Slade on the eve of the Majuro Forum. “The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) is a grouping of 16 independent and self-governing states committed to coming together to discuss common concerns across a broad range of issues and to develop regional approaches to addressing these issues,” PIFS said in its written response to the magazine’s questions. “Similarly, smaller groupings such as the Melanesian Spearhead Group, the Polynesian Leaders Group and the Micronesian Leaders Summit have been established to enable their members to discuss issues of specific concern to them. “The Forum recognises the value of subregional groupings to address the particular issues arising from more closely neighbouring countries. “Indeed, within the Forum itself, sub-regional approaches represent an important strategy for addressing the particular vulnerabilities of the Smaller Islands States (SIS) of the Forum. “The SIS Unit within the PIFS operates to ensure that the SIS perspective is incorporated

What would you say about the common complaint that PIFS is dominated by Australia and New Zealand? “As a political organisation of 16 disparate countries, the Forum represents sheer diversity in almost every respect. A key Forum strength is its ability to make decisions by consensus. The consensus approach ensures that the voice of all member countries, large or small, must be taken into account in Forum decision-making. These fundamental characteristics are reflected in the arrangements for and operations of the Forum Secretariat. It is important to appreciate that the Forum needs to take decisions on a whole range of issues of major proportion and of critical importance. Not all Forum countries are able to assume the required leadership (and a degree of dominance) as some are able to, in the RAMSI operations for example, or the critical initiative of Australia in its patrol boat programme. The assumption of special leadership in such circumstances cannot be fairly characterised in the (‘dominated’) sense imputed in the question. It is also important to note that there are numerous examples of initiatives that are driven by other Forum members. For example, the Smaller Islands States are driving initiatives on transportation and shipping that are valuable for the broader membership. Additionally, policies around renewable energies are being led by members other than Australia and New Zealand. These are critical issues of our time and Forum islands countries are demonstrating leadership, as they do on climate change and other development challenges confronting the region. At the Secretariat level, staff currently includes citizens from most Forum member countries (with citizens from all member countries eligible to apply for internationally advertised positions). Staff members are employed on the basis of merit.” What advice will you offer leaders on EPA and PACER Plus negotiations? “PACER Plus represents a long-term op-

Forum Feature portunity to deepen Pacific regional trade and economic integration. If crafted well, PACER Plus will help to create jobs, enhance private sector growth and raise living standards in Forum islands countries (FICs). It is important that all Forum members are involved in the negotiation of PACER Plus as, ultimately, PACER Plus has to demonstrably improve the ability of FICs to benefit from the expanded market access opportunities in Australia and New Zealand. The PACER Plus negotiations need to be intensified. “As for the EPA, the PACP region and the EU have been involved in the EPA negotiations since 2004. The PACP Leaders have clearly indicated their wish to conclude the EPA in 2013. But that can only happen if the parties are able to conclude the range of contentious issues that are unresolved. Fisheries is a key issue that remains unresolved with both sides unable to come to an agreement on the approach, including a number of conservation and management issues in the EPA. We have undertaken the necessary technical work and provided all the required clarification and information to the EC to progress the negotiations. The EC, on the other hand, has been slow in responding to many of the PACP proposals, including providing its final position on the global sourcing provisions. We have insisted on a final meeting between the PACPS and the EU at senior officials and Ministerial level in September 2013, following which the PACP Leaders are expected to make a decision on PACP engagement in the EPA.” In your view, has the Forum’s policy on Fiji’s suspension worked? “The Forum’s policy on Fiji was a collective decision made by all Forum Leaders in 2009. Under this decision, Fiji remains a member of the Forum but the Leader, Ministers and officials of the Fiji Government are suspended from participation in Forum-arranged meetings. The Leaders’ decision was arrived at after a long process of consultations for the holding of democratic elections and after failed undertakings by the Fiji Government. The Forum’s decision on Fiji is based on the Forum’s commitment to fundamental values: rule of law, human rights, freedom and democracy. Since the suspension decision in 2009, Leaders have continued to discuss the situation in Fiji at their annual meetings, taking into account reports of the Forum Ministerial Contact Group on Fiji (MCG). Necessary reviews and adjustments of the suspension have been made, for example, to permit Fiji to participate in PACER Plus meetings at the officials’ level, given Fiji’s important

...From page 29 when the bomb was detonated, they would be in position to monitor and track the size of the hydrogen bomb blast, radiation levels, and the path of the nuclear cloud. “It was decided that aircraft would be positioned on the basis of a twenty-megaton yield with the exception of the two effects aircraft which will be positioned on the basis of a twelvemegaton yield.” If Bravo shot planners were positioning aircraft based on the bomb being 12 to 20 megatons, then it is obvious that at 15 megatons, Bravo was not “three times the most probable predicted

economic role and links to prospects for broader regional economic integration. While mindful of the conditions set by Forum Leaders for the suspension of Fiji’s participation, the Forum Secretariat continues to provide services to Fiji as a Forum member. This includes special arrangements with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) to ensure that Fiji ministers and officials are involved in PACP meetings to prepare and advance the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations with the EU and involvement of Fiji with the European Development Fund arrangements and also with the Pacific Environment Community (PEC) Fund with Japan.” Is PIFS frustrated by the difficulty in securing work permits for staff at its Suva Headquarters? “Like any international organisation, the Secretariat is keen to ensure that newly recruited international staff are able to secure the relevant visa exemptions as expeditiously as possible so as to enable them to commence their professional duties. We liaise regularly and closely with the authorities in Fiji responsible for these matters to make sure that current requirements for visa exemption applications are complied with.” What would be the key points in the agenda of the September Forum? “The 44th Pacific Islands Forum will take place in the Republic of the Marshall Islands from 3-6 September 2013. The annual Forum meeting brings together the Leaders of the Governments of the Member Countries of the Pacific Islands Forum to discuss the broad range of development, economic, governance and security issues relevant to our region. “The theme of this year’s Forum is ‘Marshalling the Pacific Response to the Climate Challenge’. Other issues that leaders will discuss include: the review of the Pacific Plan; the progress of the Forum Compact for Strengthening Development Cooperation; and the transition of the Regional Assistance Missions to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) from a regional policing military mission to a bilateral development assistance mission. The Forum will also discuss preparations for the SIDS (Small Islands Developing States) 2014 Conference in Samoa.”

mon Islands. Leaders of other Forum countries attended the celebrations, including the current Forum Chair, the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands, the Hon. Henry Puna. RAMSI has made a vitally important contribution to the security, stability and development of Solomon Islands over the last decade. It is a genuinely regional initiative, which was initiated under the Forum’s Biketawa Declaration of 2000, and has involved the participation of police, military and civilian personnel from across the region. Regarding the Pacific Plan, the Forum Secretariat is pleased to note that over eight years during which the Plan has been implemented, there have been significant efforts to strengthen regional cooperation and integration—which was the Plan’s underlying intent. However, it’s important to remember that the Plan was conceived by Leaders as a living document, and it needs to be updated to reflect changes in the regional context since its inception. “The current Pacific Plan Review has been initiated in line with Leaders’ expectation that the Plan would be reviewed every three years (this being the second review since 2005). The secretariat believes the Review presents a timely opportunity to update the Pacific Plan’s priorities, and also to take a wider look at the process of how regional priorities are set. We have faith that Sir Mekere Morauta, who is leading the independent team undertaking the Review, will be able to present some visionary but pragmatic recommendations on the future of the Plan— and the future of Pacific regionalism more broadly—when he meets with Leaders at the Forum in Majuro. The secretariat stands ready to take these recommendations on board and commit to the substantial and systemic changes necessary to implement an improved Pacific Plan framework.”

What are your views about the Pacific Plan and RAMSI? “As you would be aware, the 10th anniversary of RAMSI is being celebrated this week (22 - 24 July) by the Government and people of the Solo-

Given what happened in Rarotonga in last year’s Forum, are you happy with the growth of the Post-Forum Dialogue? “The attendance of former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton at the 2012 Post-Forum Dialogue attests to the increasingly high profile of the annual Forum Leaders’ meeting and its related meetings. Similarly, the attendance of the United Nations General Secretary, Mr Ban Ki-moon, and the President of the European Commission, Mr José Manuel Barroso, at the Forum meeting in 2011 demonstrates the international community’s continuing recognition of the Forum as the premier regional organisation for engagement with Forum members.

value....,” as stated in the U.S. reports. This long-classified March 23, 1954 memo is of huge significance because it casts a new perspective on the decision to reduce the size of the danger zone, not evacuate islanders living near the test site, and conduct “Project 4.1, Study of Response of Human Beings Exposed to Significant Beta and Gamma Radiation due to Fallout from High Yield Weapons,” which kicked into gear several days after the test to treat and study some Marshall Islanders exposed to Bravo. The point is U.S. officials knew the size of this test before hand, but did not evacuate islanders who were in harm’s way and were ready with “Project 4.1” to study some of those affected by

the ensuing fallout from Bravo. The U.S. acknowledges only four atolls — Rongelap, Utrik, Bikini, and Enewetak — as exposed to fallout. This myth was created in early March 1954 and U.S. government laboratories and the Departments of State, Interior, and Energy have perpetuated the myth despite U.S. government fallout reports showing many other inhabited islands and atolls were exposed to fallout from Bravo and the five other tests in the Castle series. Some islands were hit with fallout that was many times above radiation protection standards established for the American public by the United States regulatory agencies. Islands Business, August 2013 31

Forum Feature Commentary

Leaders: Please carry rather than be carried by your people!

By Satish Chand*

he 44th meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), comprising the 13 islands nations (less suspended Fiji) plus Australia and New Zealand, will take place in Majuro, the capital of the Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI) next month. What should we expect from this annual jamboree of our leaders this year? The arrival of the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, brought a lot of media attention to the Cook Islands at last year’s PIF. RMI, as the host for this year, deserves similar attention from the United States. I am certainly not expecting a repeat of the opening ceremony in Rarotonga of last year. It was appalling to see footage of our leaders being carried on the shoulders of Cook Islander men. Why our leaders accepted such an outrageous treatment is a mystery to me. Folks carrying their leaders would be pardonable if the Pacific islands region was basking in peace and prosperity. Reality is far from the above. Most of the islands nations of the Pacific are witnessing rising tides of poverty. A few are starring down the possibilities of conflict. The reality of a struggling region calls for a more sombre PIF this year.

but do not want to be disrespectful to their hosts. I would rather the PIF in Majuro focuses on the many pressing issues for the region. What are the issues deserving consideration at this PIF? Leaders have the responsibility to carry their people to greater prosperity and peace. Each and every statement that has come from the past PIF meetings have repeated this commitment. A clearer focus on the extent of poverty in the nations they lead and wha. t could be done to alleviate the hardships faced by many, including the thousands of school-leavers that join the queues for jobs each year, would be a good start. Most of the Pacific Islands States will fail to achieve the 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the target year of 2015. Some debate on the reasons for this failure and what may be done about it is long overdue. The leaders could draw lessons from neighbouring Asia that has

Leadership Leadership means service. Traditional village-leaders gain their positions of authority by serving their people. They are the first to stand up for their people and the last to sit atop the shoulders of their men. Many of our national leaders are doing a descent job, some in very trying circumstances. Most are honest, PNG’s Prime Minister Peter O’Neill...being carried at the Cooks’ hardworking, and able-bodied men Forum meeting last year. Photo: Lisa Williams-Lahari who have stepped up to the challenges of national leadership. So why do our leaders tolerate the pompous made major strides on each and every MDG. treatment repeatedly given to them at PIF meetOur leaders must be exposed to the hardships ings? Some will point out that it is part of the faced by the poor. Many have not seen poverty island-culture. first-hand. True and a tradition of an era without vehicles: Several have grown up in well-to-do families but the same leaders concede that carrying people and benefitted from the best of the services availis demeaning to the carriers and such duties are able at home (and abroad). best left to a limousine, better still a golf cart. A quick and short trip to Ebeye, a heavily My guess is that our leaders let the people carry populated community in RMI, would be timely. them for one or a combination of three reasons: An even a shorter trip to the rubbish dump in (i) they are out of touch with reality; (ii) they want Majuro will help leaders appreciate the problems to create the pretext of prosperity in the nations of waste disposal in a small atoll. they lead; and, (iii) they cringe at the treatment The leaders need to see the quality of basic Islands Business, August 2013

services being delivered in their member nations. A trip down to a small primary school, a rural health centre and the local police station will be an eye-opener for many. They must look at the problems of obtaining fresh clean drinking water at each of the above-mentioned facilities. PIF meetings are expensive undertakings and this one will be particularly costly. Flights to Majuro are infrequent and accommodation costs are high. Taxpayers of RMI will be shouldering a large fraction of the bill and the balance will be picked up by taxpayers from the region. Questions need to be asked on the value of PIF to the people of the region. How many school places, hospital beds, freshwater tanks, etc, could have been supplied with the money spent on this PIF? RMI hosted the 27th PIF from 3 to 5 September 1996. The leaders then discussed ‘Pacific solidarity for common good’, agreed to “pursue domestic policies which facilitate the development of the private sector” and initiated the annual ‘Forum Economic Ministers Meetings’ (FEMMs). The hosts must now critically assess progress on each of the abovementioned. The issues Then there are the big and recycled issues from the past PIFs, including: • Fiji and the lifting of its suspension from PIF; • Climate change and its impact on the island states; and, • Migration from and remittances to the islands. In sum, the forthcoming Pacific Islands Forum can be made a lot more relevant to the challenges of the islands region. Majuro, an atoll with a total land area of less than 10 square kilometres, Pacific Islands with the highest point being just three metres above sea lea level, provides the opportunity for our leaders to witness first-hand the problems of sea-level rise. What will they do in the event of a tsunami during PIF? Remember, they can’t run up a hill and the people of RMI have to be prepared for this eventuality each day of their life. As hosts, the Republic of Marshall Islands could educate our leaders in caring for and carrying their people to improved peace and greater prosperity. Only then will PIF remain relevant to the region. • Dr Satish Chand teaches at the UNSW Canberraat the Australian Defence Academy.

Forum Feature Commentary

A talanoa session on progress

By Ariela Zibiah*

he harsh geographical realities and isolation of this region of islands nations have made regional development integration and cooperation a necessity. At the core lies our shared sovereignty—among us and with other players in today’s global village—and our shared ideals. Certain aspects of regional development are guided by the Pacific Plan document. In 2012, Pacific islands leaders issued the Waiheke Declaration on Sustainable Economic Development in Cook Islands. Among other things, the declaration marked Young people in Tarawa, Kiribati...youth represent a demographic bonus that islands nations need to invest in the leaders’ recognition of sexual and reproducwith enabling policies for a sustainable future. Photos: UNFPA tive health, maternal neo-natal child health, gender equality, youth and the elimination of violence against women as pertinent issues to be addressed. approaches for an evidence-based post-2015 health and rights (SRHR), gender, humanitarian The progeny of the Pacific Plan can be partially development agenda. assistance, and population and development. In attributed to the economic theory of clubs— In 2011, UNFPA had organised a similar 2012 for example, UNFPA PSRO’s regional work which boils down to the consolidation of assets meeting involving MPs, faith-based leaders and included five additional national gender-based for benefits that can be collectively enjoyed or traditional chiefs—this triangular leadership violence prevalence studies and the facilitation of “regionalism” in the Pacific context. model remains a fundamental approach for the training of statisticians from eight countries, The United Nations Population Fund UNFPA this year. The 2013 Pacific Sub-Regional including Papua New Guinea. (UNFPA) relates well to this concept because Parliamentarian Conference will brief particiIn 1994, 179 countries including Pacific islands it intimates that the Pacific bloc can advance pants of the ICPD review findings and discuss nations agreed to the International Conference on in development together, in the way forward. Population and Developa self-sustaining way, to acRecurring themes from previous meetings inment (ICPD) Programme commodate the realisation clude how a lack of understanding of the linkages of Action (PoA); a 20-year of widespread and multiple between poverty reduction, reproductive health, development agenda, which benefits. and population has resulted in lower priority to ends in 2014. In preparation While recognising that inreproductive health, including family planning, for a new development country programmes are vital in national development and sectoral plans and agenda, the UNFPA confor development results, the programmes. ducted a global review of UNFPA Pacific Sub-Regional “Any discussions relating to sustainable dethe PoA. Office (PSRO) also utilises velopment or any other process that seek to emThe findings highlighted this regional platform. The orpower people in small islands developing states the successes and challenges ganisation recognises the need need to begin from the unfinished business of Pacific nations faced in for Pacific Islands countries to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” achieving the ICPD goals. consolidate existing strengths UNFPA Director and Representative, Dr Annette The review noted, among in order to have their voices Sachs Robertson (acting interim) said. other things, that inteheard, as serious actors in the “The Pacific has made significant progress in grated and comprehensive global arena. reducing child and maternal deaths and expandapproaches to achieving An enabling environment ing education for all. However, there are still gaps. sexual reproductive health and good governance are critiThere are still too many preventable maternal and and rights across the region cal for regional efforts to conneonatal deaths and too many Pacific families was wanting; unmet need tribute to national economic and youth who cannot attain sexual and reproin family planning (women growth. While countries are ductive health. All women, babies and children who want contraceptives Men play a critical role...in advocating for at various stages of the demo- the empowerment of their daughters and the but cannot access it for a must be able to access maternal, new-born and graphic transition, the youth elimination of violence against women. child health care and services: this is critical for variety of reasons) per(people between 15 and 24 sustainable development. sisted in many countries; years) population number “High rates of violence against women and the realisation of rights and about two million, or a fifth of the region. girls, low political participation and economic social protection for vulnerable groups remained National policies that harness the full potential disempowerment mean that half the population inadequate across all countries; full participation of their countries’ demographic bonus, such in Pacific small islands states are being excluded or of women in political and economic life remained as promoting youth employment, should be left behind. Gender equality is at the foundation elusive for the majority; that gender-based strengthened to facilitate an economic boom, of sustainable development.” violence was prevalent; and that economic and not unlike that of Asian countries in the past population growth were not in sync. It is imperative that the post-2015 agenda is two-three decades. Consolidating regional capacity, UNFPA people centred, especially one that puts women Since 1972, the UNFPA PSRO has been PSRO has invited parliamentarians and key and youth, particularly teenage girls, at its centre. working with fourteen governments in maternal development partners to a talanoa session health, young people and sexual and reproductive • Ariela Zibbiah is the Communications Officer for UNFPA. from August 13-15 to discuss Pacific-specific Islands Business, August 2013

Yokwe and welcome to our leaders at the 44th

PNA’s GOAL: MAXIMISE BENEFITS AND PARTICIPATION OF OUR PEOPLES IN UTILIZING OUR TUNA RESOURCES

Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting from the PNA

PNA, CO-OPERATION THROUGH STRENGTH, working to manage the largest tuna stocks in the world, OUR RESOURCES, OUR TUNA, OUR FUTURE

P.O. Box 3992, Majuro, Marshall Islands 96960 Tel: (692) 625 7626/7627 (Extension 27) • Fax: (692) 625 7628 • Cell: (692) 456 7623 Email: pnatuna@pnatuna.com • Web: wwww.pnatuna.com

Politics

AUSTRALIA

Sonia Minniecon and her husband Michael Smith… founding members of Blackbird International, a non-profit organisation. Photo: Nic Maclellan

Blackbird no more! South Sea Islanders mark labour trade By Nic Maclellan In August 1863, the schooner Don Juan arrived in the Brisbane River, carrying 67 islanders to work on the Queensland cotton plantation of businessman Robert Towns. The Don Juan’s landfall in Australia marked the start of the blackbirding era, where more than 60,000 Melanesians were coerced, kidnapped or indentured to work in fields and farms across Queensland and northern New South Wales. One hundred and fifty years later, the Australian-born descendants of these Melanesian workers are commemorating the Pacific labour trade in Australia. Since June, there have been exhibitions and talks across Queensland to celebrate the role of the community known as the Australian South Sea Islanders (ASSI). The ASSI 150th anniversary commemoration culminates with a range of events in Brisbane between August 16-24. Port Vila too, descendants of the blackbirding era gathered on July 28, highlighting the links between ASSI and their families and communities in Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and other Pacific nations. Colonial officials promoted the use of indentured labour in Fiji, New Caledonia, Hawai’i and other islands, while the slave trade for Peru saw the forced transfer of islanders in 1862-63, which devastated communities in Rapanui, Samoa, Cook Islands, Niue, Tuvalu and the Marquesas Islands. There were scattered examples of farmers bringing Pacific islanders to Australia in the mid1800s (such as Ben Boyd, who imported islands labour to work as shepherds on his property in New South Wales in 1847). But blackbirding expanded at the height of the American Civil War (1861-65) when the Southern Confederacy could not export cotton to the United Kingdom. Australian businessmen—flushed with capital from the 1850’s gold rush—saw an opportunity 36 Islands Business, August 2013

to expand the cotton and sugar industries in the British colonies of Queensland and New South Wales. The arrival of the Don Juan in August 1863 marked the start of the organised labour trade in Australia, which continued until the turn of the century. More than 60,000 Melanesians were brought to Australia between 1863 and 1904, to work in industries like sugar, cotton and beche-de-mer. Employers relied on islanders recruited—or kidnapped—from the New Hebrides and Solomon Islands, as well as Lifou, Fiji and other sites across Melanesia. This colonial labour trade was notorious for false promises and the mistreatment of the workers known as Kanakas (a Polynesian word for human being). Missionaries denounced the blackbirders as slavers and campaigned against the kidnapping of villagers from their islands. In spite of the 1868 legislation to protect indentured workers, there was ongoing abuse of islanders, leading to high death rates in the cotton fields and cane farms. Robert Towns’ legacy The voyage of the Don Juan was commissioned by leading businessman and politician Robert Towns. He was seeking labour for his cotton plantation called ‘Townsvale’ (now Veresdale, located south of Brisbane near Beaudesert). The workers landed at Redbank and walked 45 kilometres to Townsvale by August 18, 1863. One hundred and fifty years on, Serge Loode of the Peace and Conflict Studies Institute Australia (PaCSIA) has been working with a range of participants to highlight the shared history of the Pacific labour trade. On August 24, 2013, people will gather at Beaudesert to commemorate the arrival of the first Melanesian labourers to the district. As part of the initiative “This Is Our Story”, there will be a commemorative walk on the site of Towns’ former plantation and a community

picnic at a church in nearby Gleneagle. The walk on August 24 will bring together descendants of the Walker family (the first family to manage Robert Towns’ plantation), the Vanuatu Australian South Sea Islander Community (VASSIC), the local town council, the Historical Society of Beaudesert and also the Mununjali people—the local Aboriginal landowners who will perform a “welcome to country.” For the descendants of the blackbirded labourers, the gathering will be an important moment of recognition and reconciliation. “Today, 40,000 Australian South Sea Islanders trace a direct family connection to these labourers. For these families, this is a historical event in raising awareness of their identity and history as a distinct cultural group and their contributions to the economy and community of Queensland,” said VASSIC spokesperson, Natalie Pakoa. “The ASSI 150 event gives us an amazing opportunity to unearth more of our history and provide a means for families to reconnect with a lost culture, connect with other families and to be proud of their heritage for generations to come,” she said. Finding family Amid widespread agitation for an end to “cheap coloured labour” as the British colonies moved towards federation, the labour trade in Australia was wound down by 1900. The newly formed federation began deporting Pacific workers under the White Australia Policy. One of the first laws passed by the Australian parliament was the Pacific Islands Labourers Act of 1901, which banned recruitment after 1903 and gave authorities the power to deport any islander found in Australia after December 1906. With significant intermarriage between indentured Melanesian workers and local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, families were torn apart by the deportation of thousands of workers between 1904 and 1914. In February 2008, then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd formally apologised to the Stolen Generations—Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islands people—who were separated from their families by government, church or welfare agencies. But the descendants of South Sea Islanders have also lost contact with families, clans and communities across Melanesia, without gaining the same government support as indigenous peoples in Australia. In recent decades, there have been many informal efforts to re-establish links with relatives in Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Solomon Islands, as Australian-born islanders seek to learn about their cultural identity. Today, ASSI organisations like Blackbird International are working more systematically to promote community ties between Australia and other Pacific nations. The founding members of this non-profit association are Sonia Minniecon and her husband Michael Smith. Minniecon’s grandfather was brought to Australia from Ambrym Island in the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu). In the 1990s, her uncle travelled to Ambrym to re-connect with the community, and other family members followed his lead. From these early visits, she developed “Finding Family Blong Yumi”, an ongoing programme to link people across the region. She explains that many South Sea Islanders have heard vague family stories about Pacific an-

Papua New Guinea

cestry, but need assistance to find their ancestor’s birthplace and any direct family connections— and that’s where the detective work begins. “We find that people that have passed down their stories—they may have the name of an island or place. So we look in the state archives which have got thousands of shipping records or plantation records,” Minniecon said. “We also use family and community connections. Through my Mum we’ve got ties to the older people, who do remember a lot of the stories. So I talk to as many of the old people as possible to get their stories as oral history.” Cultural events Throughout August, the 150th anniversary of blackbirding is being marked by a range of talks, exhibitions, concerts and cultural events. Australia Post has even recognised the anniversary by issuing a special commemorative envelope. In Brisbane, state government institutions, including the State Library, Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), are co-ordinating to mark the anniversary. The State Library is hosting “The Australian South Sea Islanders”, a major exhibition of contemporary and historic art and artefacts, while “Sugar” is showing at the Queensland Art Gallery, portraying the role of Melanesian workers in this key Australian industry. Local councils in other towns are also hosting exhibitions or cultural events. There are many Solomon Islands’ descendants in Mackay and the Civic Centre in this northern sugar town is displaying precious photos, documents and ceremonial items which tell the story of Australia’s largest ASSI community. In spite of this government support, grassroots community organisations around the state are working to highlight the challenges still facing the ASSI community. The Australian South Sea Islander Secretariat (ASSIS) are planning a walk through Brisbane on 17 August to raise awareness of ongoing discrimination in welfare, education and housing, in spite of federal and state recognition of South Sea Islanders as a distinct community. The 150th anniversary is also being remembered in Vanuatu. Last June, the new government led by Prime Minister Moana Carcasses Kalosil formally announced that “this important anniversary will also be commemorated in Vanuatu, and the Prime Minister has requested that the 33rd Independence Anniversary Organising Committee allocate one day of the 2013 Independence Anniversary programme to the National Commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of Blackbirding.” On July 28, a ceremony in Port Vila co-chaired by the Vanuatu Indigenous Descendants Association (VIDA) and the Vanuatu Christian Council (VCC) brought together descendants of workers deported from Australia in the early 20th Century. Vanuatu Lands Minister Ralph Regenvanu and other ni-Vanuatu will also travel to Queensland in August to participate in the 150th anniversary events in Brisbane. With a community spread across vast distances and often divided between cultural heritage groups from many different Melanesian islands, the ASSI community faces a difficult task to unite. But the 150th anniversary provides a new opportunity to remember the often hidden history of Australia’s cultural links to the islands region.

PNG a haven for sex trafficking

‘Mosko Girls’ an emerging trend in cities By Davendra Sharma

to wealthy men and politicians—to settle debts, leaving them vulnerable to forced domestic service,” noted the US report. “In more urban areas, some children from poorer families are prostituted by parents or sold to brothels. “Asian crime rings, foreign logging companies and foreign businesspeople arrange for some foreign women to voluntarily enter PNG with fraudulently issued tourist or business visas. Subsequent to their arrival, many of the women, from countries including Malaysia, Thailand, China and the Philippines, are turned over to traffickers who transport them to logging and mining camps, fisheries and entertainment

Only months after Papua New Guinea seems to have settled their damaging social issue of sorcery, a damning international report in July alerted that the country is fast carving a name as a haven for sex trafficking of women and children. PNG is the only country from Oceania to have been noted in the report, which condemns countries like Algeria, Congo, Central African Republic, China, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Guinea Bissau, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, Yemen, Sudan and Saudi Arabia for such a trade. Even the US Secretary of State John Kerry said the report was a “clear and honest assessment”. He said the escalating sex and forced labour trade of underprivileged women and children around the globe was a concern for the Washington administration. “The end of legal slavery in the United States and around the world has not meant the end of slavery,” Kerry noted. Emerging as a new trend over the past 18 months in PNG’s main cities was the use of teenagers and often under-aged girls in nightclubs known as ‘Mosko Girls’ selling an alcoholic drink Mosko and provid- New trend...emerging in PNG’s main cities is the use of teenagers and under-aged girls selling Mosko, an alcoholic drink, in nightclubs and providing companionship ing companionship to male to male patrons. Photo: Islands Business patrons. “Teenagers, particularly under-aged girls, are employed in nightclubs as sites, and then exploit them in forced prostitution hostesses, dancers and bartenders,” the report and domestic servitude,” observed the report. claimed about PNG, where sex trafficking and domestic servitude is an issue of national agenda. Boys used as ‘market taxis’ The findings are a result of questionnaires While girls and women often fall prey to submitted by government and non-government human trafficking channels within PNG and groups. abroad, there have been reports that young boys are also being miserably treated. Girls for Guns Boys as young as 12 were being hired to work Internal trafficking involving children, includas “market taxis” in cities like Port Moresby, Lae ing girls from tribal areas as young as five, are and Goroka carting extremely heavy loads for being coerced into sexual exploitation or forced pittance. labour by members of their immediate families The US report categorised PNG as one of the or regional tribe. least regulated when it comes to specific offences “Tribal leaders sometimes trade with each covering trafficking in children, sexual exploitaother the exploitative labour and service of girls tion and forced labour. and women for guns and political advantage,” Regrettably, PNG is a “source destination and the report said. transit country for men, women and children It is well established that in age-old PNG tribal subjected to sex trafficking and forced labour”, customs, parents often part with their daughters warns the report. into marriages for the sake of debts. Men from certain tribes were being forced into “Traditional customs in PNG permit parents to logging and mining camps in PNG at comparasell their daughters into forced marriages—often tively low wage rates. Islands Business, August 2013 37

Politics What seemed worrying is that Port Moresby was not even complying with the minimum of standards required at international levels to eliminate or combat trafficking and child sex exploitation. Government ‘facilitating’ and not ‘combatting’ The report cautioned that instead of enacting legislations to combat such practices, certain elements of the Port Moresby administration are actually facilitating human trafficking through bribery and trading victims for political favours. It was evident from the free flow of Asian crime gangs in PNG that officials were issuing fraudulently-issued tourist or business visas. “Subsequent to their arrival, many of the women, from countries including Malaysia, Thailand, China and the Philippines are turned over to traffickers who transport them to logging and mining camps, fisheries, and entertainment sites,” the report said. “[They] then exploit them in forced prostitution and domestic servitude.” It said that government officials have been directly involved in such illicit trade for years as there are cases cited for such crimes leading to buying of votes or political favours. If PNG was serious about stopping the rot before the issue reaches unmanageable levels, the government must formulate legislation that prohibit and punish all forms of trafficking and “increasing collaboration with civil society, religious and tribal leaders to raise awareness and reduce demand for forced labour and commercial sex acts”. Social leaders blamed the high occurrence of the problem in PNG to lack of youth employment and urban drift. “Urban drift, [the] high cost of living in centres like Port Moresby and the lack of employment of youth…is causing the need for these kind of activities,” said World Vision PNG national director, Dr Curt von Boguslawski said. The US report said the sale of daughters into forced marriages to settle debts leaves girls and young women vulnerable to exploitation and polygamy. “Tribal leaders sometimes trade with each other the exploitative labor and service of girls and women for guns and political advantage.” Cheap fodder for PNG mines Men from villages and some resident Chinese who incurred heavy debts in villages were being lured to work on commercial mines and logging camps to free up their dues but found themselves into further debt. “Employers exacerbate workers’ indebtedness by paying substandard wages and charging artificially inflated prices at the company store,” it said. “In such circumstances, an employee’s only option is to buy food and other necessities on terms of credit.” The government has since 2011 debated on a draft law on human trafficking—endorsed by PNG’s National Executive Council—but has yet to win green light. A government spokesman did acknowledge that PNG has trained 78 law enforcement and non-law enforcement government officers and 82 NGO representatives on human trafficking issues under a project undertaken by the Department of Justice and Attorney-General. 38 Islands Business, August 2013

cook islands

Cooks PM eyes a year at the Forum helm

‘We’re a unique region of unique cultures’ him get past the national platform and speak for a region on mission travel as chair of the region’s “After 12 months, I feel like highest-level regional body. I’m only just getting warmed “It helps,” he says of his legal background, “but up!” As he closes off a year at the I think the greatest attribute one has to bring to helm of the region’s highest-level body, Cook the role is the need to respect all parties regardless Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna has only just of their status. You give respect. You show respect. arrived in Honiara—and he is already packing You get respect. It’s not a one-way thing. And to his bags to leave. always have empathy”. After a full-on two days of activities across the Asked to reflect on some highlights of the last Solomon Islands’ capital celebrating RAMSI, 12 months, Puna says the Washington talks gave he will simply not have time to get back to his him an impressive up-and-close look at the seat of hotel and make the flight back to New Zealand the world’s largest democracy and allowed him to which will connect him to Rarotonga and a day of share his assessment of regional priorities during meetings and appointments later before heading his watch as Forum chair. to the Northern Island constituency, which voted “I was totally overwhelmed to start with but him into power. began to enjoy it. I realised I was there because So busy has his travel schedule been of late, the of the job the Cook Islands had done in hosting local press have not been the only ones to pick the 43rd Forum, and so my country and people up on his absence, raising the usual gave me the confidence. In a sense, it questions over usefulness, cost, achas driven me in the past 12 months in countability and the necessity of travel my role as Forum chair. I’ve grown in for their Prime Minister. confidence in speaking for the region “I keep reminding our people that and our country. When you are there as we hosted a very successful forum last Forum chair, the world listens. year. Whilst we can bask in the glory “The main issue for the (United) of hosting such a successful event, States is China. I was asked why we there’s also the obligation that goes are doing business with China, and with that,” Puna says of his travel basically the message I gave them duties as chair of the Pacific Islands was: ‘Why aren’t you there for us to Forum. do business with you? If you are not He passes on that hat to the Repubthere—you are not there’”. lic of the Marshall Islands President When it comes to fish—the Pacific’s Christopher J. Loeak in Majuro next Cooks PM Henry Puna... only real point of economic engagemonth at the 44th Pacific Islands sub-regionalism is here to ment with the US, Puna recalls are the stay. Photo: Islands Business lengthy negotiations in PNG late last Leaders Forum. As to whether he expects debate year over the future of the US Treaty; to heat up more than usual over the expected and the performance of PNG’s Prime Minister tabling of a major PIFS review consultation, he Peter O’Neill in helping to gain traction and remains neutral. progress for the treaty talks. “I haven’t seen the results yet, and I’m looking Another gap in US mainland and large ocean forward to it. I’m aware of the major weaknesses thinking is the concept of sub-regionalism, says already identified in the Pacific Plan, amongst the Forum chair. them the multiplicity of objectives. It’s all become “Some people including Washington have this too much. idea that the growth of sub-regionalism via the “So the real challenge is for us leaders to agree MSG, the Polynesian Leaders Group, and now on a set of narrow objectives that are of interest the Micronesians, is signalling the slow breakto all of us because if you have them, it makes down of the Forum. I disagree. Their positions it easier for us to achieve and set milestones for are based on assumptions that are not correct. their achievement.” “There’s a lot to be said for sub-regionalism. It Whether in Japan co-chairing the PALM allows groupings of similar interest to deal with summit, in Washington as the keynote speaker issues that may not be relevant to others, which for Pacific Day, in New Caledonia to assess can be better dealt with amongst a community progress on the Noumea Accords, or in Paris for of friends. If we use sub-regionalism to cultivate the Oceania 21 initiative, he says he has gained closeness with our neighbours, there are solutions an ‘overwhelming’ appreciation of the region’s we can find that we wouldn’t otherwise find in development priorities and the need to speak and larger, regional spaces. Sub-regionalism is here to be heard on issues that matter. stay. I love this region. I love the Pacific. We’re Amongst the issues of pressing importance— a unique region of unique cultures. We have climate change, fish, and trade top a list of prioriour differences and certainly, right now, climate ties where Puna agrees his legal experience helped change is the theme uniting us all.”

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Full details of positions vacant are available at www.usprecruits.usp.ac.fj • All enquiries are to be directed to: HRHelp@usp.ac.fj Build a Legacy with us. The USP is one of two regional universities in the world and is the leading tertiary education provider and research facility in the South Pacific. With over 23,000 students in 14 campuses around the Pacific region, USP is an international university funded by the governments of 12 Pacific Island Countries, a number of donor governments and international aid agencies.

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FACULTY OF BUSINESS & ECONOMICS

VICE PRESIDENT (REGIONAL CAMPUSES AND PROPERTIES AND FACILITIES)

VICE PRESIDENT (ADMINISTRATION)

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The Opportunity USP is seeking a progressive leader and innovator, who thrives on delivering quality services through leading-edge technology, processes and systems in a high energy and rapidly changing environment. The Vice President (Administration) will be pivotal in the achievement of USP’s Strategic Plan and Objectives. This impactful, new opportunity is designed to make major quality and innovative systems-oriented differences in the Pacific Region. Reporting directly to the Vice-Chancellor and President (VC&P) and as a key member of the Senior Management Team (SMT), the newly created position of Vice President (Administration) provides progressive leadership and executive oversight in high quality administrative systems and is accountable for the delivery of key services and systems in ICT, planning and quality, and human resources. The Person We Seek The role will suit a candidate who can pursue USP’s Vision, Mission and Values of the Strategic Plan and has the power to motivate, empower and engage others. USP is therefore seeking a person with: • Demonstrated leadership and management experience in a complex organisation; • A higher degree from an internationally accepted University in one of the area of services of IT, planning or quality assurance; • Extensive and demonstrated competence and experience in a senior management position related to any one of the programmes and/ or services; • Demonstrated achievements reflecting a commitment to excellence, innovation and continuous improvement; • Excellent inter-personal skills, especially the ability to be an effective team leader promoting cohesiveness and collaborative work with a diverse group of people to engender mutual trust and respect; • Ability to harness administrative systems aligned to institutional goals of excellence in learning and teaching, research and community engagement; • Applied knowledge of methodologies, analysis and interpretation of institutional data; sound understanding of contemporary implications and transformational nature of technology; • Excellent skills in executive level report writing and presentations; The full position description may be viewed at www. usp.ac.fj/vpadmin View the USP Strategic plan at www.usp.ac.fj/stratplan

The Faculty of Business and Economics is the largest faculty at The USP, comprising eight Schools namely: School of Accounting and Financial Management; School of Agriculture and Food Technology; School of Economics; School of Governance, Development and International Affairs; School of Land Management and Development; School of Management and Public Administration; School of Tourism and Hospitality Management and the Graduate School of Business. Visit www.fbe.usp.ac.fj for more information. The Opportunity As a member of the University Senior Management Team, reporting directly to the Vice-Chancellor & President, your duties will include: • Academic and administrative leadership of staff, finance and student matters • Management of the Faculty’s resources • Development and monitoring of the Faculty Annual Plan • Aligning Faculty plans and activities with the University’s Strategic Plan • Representing the Faculty and University within the local community, region and beyond The Person We Seek USP is seeking a Dean who: • Has a distinguished record of University-level teaching, research and publications • Will provide dynamic and visionary leadership for the Faculty • Can support and promote the vision of the University • Is able to develop and implement innovative ideas and entrepreneurial initiatives • Has effective personnel and organisational change management and financial skills • Has a high level of oral and written communication skills Remuneration The position is available for a term of five years and may be renewed by mutual agreement. The University will provide a competitive remuneration package to the successful applicant, including superannuation, and where appropriate, airfare and relocation costs. The University may offer a salary inducement allowance to attract an outstanding candidate.

The Opportunity USP is seeking a progressive leader in strategic planning and implementation for its regional campuses and executive oversight of the Properties and Facilities plans and service quality. This is a pivotal role that will shape the future of the Regional Campuses and the expansion improvements of all campuses’ Properties and Facilities. Reporting directly to the Vice-Chancellor and President (VC&P), the Vice President (Regional Campuses, Properties and Facilities) is a key member of the Senior Management Team (SMT) that oversees USP’s regional campuses (with the exception of the Laucala Campus) and USP’s Properties and Facilities’ expansion and improvement plans. The Person We Seek The role will suit a candidate who can pursue USP’s Vision, Mission and Values of the Strategic Plan and who has the power to motivate, empower and engage others to ensure comprehensive and coordinated services to students and related institutions in the Pacific Region. USP is therefore seeking a person with: • Deep and demonstrated leadership experience and skills; • Demonstrated history of producing positive results that achieve strategic goals; • Extensive leadership and management experience in a complex organisation; • A higher degree from an internationally recognised university; • Demonstrated achievements reflecting a commitment to excellence, quality service and continuous improvement; • Excellent inter-personal skills, especially the ability to be an effective team leader promoting cohesiveness and collaborative work with a diverse group of people to engender mutual trust and respect; Ability to mentor staff and advance a culture of service and collaboration with all campus’ constituencies; • Proven ability to build networks and understands client and community partnership models in the Pacific region including Aid agencies, government and public-sector organisations; • Demonstrated cultural competence (respect, inclusiveness, reflecting, valuing and welcoming of cultural differences) with proven skills that demonstrate commitment to promote and enhance diversity and cultural competency; The full position description may be viewed at www. usp.ac.fj/vprcnpf

Remuneration The position is available for a term of 5 years and may be renewed by mutual agreement. The University provides a competitive remuneration package for the right candidate, including superannuation, and where appropriate, airfare and relocation costs. Details of the position and the remuneration package may be obtained from Lily Vesikula. Enquiries: Ms Lily Vesikula, Council and Central Committee Secretariat; ph: (679) 32 32333; email: lily.vesikula@usp.ac.fj HOW TO APPLY Applications must be sent to Lily Vesikula at the Council and Central Committee Secretariat by email at lily.vesikula@ usp.ac.fj or by post to the Secretary to Council and Manager CCCS, Council and Central Committee Secretariat, Private Mail Bag, Suva, Fiji Islands. Please also include the following documents in your application: Cover letter and Resume clearly addressing key Selection Criteria, academic transcript and names of three referees, one of which must be your current or most recent direct work supervisor. Late applications may be considered. Closing date for applications: 9 August 2013

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Closing date for applications: 30 August 2013 Enquiries: Heather Stadel, HR, ph: (679) 3232124; email: stadel_h@usp.ac.fj HOW TO APPLY Candidates are strongly encouraged to use the University’s on-line E-Recruitment system to view further details and apply for this position at www.usprecruits. usp.ac.fj Candidates may request further information from the Human Resources Office; ph: (679) 32 32072; email: hrhelp@usp.ac.fj or personnel@usp.ac.fj Please also include the following documents in your application: Cover letter and Resume clearly addressing key Selection Criteria, academic transcript and names of three referees, one of which must be your current or most recent direct work supervisor. USP is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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Business

Tax haven label irks Cooks: Brown

Several cases of Cook Islands being used as a tax haven were revealed by the ICIJ expose. For example, it was revealed that bankrupt Swedish real estate tycoon Hans Thulin had as much as US$17 million stashed away in a labyrinth of companies, trusts, funds and accounts in the Pacific while the Swedish government pursued him in court for millions of dollars in unpaid debts.

ÔIt is absolute nonsenseÕ By Dionisia Tabureguci Whatever ImPlIcatIon the Word ‘tax haven’ has on the credibility of a country, Cook Islands is not amused at recent allegations that it fits the ‘tax haven’ description. Cook Islands Minister of Finance Mark Brown has rubbished the claims, saying they were “absolute nonsense” as the country has taken a proactive role in ensuring it is not used for money laundering and tax evasion. “The world has moved on in terms of regulatory requirements and compliance that all countries now have to meet. It’s to address issues of money laundering, so it’s now very difficult to try and launder money through properly regulated jurisdictions,” Brown told Islands BusIness. “The world is now moving towards issues of tax avoidance, tax evasion and again, any regulatory compliance measures that we need to undertake, any law change that we need to make as a result of recommendations from the financial action taskforce of the OECD (Organisation for

Economic Co-operation and Development), we are doing them, ‘ he added. Cook Islands came under the spotlight last month after New Zealand investigative journalist Nick Hager revealed he received threats of arrest from within the Cook Islands following his intention to travel there and give a lecture on the country’s workings as a ‘tax haven’. Hager was part of a team of international investigative journalists that recently launched results of an extensive research into offshore database of secret companies and trusts. The journalists are members of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and their work brought to the surface information on companies and individuals that have hidden fortunes in tax havens around the world, including those from the Pacific. Protected by heavily layered secrecy laws in the tax havens, these individuals, companies and trusts are able to get away with financial crimes in their own countries, such as tax avoidance, tax evasion and money laundering.

Money trail The money trail in the ICIJ investigations led to the Cook Islands branch of the Singaporeheadquartered Porticullis TrustNet, said to be one of Asia’s largest offshore service firms. In the Cook Islands, Thulin had allegedly maintained and used a maze of bank accounts, trusts and companies to transfer money to Spain and then to Switzerland where money would be deposited into the account of a Cook Islandsbased entity linked to Thulin. Another case, which Hager mentioned in his interview last month with ABC Radio’s Pacific Beat, was that of the biggest rainforest logger in Indonesia siphoning “hundreds of millions of dollars” to the Cook Islands to avoid paying taxes in his own country. “The funny thing about a country like the Cook Islands, is that most people have no idea what’s going on there and a very small number of people have a strong vested interest in it and that’s the people who are working in the tax haven companies. “And so the first thing people do when they’re attacked, they call it a leak theft and so they claim that this leak we have was stolen materials,” Hager told ABC presenter Bruce Hill.

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Islands Business, August 2013

Business

PNG coffee in crisis Good old ‘cash-cow’ fast running out of milk By John Fowke*

Cooks’ Finance Minister Mark Brown…no complaints from OECD. Photo: SPC

“Everyone who’s always leaked about says that. But then they invoke the laws, which are absolute draconian laws which were brought into the Cook Islands in 1981 about keeping the secrets of their offshore clients. “They invoke those and I received threats that I would be arrested when I arrive at the airport and then other threats of arrest while I was there,” Hager said. Brown told I slands B usiness the Cook Islands has, over the years, tightened up its compliance and regulatory framework for financial services and, as a member of the OECD, has yet to receive any complaint from the OECD on how it conducts its business. “We are quite happy with the way things are set up as they are now and as a government, we want to make sure that people pay their fair share of tax, whatever the jurisdiction,” Brown said. Information access “We’ve entered into tax information exchange agreements with 18 other countries around the world so we can access their information to find out about people using their jurisdiction and vice versa. “They can access information from our agencies as well. We have some very good competent agencies responsible for the regulatory aspects of financial services and we’re quite confident in them. “But you know, the reality is a trillion dollars every day circles the world looking for a place to be put to work. “Now, why should only the big countries be able to provide those services when our countries could also do that? “If they’re claiming that we are a tax haven, then New Zealand is a tax haven, America is a tax haven, Singapore is a tax haven because they do exactly the same thing that we do. “And that’s a ridiculous statement to make. It’s like saying we should shut down the Internet because it’s being used for pornography, which is just ridiculous. 42 Islands Business, August 2013

“As long as you have good systems in place to monitor, people will get caught. If they try to break the law, they will get caught. “If this reporter (Hager) has information that someone is breaking the law, give it to the authorities, so this person can be investigated,” Brown said. The ICIJ investigation drags up an unpleasant reputation of some Pacific countries who are perceived in the financial world as tax havens, although they themselves do not look at things in that light. “Promoters of tax havens generally do not like the terms ‘tax haven’. They often prefer to call these havens international financial centers. “However, much as they dislike the term, they have legislation that sets no or very low taxes for their clients. “If they do not like the term ‘tax haven’, then maybe they should repeal this legislation that provides for low or no taxes for their clients,” Dr Anthony van Fossen told Islands Business. van Fossen teaches politics, economy & society at Australia’s Griffith University and his areas of research include tax havens, money laundering and politics, economies and societies of the Pacific Islands. “Some offshore financial centers such as the Cook Islands may attract less tax-motivated businesses than others such as Vanuatu. Rarotonga specialises in asset protection trusts that may be used by some people, for whom taxation is not a very important consideration. “The term ‘tax haven’ itself has no necessary logical link with money laundering. Yet, there has been a great deal of money laundering in some tax havens, often because of the financial secrecy or confidentiality provisions that have been part of some tax haven laws,” van Fossen said. Cook Islands, like Switzerland, the U.S and a handful of other countries around the world, has in place asset protection laws that encourage international interests to set up asset trusts there. These trusts are used by their patrons to hold funds for a variety of legitimate reasons.

Many people of long experience in PNG’s coffee industry are very concerned at the decline in annual yield. Following a 20-year period where PNG shipped an annual average of 1 million export bags, there is a definite decline in production. Over-aged and even morbid, trees right across the major coffee-producing districts are far past economic yields. Coffee produces well for upto 20 years in the typical small-grower situation. Trees which are left to survive under heavy shade but without fertilisation or regular maintenance, are still flowering and producing reasonable crops at this age. But PNG’s tree-stock or the majority of it, was planted in a huge surge of popular enthusiasm in the late ‘fifties through to the early ‘sixties. It is now around fifty years old. Coffee-growing countries we compete against are re-planting on a 12-year rotational basis. Eight percent of the area of each farm is interplanted with new seedlings each year and the old trees are removed in the following off-season. Then, the next area is made ready for new plants. We have a great deal of work to do if coffee is to survive as the second-largest export earner in the tree-crop sector. The crop for 2012, less carryover from 2011, was around 600,000 bags. This year, as at the end of June, observers are predicting a crop of around 700,000 bags. Apprehension will fill the hearts of those who make it an annual task to observe and interpret the new flowerings, due in August-September. These flowerings will tell the story of next year’s result. There is a need for great energy and enthusiasm from extension-workers employed by the industry to become travelling “coffee evangelists.” They should move from village to village, complete with blankets, pillows, cups and plates. Message-carriers in the old-fashioned “didiman” mould, stayed overnight in villages so as to spread their message in the evening, when people are all present and at their most receptive. This is where ideas are absorbed and held, and where plans develop into action with commitments made in front of the whole clan. Generational, attitudinal change, population and land pressures leading to trade in gardenland in some districts, a new appreciation of opportunity costs as coffee crops slowly diminish in size—these factors are driving change today. For those situated near the main centres, vegetable-growing is becoming a more valuable investment in land and time, and old coffeegardens are being cleared and turned over to

Business trialised vegetable or fruit-growing enterprise where large orchards or farms are the basis of production. Here, mechanisation, agro-chemical inputs and labour-saving techniques are paramount. Labour-cost is minimised as a prime principle. Conversely, it is the notionally-free labour input of the small coffee grower and his family which drives the cashflow of subsistence farmer-coffee-grower enterprises. Modern way is not necessarily the best or Small coffee growers...with their bags of coffee beans at Owena awaiting airfreight. most productive way Photo: Paradise here. Economists should note this and write about the case of the small intensive food-cropping. coffee-grower and his naive but logical calculaFor farmers who live in the districts served by tion of opportunity-cost. Then, they should talk the ever-deteriorating secondary road systems and to the industry’s extension people about it. for those whose access to markets is only by small Thus our advisers recommend the use of aeroplane services, vegetables do not present such plastic planter-bags, which are to be filled with an opportunity and these people persist with their a self-draining mix of sand and soil and the bags ageing coffee-gardens. are then placed under green plastic shade-cloth Coffee, being light in weight whilst high in shelters. relative value, remains the best source of cash In the smallholder situation—(and in the case income here. And today, a cash income is as much of many of the “nursery projects” in the past)— a part of subsistence as the staple foods which all this sets up a disastrous start to a well-meaning these families grow. effort at rehabilitation. Bagged seedlings dry Programme of renewal out fast and need daily Coffee-growing must be supported and enwatering. Carrying large hanced in all these communities by means of volumes of water is lainstruction and example whereby a simple even bour-intensive indeed. if laborious programme of renewal is accepted as Heavily-shaded necessary and entered into. plants don’t grow well. Coffee is a well-proven resource for a cash They struggle for light, income within the subsistence-based way of life grow tall and thin and in the highland districts in almost all provinces. poor in quality. This There is a further problem to be faced in the goes completely against planning and implementation of a nation-wide the common-sense and coffee replanting push. Our coffee-scientists time-honoured techand extension-planners at DAL and CIC will not nique of bare-earth agree that using growers’ own hand-selected cofnurseries which draw fee-cherry for seedling production is appropriate. moisture in as it is used At the same time, supplies of officiallyand need only infreapproved seeds and approved ex-nursery seedquent manual waterlings are extremely irregular in supply and very ing; and against using expensive, many growers say. kunai or pitpit thatch Past attempts at “central nursery projects” have for shade. not resulted in any measurable improvement. This thatch is thinned Records show these programmes have been a out slowly, allowing the waste of resources. seedlings to develop The guardians of the industry, well-educated strength, size, and and technologically-savvy people, rule with great healthy root-systems firmness to the effect that coffee-growing by with slowly-increasing smallholders must be conducted using standards energisation derived and inputs which have been learned in their from muted but slowly own progress to the important positions they intensified sunlight. hold today. Growth proceeds as However, the methodology being insisted the roofing-material is upon, very broadly, is appropriate to capitalprogressively thinned driven corporately-owned plantations of which out. This as opposed there are fewer than 20 remaining in good order. to the long, skinny, unIt is a methodology appropriate to an industhrifty, pot-bound prod-

ucts of the costly and officially-recommended shade-cloth-covered, plastic-bag method. Experience proves that the simpler method of production allied with transfer of daily-specified numbers of bare-root seedlings to pre-dug planting holes works extremely well. Results will reward growers who practice this method of regeneration. To admit to growers that it is better to use seedlings grown from the fruit of selected trees which each grower knows as good, prolific parents, than to join the long queue for expensive, stunted, pot-bound seedlings or dry seeds produced at the research stations of CIC is more than the experts can do. To them, it means a denial of all they have worked hard to learn. But this is shallow reasoning. In times of threatened disaster such as the coffee-rust scare of 1986-87, and in terms of guarding the industry against the advance of other diseases from the Indonesian border, scientists and extension people have done very well. In developing PNG-appropriate shading, spacing, nutritional and pest-control regimes as well as a valuable plant-breeding programme, these men and women are to be congratulated. Thus they should reconsider their position on plant production and replanting using basic, old-fashioned but more appropriate means without fear of losing face. This is obviously the methodology to adopt in this current crisis. • John Fowke arrived to work as a Cadet Patrol Officer in Papua New Guinea in 1958. He spent the best part of the next 48 years there. In 1968, he entered the coffee industry as a factory manager at Goroka, and went on to work in the fields of plantation management, smallholder extension services, and as an adviser to the Coffee Industry Corporation.

Islands Business, August 2013

Environment “If you were to compare that with five years previously, the answer would be no. Some people look at that as part of climate change and yet others look at that as disasters. So this is why it is difficult for me to see why climate change is taken differently and separated from disasters. And the best way for me to argue for financing is to actually use the disaster hook,” Rodgers said. “For people like us in not being able to clearly articulate or differentiate between climate change being a longer term phenomenon therefore, the investment is long-term, and the climatic variability events like cyclones and floods, which we call disasters and which are First in the world...joint meeting in Fiji of stakeholders—among them government representatives, non-state actors, regional organisations more often and more frequent, and donor agencies—provided an opportunity for extended dialogue on what the merger is likely to look like. Photos: SPC the question I ask is if in this context frequent cyclones and flooding is due to patterns of climatic variability and part of climate change and yet we call them disasters, then why are we separating them? “I think sometimes we are so used to one thing that we might be afraid of pushing what might be the appropriate agenda, which is how do we present the region and its vulnerability in such a way that we can secure resources for the risks such as climatic events and disasters. “And if we are to go in a joint framework, we do need to put those concerns forward,” Rodgers said when asked whether the merger could possibly jeopardise the ability of each to secure much needed finance. At this stage however, climate change and By Dionisia Tabureguci disaster risk management are still being looked Vulnerable at as separate entities despite the belief in some Typically, millions of dollars are available via The “Finance-factor” stands out as a wildquarters that they are “two sides of the same international funding agencies for the climate card in discussions last month surrounding the coin” and that, according to Jimmie Rodgers, change agenda. It is not a secret that the Pacific integration of work to tackle two major forces that Director-General of the Secretariat of the Pacific region is among the most vulnerable in the world affect countries in the region—climate change Community (SPC), might actually be a limiting to the expected impacts of climate change. and natural disasters. factor in consolidating finance for an A number of Pacific Islands CounJust how the funding structure will pan out integrated portfolio, whether regional tries (PICs) have been identified to be is a bit of a grey area at this point, as the two or national. among the most vulnerable to natural disciplines are aligned to fund accessibility in “The more we continue to address hazards like tropical cyclones and different manners, procedures and qualifying these two schools as two independent earthquakes. criteria. Some are concerned that merging the things, the more problems we have,” However, while scientificallytwo will dilute the visibility of one, while others Rodgers said in an interview with based risk assessment are now availare of the opinion that while merging does make able for some PICs on their exposure Islands Business. sense as the two do overlap in many areas, little to natural disasters and financing focus is being put on dealing with aspects where products are now available to them Climate variability they do not overlap. through such projects as the Pacific Regional technical work on disaster The talks surrounding the merger are not new. Catastrophe Risk Assessment and risk management are being executed Guiding documents on disaster risk manageFinancing Initiative (PCRAFI), the through the SPC’s SOPAC division. ment and climate change adopted by leaders in “Because ultimately, as a result of Jotham Napat...Vanuatu same cannot be said on their exposure the region both expire in 2015 and a combined climate change you have disasters. I h a s a l r e a dy p u t i n to climate change. regional strategy to replace them was endorsed While indeed funding for climate think climate change as a term is un- place mechanisms for by Pacific leaders in 2011. fortunately slightly misused because coordination in-country. change is available, accessing them Last month’s ‘first in the world’ joint meeting is often said to be very difficult and climate change is over a long-term in Fiji of common stakeholders—among them there is recognition of the need to delicately period and you can only measure it in long-term government representatives, non-state actors, negotiate this issue when integration is being of, say, 50 years, 100 years. And it’s cyclical. regional organisations and donor agencies—procarried out. “What we actually have now is a phenomenon vided an opportunity for extended dialogue on “I think it’s important that in any joint strategy, called climate variability. So if you were to ask what the merger is likely to look like. we don’t lose sight of the fact that leaders have whether, in the last five years, major climatic Although the finance element was thrashed said that climate change is the biggest chalevents in the Pacific have changed compared to out and remains unchartered waters, it was found lenge facing our region,” said David Sheppard, the previous five years, the answer would be yes. that a number of countries in the region were Director-General of the Apia-based Secretariat Because in the last five years, we’ve had more well ahead in the implementation of their Joint of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme severe floods and cyclones. National Action Plans (JNAPs).

F-factor in climate change, disaster merger Pacific slow in integration pace

44 Islands Business, August 2013

vanced model for seamless integration, aligned in 2005. (SPREP), that provides member countries with with updated legislation but it is by no means a It now has a National Advisory Board on technical assistance on climate change and the model that all PICs must follow. Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction, environment. All PICs, said Sheppard, have integrated at under which all work relating to the two areas are “And also obviously, natural disasters are major varying degrees. Some countries are guided by consolidated. That has paid off hugely, especially and we know the growing challenges associated their JNAP while those without JNAPs are intein terms of dealing with the financing element. with the changes in climate and that there are grating the two as a way of conserving resources If other PICs are struggling in this area, Vanuatu logical reasons why we should integrate them. and eliminating duplications. has found a way not only to merge the two but But we have to make sure that any joint effort But come 2015 when the new regional guidto access finance using its very well organised adds value to our case to strengthen the funding ing document on an integrated climate change institutional structure. that’s coming in through to PICs. and disaster risk management work is expected Within its national advisory board is a project “There are established mechanisms such as the to come into force, what can we expect moving management unit that manages all operations of climate financing mechanisms. The argument forward as a region with known vulnerabilities integration we’ve often heard from international agencies to these natural forces? “Because of the initiative that we have taken is the problem of capacity, of not being able to “I have no doubt that we will have an integrated and with a lot of awareness and emphasis, the adequately spend the money. By actually linking strategy by 2015 and that’s from a regional level. government saw the importance and the need systems, making agencies more effective, we are At the national level, possibly many of the counto establish a new ministry, which is now the in fact improving some of the processes for betries will have not only the integrated strategy, Ministry of Climate Change. ing able to accept, spend and deliver funding,” many of them will be like Vanuatu where they “The ministry basically looks after meteorolSheppard told Islands Business. have already put in place mechanisms for coorogy and geo-hazard, climate change, energy, “We’ve also heard from a number of countries dination in-country,” said Rodgers. environment, and the national disaster manageabout how they’re trying to improve their own “How do we get financing into the region to ment office. And that was the best decision that systems so that they can be better able to directly support this joint work? access those funding inThe first thing that developstruments. So that the ing partners will look at is: issue of sustainable finance are we a vulnerable region? is linked to strengthening And that will be articulated agencies at national level to in the joint framework. We make sure that any efforts are. Why? And that will be to integrate does not dilute articulated. the case that’s being made “Then the next question and in fact does support will be: what are the areas it as much as possible,” of investment and this is Sheppard added. where the joint strategy will Institutional strengthclearly identify? If you were ening has happened in to invest in 10 things in the different ways across the Pacific. Cook Islands for At the joint meeting...SPC’s Jimmie Rodgers (left) and SPREP’s David Sheppard (right) at one of the panel region and investment in these three will give you instance has done what discussions during the meeting in Nadi. 80% of the results, then many other PICs are dodevelopment partners will ing—put its climate change probably look at the three and then the others. our ministers made in order to take the issues of department and disaster risk management under “And this where at country-level they will disaster risk management and climate change adone ministry. be very interested to see if the countries have a aptation forward,” said National Advisory Board It has also set up a disaster relief fund which legitimate framework. co-chair Jotham Napat. it said it will invest to prepare it for the impacts “For example, Vanuatu has a legitimate of extreme weather events like tropical cyclones. framework and nice mechanisms, government Funding A review of its Disaster Risk Management Act processes, accountability mechanism. This will “The project management unit is the overall is now taking place and that promises for more allow them to invest with confidence. coordinating body. They work closely with or cohesion between the Cook Islands’ DRM and “Vanuatu’s point becomes important because establish linkages with the other sectors. We know climate change portfolios. they can clearly say if you’re interested to invest, that disaster risk reduction and climate change are “We now have a disaster trust fund to help this is where we would like you to consider, but developing issues and also cross cutting issues. quicken response during disasters. That was one please do not make your financial situation too “So we work with those other agencies in of the problems during Cyclone Pat (in 2010) difficult. Now, the Global Environmental Facility order to mainstream these two elements into when we were trying to recruit the different min(GEF), their processes are very tough. the corporate planning, into their business planistries, especially when you’re dealing with the “The World Bank, processes are tough. Asian ning and also into their budgetary processes outer islands, you have to fly engineers in to do Development Bank processes are tough. Those because we know the impacts of climate change assessments, fly resources out to the outer islands. three in particular, between them because they’re will become more severe and so the policy that “Of course, the first thing they will ask is who banks, they have a lot of money but they’re also the Ministry of Climate Change is driving is to will pay for it. You know those early three days very difficult, with various levels of accountabilmainstream the two elements into all the sectors, are crucial so with this trust fund, we’re not goity. Whereas the bilateral ones, Australia, they’re so that they address food security, infrastructure, ing to worry about who’s going to fund disaster much simpler; and the European Union? climate proofing, etc,” Napat added. relief,” said Charles Carlson, Director Emergency “I would put them between say countries like While recognising the difficulties of accessing Management Cook Islands. Australia and the GEF, they’re well known in the finance, Napat said Vanuatu has successfully In other PICs such as Tonga, integration is still region, their processes are difficult but we know aligned its institutional structure, together with a long way off, with climate change still a departthem so it’s not an issue. But the three that in my its National Adaptation Plan of Action (NAPA) ment under its Ministry of Lands and DRM an view are difficult are the World Bank, ADB and to access donor funding for adaptation work such arm of the Ministry of Infrastructure. Tonga’s GEF and perhaps the discussions around donors as food security, coastal management and comDeputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrato be more flexible are probably targeted at them. munity resilience. structure Samiu Vaipulu was convinced, after last “So I think the new framework will be passed, “We have actually accessed the funds under month’s discussion, that merging the two was the it will raise funds, it will be a good one with NAPA—11 million Euros from the EU and the best way forward. milestones, indicators to measure progress so, World Bank. And we have five key priority areas But a PIC that stands out as having successfully looking ahead, if more countries are like Vanuatu, that were identified under NAPA which the funds strengthened institutional structure by merging that’s good at regional level and I think we’ll get will be used for,” said Napat. its national disaster work with its climate change there,” said Rodgers. Vanuatu has by far put forward the most adbrief is Vanuatu, which started integration work Islands Business, August 2013 45

Environment

SPREP with David Sheppard

Weather and climate services enhance economic growth

acific Islands exist in a climate of change. extremes of weather and climate. Examples of such as fishing, agriculture, water and forestry. Not just the long-term climate change these are the current drought in the Republic of On the positive side, because these signals are we hear a lot about, but also season-toMarshall Islands, which happened to coincide so strong, NMS can observe the behaviour of season and year-to-year changes that can cause with coastal flooding and the heavy rainfall and the ocean and atmosphere, and predict what the large swings in rainfall and sea level, among floods in Western Viti Levu, Fiji, in March 2012. climate will be like over the coming six months other things. NMS and NDMOs work closely together to with reasonable certainty. And every so often, as Samoa and Fiji can testify prepare communities as these events develop, The Pacific Meteorological Council works with Cyclone Evan recently, the cyclone wildcard then assist and guide recovery. with the various sectors in the Pacific to ensure turns up and leaves havoc in its path. The joint session reviewed recent cyclones, this information is used to plan for activities National Meteorological Services (NMS) tsunamis, droughts and other severe weather such as crop selection and resource allocation, across the Pacific are the eyes and ears of comevents, and highlighted successes and failures in and the Pacific Islands Meteorological Strategy munities and governments for upcoming weather their joint efforts. (2012-2021) provides a guiding framework to and climate events. Sometimes these are sudden, However, it is not just extreme events where achieve this. such as cyclones and tsunaThis strategy supports key mis, and sometimes they are activities and outcomes needed ‘slow-onset’ events, such as within the Pacific and tailors droughts. international efforts, such as the Directors of NMS from Global Framework for Climate across the Pacific met in Nadi, Services to best support the needs Fiji, during the first week of of Pacific countries and territories. July for the second Pacific MeAs with most sectors across the teorological Council (PMC). Pacific, there is a need for more This bi-annual event proinvestment in National Meteorolvides a platform to discuss ogy Services. the achievements, challenges The PMC discussed options and needs of Pacific NMS such as cost-recovery from serwith partners from developed vices they provide to industries countries and international like airlines, but this will not be organisations who can provide enough to cover the provision of assistance. services which assist economic The theme of this year’s Pacific delegates...at the first joint meeting of the Pacific Platform for Disaster Risk Management growth across almost all areas, PMC was “Strengthening the and the Pacific Climate Change Roundtable held in Nadi last month. Photo: SPC while also increasing the safety and resilience and security of Pasecurity of communities. cific communities through an Overall, the PMC demonstratNMS can add value to communities and econointegrated approach to minimise weather, climate ed that Pacific Islands NMS are a vital resource mies. and water risks”. This emphasised the importance for Pacific Islands societies. The Pacific Ocean is the engine room of much of an integrated approach with various partners. The services they provide for long-term planglobal climate variability through changes in the The meeting this year included a joint sesning and during times of need are necessary for ocean temperature and winds across the equator. sion with the Pacific Platform for Disaster Risk a healthy and vibrant economy, and let us hope This causes significant changes in air temperaManagement, which consists of directors from our governments recognise this and invest acture, local winds, sea level and rainfall. National Disaster Management Offices (NDcordingly. All of these factors can dramatically influence MOs) across the region. • David Sheppard is the director-general of SPREP. He is based in Apia, Samoa. the primary industries Pacific Islands rely upon, Societies and economies are most affected by

Islands Business, August 2013

Environment

Women...in Sepa village in Choiseul. Photo: SPC

Choiseul’s project, model for islands Must address people’s aspirations By Sean Hobbs The Choiseul Integrated Climate Change Programme (CHICCHAP) in the province of Choiseul, Solomon Islands, was the subject of much discussion during the first joint meeting of the Pacific Platform for Disaster Risk Management and the Pacific Climate Change Roundtable held in Nadi last month. Many Pacific Islands countries have already embarked on the process of integrating their national climate change adaptation and disaster risk management work plans, and many are now looking to roll out integrated on-the-ground climate change adaptation projects, similar to CHICCHAP. With this direction becoming apparent, it is worth investigating how CHICCHAP came into being and what lessons can be drawn from the experience so far. The programme involves several Solomon Islands ministries and development partners coordinating their activities under the leadership of both the Provincial Government and the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology (MECDM) to address climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction on Choiseul, a province to the northwest of Honiara. Choiseul has a population of approximately 26,000. Rence Sore, previously the MECDM Permanent Secretary and now the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Rural Electrification, was the principal force behind the Choiseul project. “We had support from development partners

going into all of these sectors, but there was no coordination. They were just doing their own thing. I wanted to pilot a programme where all of the donors would work together to address all of the sectors in one location,” says Sore. “I had several meetings with Brian Dawson, the Senior Climate Change Advisor with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), when we were at the UNFCCC COP16 meeting in Cancun, Mexico, in 2010. We arranged for SPC and GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) to assist the Government of Solomon Islands and this is what kick-started the Choiseul programme.” Dawson says he had no hesitation in supporting Sore’s idea to pilot a more coordinated and programmatic—rather than piecemeal—approach to climate change adaptation and risk reduction in Solomon Islands. “A lot of countries in the Pacific have been inundated with assistance project by project, and it absorbs an enormous amount of time for the limited number of staff in national climate change offices. “The benefit of an integrated programmatic approach is its administrative efficiency. You get a single management structure and the various development partners all contribute to one reporting framework. It’s much easier to manage.” Choiseul was selected as the pilot location and Sore worked to promote the new approach amongst development partners and donors in Honiara. Support was secured from the United Nations Development Programme, United States Agency for International Development, the

Pacific-Australian Climate Change Science and Adaptation Planning Programme, the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme and The Nature Conservancy, in addition to SPC and GIZ. Some partners were drawn to the concept and some, such as The Nature Conservancy, already had established operations in Choiseul. Frank Wickham, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, says one of the lessons learned in the early stages was, “When you have a multi-partner approach, each partner needs to be really clear about their capacity and how they can effectively partner up with others”. “It requires strong leadership and needs a good person to coordinate and provide technical advice on the island,’ says Wickham. The project was fortunate to have Dr Melchoir Mataki, who was taken on by SPC-GIZ to manage the programme. He is now Permanent Secretary of MECDM, so that further strengthens the links and government involvement in the programme.” Mataki says, “Partners have to be prepared to work as a team and be prepared to negotiate and compromise. People talk of integration and coordination, but if they refuse to be coordinated and to work in an integrated fashion then it’s a mess—it’s not going to work.” To avoid this problem, Dr Mataki says this requires ‘a champion on the ground’ but not a specialist that knows only how to do climate change adaptation in one particular sector. They have to be able to handle politics and community relations as well as the technical aspects. They have to be the “glue” so to speak. Sore says it is essential that climate change adaptation and disaster risk management programmes are connected to national and provincial development priorities and strategies. “That connection must be clear and must be visible. Programmes must address the development and conservation aspirations of the people,” he says. “And if it is working in Choiseul, then it can also work in other provinces in Solomon Islands. And if it is working in Solomon Islands, then it can also work in Fiji and Samoa and elsewhere in the Pacific.” Islands Business, August 2013 47

Business Intelligence

Stop interfering: Tonga tells NZ By Dionisia Tabureguci

onga says it will make do and explore other options if New Zealand continues to suspend its tourism aid to the island kingdom. New Zealand recently punished Tonga by withdrawing its multimillion dollar tourism aid, following the island kingdom’s acceptance of a gift from China in the form of a Chinese manufactured Xian MA60 aircraft. In an interview with Islands BusIness I Iness in Fiji last month, Tonga’s deputy prime minister Samiu Vaipulu lashed out strongly at New Zealand, reminding it not to put its nose into local affairs. “We may go to China or we have some reserve funds but we must find a way to do it,” Vaipulu said when asked what the options are for Tonga, following New Zealand’s decision. “We just don’t want anyone to interfere with our internal matters. They should not. And they have done that for years. And that’s what Fiji did (resist interference) and we should do the same thing. “What we don’t want is New Zealand telling us what to do and interfering with our internal matters when they know very well there was a New Zealand company that left on its own without Tonga chasing them. They don’t have to tell us what to do,” Vaipulu said.

The New Zealand company Chathams Pacific, The MA60 incidents coincided with events which provided domestic inter-islands flight servicin Tonga surrounding the aircraft type. When es in Tonga, had pulled out in March over concerns Chathams Pacific pulled out, a new airline called that it will be driven out of business if the Tongan Real Tonga took over domestic services in Tonga government went ahead with plans to and it was leased the government’s new run a competing airline business. MA60. Real Tonga is owned and operThe issue became a diplomatic spat ated by Palu Aviation Services, owned when, following Chathams Pacific’s by Tevita Palu, a local aircraft engineer pullout and Tonga’s acceptance of with over 25 years experience. China’s airplane gift, New Zealand’s Real Tonga and the Tongan governforeign minister Murray McCully anment are now finding difficulties with nounced New Zealand’s decision to the plane because the MA60 is already suspend his country’s tourism aid to not type certified by the United KingTonga. That much needed fund is redom and United States authorities and ported to be around NZ$10.5 million New Zealand has now followed suit. (US$8.3million) and is part of a big“Significant safety issues have been ger aid package under a bilateral joint raised regarding the plans of the new air commitment for development signed services operator. Our tourism support between the two countries in 2011. will remain on hold until safety issues New Zealand’s concerns were Samiu Vaipulu...butt out are resolved to the satisfaction of refounded on a recent spate of accidents New Zealand. Photo: SPC spected international aviation experts,” involving the MA60. Just this year McCully told New Zealand media last and within a month, three incidents month. involving MA60s were reported. Two were reported Vaipulu dismissed the claims saying the inciby Myanma Airways in Burma and the other by dents in Indonesia were due more to pilot error Merpati Airlines in Indonesia. than technical issues with the plane. Last year, Merpati had two similar incidents in“McCully should go to China and talk with the volving the MA60. Chinese. What we’ve seen with this aircraft is it’s

TRADE MARK CAUTIONARY NOTICE IN THE FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA Notice is hereby given that SUNTORY HOLDINGS LIMITED, of 1-40, Dojimahama 2-chome, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka, Japan, is the sole owner and proprietor in the Federated States of Micronesia and elsewhere of the trademark below:

SUNTORY which is used in International Class 33 upon or in connection with the following goods: Alcoholic beverages, except beer SUNTORY HOLDINGS LIMITED claims all rights in respect to the above trademark and will take all necessary legal steps against any person, firm or corporation counterfeiting, imitating, violating or otherwise infringing its rights in the Federated States of Micronesia.

Lawyers & Notaries Public Pacific House, Butt Street, PO Box 149 Suva, Fiji Tel: +679 331 4188 Email: trademarks@munroleyslaw.com.fj www.munroleyslaw.com

Islands Business, August 2013

safe and reliable. In fact, I am in negotiations with China for two more aircrafts. They are from another Chinese company but the same type of aircraft that was used by Air Fiji. “The whole idea of getting this aircraft was so that there can be competition to benefit our people because that is what we want to do. Develop our people and our private sector. But they (Chathams Pacific) say the market is too small and I said no, it’s the equipment that you use. Their aircraft is aged which uses a lot of fuel and that would affect the operation. Now when we have a new aircraft, they say it’s not safe,” Vaipulu said. In a statement last month, the Tongan government gave assurances that the new aircraft will be put through the procedural safety test process consistent with any aircraft that operates in Tonga. “The MA60 aircraft which has been gifted to Tonga by the Chinese Government will not be allowed to fly in Tonga until it fully complies with international aviation standards including safety requirements established by the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation),” it said. Real Tonga’s Palu was also quoted in the government statement saying: “Real Tonga is committed to upholding international aviation standards including those for safety. We have not yet signed a deed of lease for the M60 aircraft but when we do sign such an agreement, the MA60 aircraft, like any other aircraft, would be required under Tonga’s aviation regulations to go through the necessary civil aviation checks before the aircraft is allowed to fly in Tonga.”

Vanuatu airports upgrade

remedial and upgrading programme on Vanuatu’s airports totalling A$350 million is expected to begin soon following an agreement signed between the Vanuatu government and a Singapore company. Under the programme, remedial work will be carried out on Bauerfield Airport; Pekoa Airport on Santo upgraded; plus improvement works on Norsup and Whitegrass airports. The Singapore group is known as Vanuatu Trade Development Private Limited (VTDPL). Signing on behalf of the Vanuatu government were Prime Minister Moana Carcasses and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edward Natapei. Executive Director of the Singaporean ‘Vanuatu Trade Development Private Limited’ David Mak and General Manager Eric Ong signed on behalf of VTDPL Group. Carcasses said there will be direct flights into and out of Vanuatu without having to transit to Australia,New Zealand, Fiji or New Caledonia to other parts of the world. “This is an answer to our people towards a major significant economic progress,and therefore awareness must reach the population of Vanuatu that everyone will be part of the single most important economic infrastructure development of this magnitude.”—PACNEWS

Hawaiki Cable eyes Whangarei landing site

company hoping to build a US$350 million submarine internet cable out of New Zealand is eyeing Whangarei as its landing site. Auckland-based Hawaiki Cable is planning to build an internet link between New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii and the US West Coast and said that the system could be operating within two years. According to plans aired last year, the main cable would also have branches running to Norfolk Island, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, Wallis, Samoa and American Samoa. Hawaiki Cable says it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the regional economic development body Northland Inc to land the cable in Whangarei. Hawaiki said a second cable system out of New Zealand would bring “true competition to the market” and provide “security of supply necessary for the country to host international data centres”. Its chief executive Rémi Galasso said New Zealand had all the “necessary ingredients for the development of a datacentre industry”. —PACNEWS

TRADE MARK CAUTIONARY NOTICE IN NAURU Notice is hereby given that SUNTORY HOLDINGS LIMITED, of 1-40, Dojimahama 2-chome, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka, Japan, is the sole owner and proprietor in Nauru and elsewhere of the trademark below:

Lawyers & Notaries Public Pacific House, Butt Street, PO Box 149 Suva, Fiji Tel: +679 331 4188 Email: trademarks@munroleyslaw.com.fj www.munroleyslaw.com

Islands Business, August 2013

Book Review

Spellbound Mystery: The Untold Story By Diane Duthweller

hirty-five years after the mysterious deaths of an American couple on their sailboat in French Polynesia, we may finally know what happened to Loren and Joanne Edwards. The FBI labelled it a “Crime on the High Seas: Murder”, but closed the case without filing charges. In his just-released memoir Dare I Call It Murder?, the couple’s oldest son, a former investigative journalist, fingers his younger brother and lays out the case never presented in court. Larry Edwards reveals facts unknown to the public; including confirmation his brother was FBI’s prime suspect. But what readers may find truly shocking are Edwards’ claims about what happened aboard Spellbound in February 1978 and why no one was prosecuted. Edwards’ brother, Gary, was one of three people who survived the family sail across the Pacific, but all three gave conflicting accounts of what had happened. That was a major hitch in the case. So was the fact that Gary threw his parents’ bodies overboard, eliminating much of the forensic evidence that might have helped determine how they died. Gary said he had to bury his parents at sea because they were far from shore and their bodies were decomposing in the heat. That part of the

story never added up to Edward and others who believe Gary was trying to stall the return to land and the questions that would follow. In Dare I Call It Murder?, Edwards recounts radio calls from Spellbound and eyewitness observations. Evidence suggests Gary lied about the sailboat’s seaworthiness and location, claiming the 53-ft vessel was about 60 miles from the closest island, when it was perhaps as near as 20. Gary declined a radioed offer of help from a doctor on a nearby boat, despite his injured hand and his sister’s serious and still-untreated head wound. Another pair of boaters report seeing the Spellbound sailing erratically. When they ap-

Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) Director, Fisheries Aquaculture and Marine Ecosystems (FAME) SPC invites applications for the position of Director, FAME Division, located at its headquarters in Noumea, New Caledonia. SPC is the largest regional provider of technical/scientific services and development assistance to Pacific Island countries and territories. The Director of FAME is responsible for overseeing the provision of expert advice, technical assistance, research and training support to SPC’s island member countries and territories in the sustainable development and management of their fisheries resources. The Director manages an annual budget of USD 14 million and a team of over 80 staff and reports to the Deputy Director-General, Programmes. Key result areas include: (i) provide vision, leadership, direction, and management of SPC resources to maximise impacts of regionally delivered services to SPC member countries and territories; (ii) contribute strongly to SPC’s development, management and achievement of goals; (iii) drive policy innovation and manage change; (iv) be responsible for resource mobilisation and careful management of budget expenditure and reporting; and (v) develop and maintain collaborative relationships with clients and diverse stakeholders. Candidates will have relevant qualifications and experience; skills in strategic thinking, policy development and mobilising funding; strategic understanding of fisheries management and development issues in Pacific Island countries and territories; and the skills required to lead multi-disciplinary teams and work effectively in a bilingual and culturally diverse environment with a broad range of stakeholders. For further details, go to www.spc.int/en/employment.html or contact Sally Herrmann, HR Adviser, in confidence (sallyh@spc.int or +687 26 01 40). Applications may be submitted in English or French (SPC’s working languages). Closing date: Friday, 23 August 2013.

50 Islands Business, August 2013

About book Release Date: July 9, 2013 Publisher: Wigeon Publishing Hardcover/Trade paperback/E-book

proached and offered help, Gary told them he was having fuel problems, but had just fixed it and waved them off. Dare I Call It Murder? carefully and clearly deciphers a maze of contradictory claims for a highly believable conclusion—one the author finally decided to share, after a published accounting of his parents’ final days by a famed true-crime writer. Edwards says her sister’s version of the events is inaccurate and reignited old conflicts over the case that tore his fractured family apart even further. Connie Saindon, a therapist who has helped Edwards writes, “It’s the kind of book you can’t put down. You will live this story.”

Request for Expressions of Interest (EOI) International Dateline Hotel PPP

Government of Tonga

The Government of Tonga, through the Ministry of Finance, wishes to invite interested parties from the private sector to submit bids for undertaking the renovation, upgrading and future operation of the International Dateline Hotel in Nuku’alofa, Tonga (the “Project”). It is proposed that the International Dateline Hotel will be redeveloped to a 3½-4-star equivalent standard, similar to that of the Holiday Inn Hotel in Suva, Fiji. The International Finance Corporation (“IFC”), a member of the World Bank Group, has been retained by the Government of Tonga as Lead Advisor on the structuring and implementation of a public-private partnership (“PPP”) for the Project. The International Dateline Hotel, the largest in Tonga, is located on the waterfront in the capital of Nuku’alofa on the island of Tongatapu. It is the largest accommodation in the town center and close to the Fa’onelua Convention Centre, a conference complex with up to 200 seating capacity. The historic hotel first opened in 1967 and has since been comprehensively expanded to include 125 bedrooms with full en-suite facilities, restaurant, bar and meeting facilities, swimming pool and an entertainment venue. The property is, however, in need of comprehensive redevelopment. Interested parties with experience in developing and operating hotels are invited to submit a written Expression of Interest (“EOI”), including a brief profile of the company/ group, highlighting their relevant qualifications, experience and the financial resources available for pursuing the Project. The EOI should be written in English and sent to the Ministry of Finance of the Government of Tonga, with a copy to IFC at the addresses/email addresses listed below by 12 August 2013. Parties who have registered their initial interest will be provided with an Information Memorandum and notified in due course when a formal Request for Proposals is issued. Government of Tonga Ministry of Finance and National Planning Acting Chief Executive Officer Mrs. Balwyn Fa’otusia bfaotusia@finance.gov.to

International Finance Corporation Xianyong (Eric) Gao Level 18, 14 Martin Place Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia E-mail: xgao3@ifc.org

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