PINA

Outgoing Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has blasted New Zealand Foreign Minister saying she should respect the election process of the Pacific nation. Bainimarama was replying to New Zealand's Foreign Minister Nanai Mahuta’s tweet, endorsing the new Fijian coalition government. “You got the wrong country. “You’ve jumped the gun please respect our laws and pull down your tweet,” Bainimarama said in his...

Global scientists leading some of the world's best marine laboratories have called for a stop to Japan's plans release of over 1.3 million tons of radioactively contaminated water from the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant disaster into the Pacific Ocean next year. The U.S National Association of Marine Laboratories (NAML), an organisation of more than 100 member laboratories, expressed their opposition...

The outgoing Social Democratic Liberal Party General Secretary Lenaitasi Duru claims he remains the party’s General Secretary. Duru said he has resigned from his position but has given a 30-day notice, so his resignation will become effective from 20 January next year. Duru said the management board has 43 members however, 13 seats are vacant at the moment because constituencies will...

In Tuvalu, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, and other small Pacific island nations, the tuna fishing industry is a linchpin of the economy. “It is very significant … mainly in revenue for the countries,” says Sangaalofa Clark, CEO of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement Office. The organisation was created by an agreement among small Pacific islands to collaboratively manage the region’s...

The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) launched the Women in Energy Strategy with the United States Department through the Bureau of Energy Resources and the US Embassy in Suva, in October. Pasifika Environews spoke to the U.S Department of State Bureau of Energy Resources Deputy Assistant Secretary, Laura Lochman. 1.Could you elaborate on the Women in Energy Strategy that...

The coalition of the People’s Alliance (PA), the National Federation Party (NFP), and Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA) has been formalised to form a new government in Fiji. The parties’ representatives held an official signing ceremony last night at the Yue Lai hotel in the same board room where negotiations were held the day before. The documents were signed by PA...

The Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA)has sounded a warning to its Fiji coalition partners not to bully them. Former party leader, Ro Teimumu Kepa says despite having a three-seat minority in the coalition with The People’s Alliance and National Federation Party, SODELPA will ensure its voice is heard in Parliament. “We are the smallest in the coalition partner and I hope...

The Ongoing Government of Tokelau has announced its first case of COVID-19 have been detected at the border of its northernmost atoll of Atafu. The Ulu o Tokelau,  Siopili Perez says the five cases picked up through RAT screening in quarantine, three on 13 December, 1 on 14 and 1 on 18 December arrived from a group who travelled from...

The goal of limiting global heating to 1.5C is “gasping for breath”, the UN secretary general has said as he announced a “climate ambition summit” for September. António Guterres said the summit would challenge leaders of governments and businesses to come up with “new, tangible and credible climate action to accelerate the pace of change” and confront the “existential threat”...

Our economy depends on it but, as rising ocean levels threaten our home, tightening regulation is key By David Kabua, Marshall Islands President For my country and people, climate change is not a theoretical issue — it is a real and present danger. About 98 percent of the Marshall Islands’ territory is composed of water — one of the largest...