Islands Business - Whispers

POWER PLAYS in Raro; HUNT ON FOR MSG secretariat boss; VIP TRAVEL perks...

Hunt on for MSG head: It might have been coincidental but the search for the first head of the Melanesian Spearhead Group Secretariat began the day after the foreign ministers of the Pacific Islands Forum met in Vanuatu last month. A notice in the country’s Daily Post spoke of a director-general that is visionary and productive. Basic salary is being advertised at US$95,000 per annum, courtesy it is rumoured of Beijing. China is also funding the construction of the secretariat in Port Vila. Among the possible contenders for the job is a highly trained trade expert from Papua New Guinea considered as a mover and shaker and “has balls”, and the person is not a he.

Shock resignation: So what is the real story behind the shock resignation of one of the University of the South Pacific’s most dynamic and productive vice chancellor? The incumbent himself is not talking, only saying he would decide on his next job after consulting his family. Apparently, by the time he tendered his resignation, he already had three job offers. There are whispers however that the South African-born Australian professor of law was having difficulties coping with the intense heat coming from one of his recently appointed bosses. The whispers could not determine the exact nature of the pressure, but the political upheaval in Fiji and the belief by some members that the university needs to look for an alternative base was part of the discomfort. The good professor has not left, yet the campaign and behind-the-scenes politicking including the public release of what was supposed to be damning private remuneration details has begun for a replacement with a minister in the interim government of Fiji roped in for the rush.

Power plays in Raro: All is not wonderful between Cook Islands Prime Minister Jim Marurai and Deputy Prime Minister Dr Terepai Maoate, reports surfacing in local newspapers suggest. Marurai, a former college principal known for his humble and thrifty ways in leadership, is popular with the people. The Democratic Party swept back into power in the general election in September partly because of this. Marurai was incumbent prime minister because of the splits in party ranks and shifting coalitions that are a feature of Cook Islands politics. But veteran politician and former prime minister Maoate is the Democratic Party’s elected leader and the party now has a healthy majority in Parliament. The local media reports suggest Maoate wants to lead the country again. He has apparently become more and more assertive. Only one problem, says one of the newspaper reports. At the moment Maoate does not have the numbers in caucus to replace Marurai and keep the Democrats in power at the same time. As this edition of Islands Business went to press, Marurai was still prime minister and media reports of differences between the pair continued. Watch this space.

Heading for the bench? One of Fiji’s able diplomats and sharp trade negotiators might soon be donning a robe and wig in the high court bench. At the moment, his minister responsible for foreign relations has managed to convince the powers that be to retain him as adviser. He would be advising the minister for the next couple of months, despite the new foreign relations permanent secretary taking up his appointment. Apparently, the advisor is retaining the services of his personal assistant when he was head of the ministry.

Consultants top stop? Nauru is fast turning out to be a favourite stop for many Pacific-grown consultants, and it’s not phosphate they are after. By last month, two victims of the Fiji coup were working for PRAN (Pacific Regional Assistance for Nauru), the RAMSI equivalent in the tiny republic. Fiji’s ousted foreign affairs minister Kaliopate Tavola was conducting a review of Nauru’s foreign policy and ousted chief executive officer in Fiji’s ministry of finance, Paula Uluinaceva, is financial adviser for PRAN. Whispers has also been told that RAMSI in the Solomons is also looking for qualified people from Fiji, particularly those laid off by the interim government, to join RAMSI.

VIP travel perks: Tuvalu may be tiny but one of its highly travelled citizens stand tall in his dislike for red-carpet treatment and the perks that go with VIP travel. Sighted enroute to Port Vila last month to attend the Pacific Islands Forum foreign ministers meeting, Tuvalu’s delegate opted to travel economy class and avoided the VIP check-in and to be waited upon by protocol officers. When told that the officers were there to assist him, the minister remarked that the VIP treatment was a long process. He would rather join the crowd and be treated like everyone else! Perhaps the rest of the region’s VIP crowd should take heed of this!

Race to August: Some delegates attending a recent pre-South Pacific Games chef de mission workshop left Samoa impressed with the facilities being developed but wondering if all was on target. Of particular concern to some was the work still to be done on a games village at Malifa, a short walk from downtown Apia. The delegates wondered with the games opening on August 25 whether all would be ready in time. Some noted that they were surprised they saw no work being done on a Saturday they were there. But Whispers hears that given the investment Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi and his government have made in the games, all will be ready and set to go before opening day. Tuilaepa will make sure of that, Whispers was told.

Divided Samoas: More immigration tensions between the two Samoas. Following years of unhappiness in independent Samoa over the way American Samoans treat their cousins from the islands in the west, Samoa is giving their American cousins some of the same. Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi’s government is continuing its recent policy of everything they do to us, we will do to them. This includes introducing entry permits requirements and fees for American Samoans wanting to travel to or through Samoa. Tuilaepa’s response to protests from American Samoans is simple: “Talk to your own government. We’re just reciprocating what they do to us.”

Unexpected text victim: Free text messaging that came as a package in Samoa’s mobile telephone services has had its first victim—the most unexpected victim of all. Talamua website reported that a Methodist Church minister had been sacked by the president of the church when he was found to have sent a sexually arousing text message to the wife of a fellow minister. The minister sent the woman the message while her husband was overseas. The wife saved the message and showed it to her husband when he returned to Samoa.

Elvis ready to vote in PNG? Election is just around the corner in PNG. Apart from the role of China and of Chinese businesses and citizens emerging as an explosive new issue, ghost names and double entries are appearing on the electoral rolls. If one goes by the electoral rolls, then Elvis Presley and crooner Tom Jones are living in PNG and ready to vote in the country’s election.

Where on earth is she from? There was rumoured to be a last minute flurry of activity at the White House ahead of US President George Bush’s meeting with New Zealand Prime Minister, Helen Clark. Someone is believed to have rushed to the President with a longish scroll and a magnifying glass. The Prez needed to know where in the world the country of his soon-to-arrive guest was. And that’s not all...thanks to New Zealand’s nuclear stand and opposition to the Iraq War, a Free Trade Agreement with the world’s only superpower was a pipe dream. Yet, the Prime Minister made bold to bring it up with Bush. His reaction: he stared at the floor and chuckled. New Zealand now will debate for weeks on what that chuckle meant. She came back with a little more than a ‘reaffirmation’ of friendship from the US. But what the US got out of her is more significant. New Zealand will be its most important ‘friend’ in its new fangled Pacific strategy.

Top pay: Mirror, mirror on the wall, guess who’s one of the highly paid airline executives in the region? One national airline is paying one of its top executives two million dollars in local currency a year, more than what its chief executive gets. That’s equivalent to some 660,000 Fiji dollars.

TV service: The workings of any government are always fascinating. Take this one for instance: Recently, a paper recommending that a local company be given a free to air TV licence was tabled in cabinet. The recommendation was made after thorough investigations that found the company had complied with all the requirements a company needs to fulfill to set up a TV service. Those that have seen the company’s proposal were very impressed. Even the minister responsible for TV thought so too. But guess what? When it was tabled in cabinet, only two cabinet ministers knocked it back. And guess what happened? The TV company did not get a licence and it was decided that it be tendered. And still on TV, could we be seeing new TV companies paying $250,000 for their licence for the first three years and $1 million for every year afterwards being brought back?

Medical islands: American medical schools are back in the news in the Pacific Islands, with controversy brewing over the South Pacific School of Medicine in Rarotonga, Cook Islands. This time there are suggestions of local politics becoming involved. The school was already operating. But the Democratic Party Government has now decided not to support it following a report from a New Zealand consultant. However, that’s where things get a little murky. The school’s local partners are all linked to the Opposition, the Cook Islands Party.
Questions are being asked locally over whether a New Zealand consultant, who is not a doctor, was best qualified to evaluate a medical school catering for an American market. There is also anger surfacing in the local media over the questioning of the qualifications of one of the lecturers, a Papua New Guinean doctor who previously lectured at UPNG’s med school. One angry letter writer pointed out the number of prominent Cook Islands doctors who are UPNG graduates. The letter writer asked if their qualifications were now being questioned too. For-profit American medical schools mainly thrive from Caribbean islands. They offer cheaper alternatives to the high costs of entering a medical school in the USA. They also don’t require such high grades for entry.