PINA

The first seasonal workers in New Zealand's one-way travel bubble with three Pacific countries have arrived in Christchurch from Vanuatu. The workers, 154 of them, would help industries like horticulture, who are reliant on seasonal workers from the Pacific. Vanuatu consul general to New Zealand, McKenzie Kalotiti, said the charter flight landed at Christchurch Airport from Port Villa at 6am Monday. They...

The Pacific is making a desperate plea to the world's wealthy nations: Step up and deliver on your promises to fight the global climate crisis. The call comes as climate ministers hold final talks before a key UN conference in Glasgow next month. One of the biggest issues holding up progress is the question of money, a pre-COP26 summit was told...

Outgoing United Nations Resident Coordinator for the Pacific Sanaka Samarasinha said the agency is expanding the agency’s presence in the North Pacific. In an interview during his visit to Palau last week, Samarasinha said the UN will open a brand new office in the North Pacific, which will cover the five Micronesian countries of Nauru, Palau, Kiribati, FSM, and the...

Fiji has recorded 34 new cases of COVID-19 Sunday, increasing the total number of cases to 51,132 and 631 deaths since the outbreak in April. Permanent secretary for Health, Dr James Fong said there have been 80 new recoveries to report since the last update, which means that there are now 12,828 active cases. “There have been 51,132 cases during the...

Outgoing UN Resident Coordinator for the Pacific Sanaka Samarasinha lauded Palau’s high vaccination rate adding that it is “among the best in the world.” Samarasinha was in Palau last week for a country mission where he also met key government representatives, national UN staff, and civil society groups, and the private sector to discuss, current work the UN is doing...

The biggest threat to Fiji’s recovery plan will be to control our ongoing epidemic through our ongoing COVID-safe discipline. This, according to Health Ministry permanent secretary Dr James Fong. “Of particular importance is the need for good ventilation in all social and workplace indoor gatherings, ensuring that all age-eligible individuals in these gatherings are vaccinated, and proper mask-wearing,” he said. Dr Fong...

As businesses re-open from today, Fiji authorities have cautioned that breaches of COVID safe protocols will not be tolerated. Minister for Commerce, Faiyaz Koya said this milestone in Fiji’s road to recovery cannot be compromised at any cost. “Most if not all businesses are now opening and we hope to see more Fijians return to work. We’re hoping and wishing to...

Palau finally adopts a new tax regime, a Value Added Tax (VAT) system after more than 30 years using Gross Receipt Tax (GRT) system. President Surangel Whipps Jr signed the bill into law, RPPL 11-11, on Wednesday, 29 September. The new tax law, referred to as Palau Goods and Services Tax (PGST) will take effect on January 2023. “Our tax system...

Samoa Breweries introduced its newest addition to the Vailima beer family, Vailima Gold on Saturday. Vailima Gold is a low carb, full flavour lager beer with an alcoholic strength of 4.1 percent “This beer has been months in the making and our Vailima Brewing Team have worked tirelessly to perfect its brewing processes to achieve a true low carb beer that...

The Papua New Guinea Government has admitted that the purchase of the controversial Maseratis vehicles for use by the 2018 APEC Leaders was a “terrible mistake”. Finance Minister Sir John Pundari made the admission Thursday when announcing that the 40 luxury vehicles, bought for K20 million(US$5.7 million) at K500,000(US$142,000) each would be put on the market for a “discount price”...