PINA

Maritime transport infrastructure in Tuvalu's outer islands will get a major upgrade over the coming years, with the World Bank's Board of Executive Directors approving an AUD$62.6 million (US$46.5 million) grant to support Tuvalu's efforts to upgrade and increase the resilience of its maritime infrastructure. Set to be the largest-ever World Bank project in Tuvalu, the Maritime Investment in Climate...

Samoa Supreme Court has reserved its decision on applications to declare void the appointments of Aliimalemanu Alofa Tuuau and Faagasealii Sapoa Feagiai as the additional women parliamentarians following last Aprils general elections. The applicants were the Faatuatua I le Atua Samoa ua Tasi – FAST party, and election candidates To’omata Nora Leota and Lolomatauama Eseta Faalata. The respondents Aliimalemanu and Faagasealii...

By Samisoni Pareti Dialogue is key to ensuring the durability and sustainability of marine conservation parks, was the consensus of a panel of experts at the second day of the Fiji Seascape Symposium. Providing space for civic actors to meet and talk with their partners in government has worked in the past, said Alifereti Tawake, head of the Pacific’s Locally...

Australia knew about a secret draft security pact between China and Solomon Islands weeks before it mysteriously surfaced on the internet, with several government sources claiming the nation’s intelligence agencies played a role in orchestrating the leak. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Foreign Minister Marise Payne are under increasing pressure to reveal what they knew about the proposed agreement before...

Solomon Islands Opposition Leader Matthew Wale says it is unfortunate that the security pact with China had to be secretly signed and was only made known through officials in Beijing. Wale said Prime Minister’s Manasseh Sogavare explanation in Parliament was an attempt to save face knowing that Beijing had already released information on the secret signing a few days earlier. The...

To better inform stakeholders on the health of the Southern Hemispheres third longest continuous reef system, the Status and trends of coral reefs and associated coastal habitats in Fiji’s Great Sea Reef (GSR) report was launched Thursday by the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Fisheries Pene Baleinabuli. “The system is significant to Fiji not only for its biodiversity but...

The Nobel prize winner José Ramos-Horta has scored a landslide victory in Timor-Leste’s presidential election, according to preliminary results published by the election secretariat. The 72-year-old secured 397,145 votes, or 62.09 percent, against incumbent Francisco “Lu-Olo” Guterres’ 242,440, or 37.91percent, the secretariat’s website showed on Wednesday after all ballots were counted. “The count of the district, national and regional vote has...

Fiji's Permanent Secretary for the Office of the Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs, Yogesh Karan Wednesday chaired a security dialogue with the high-level United States delegation to discuss areas of mutual interests, particularly, cooperation on defence and security. The dialogue also focused on platforms aimed at deepening the level of engagements for promoting a peaceful and unified region. The U.S delegation...

Australia has refuted claims that Australian security forces deployed to Solomon Islands’ capital Honiara to quell last November’s riots were instructed not to protect Chinese-built infrastructure. The claim was made by former Solomon Islands prime minister, Danny Philip, who is now the chair of the current government’s, foreign policy advisory subcommittee. Speaking during a webinar hosted by Georgetown University’s Centre for...

Jacinda Ardern, the New Zealand prime minister, has spoken of Beijing’s “growing assertiveness” in the Pacific region as she challenged the motive for a security pact between Solomon Islands and Beijing. Australia, New Zealand and the U.S are concerned the Solomons pact could allow China to establish a military base within 2,000km of Australia’s east coast. The text permits China...