Pacific Islands Report

Pacific forum chides Fiji, Solomons

SYDNEY, Australia –– Deposed Fiji Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry has praised the 16-nation Pacific Forum for taking a tough stance against the political turmoil in Fiji and the Solomon Islands.

Forum officials, meeting in Samoa over the weekend, said they will no longer tolerate the unlawful overthrow of governments in the Pacific Islands region.

“It’s about time countries show a little more responsibility,” Chaudhry told Radio Australia.

Chaudhry, who was deposed in a May 19 coup, has meetings planned with the United Nations, the Commonwealth Secretariat, and India to seek tougher stands against the interim Fiji government.

Solomons crime on rise
despite cease-fire

HONIARA, Solomon Islands –- The uneasy cease-fire between rival militias continues to hold but there are concerns about the breakdown in law and order in the capital.

There is worsening criminal activity in Honiara with police poorly equipped to resolve the problem, Solomons Islands Radio reports.

Car theft and house burglaries have increased significantly in recent weeks.

Niue premier’s potential
bankruptcy resolved

ALOFI, Niue –- Premier Sani Lakatani can thank his brothers in Hawai’i for helping him avoid a potentially embarrassing bankruptcy.
Lakatani’s New Zealand lawyers have handed over a check for $30,000 to Redwood Exports Ltd. to settle his debt to the company.

Lakatani, who is also Niue’s Minister of Finance, could have been barred from his government positions had the bankruptcy proceedings succeeded.

Lakatani’s brothers, Petala and Moheni, provided the funds required to resolve the bankruptcy issue.

Air Marshall Islands Dorniers grounded

MAJURO, Marshall Islands –- Air Marshall Islands’ one operating Dornier aircraft has been grounded and could be out of service until the end of this week, the Marshall Islands Journal reports.

The national airline was forced to cancel all flights, as it has no airplanes that are operational.

Officials have been scrambling to acquire temporary aircraft to service the outer islands on a short-term lease basis.

AMI Acting Manager Charles Stinnett said the airline had already contacted Air Fiji, Aloha Airlines and an African air carrier, all of which have planes suitable for outer island service.

Stowaway charged upon return to Tahiti

PAPE’ETE, French Polynesia –- The 25-year-old Tahitian stowaway who was found in the undercarriage of an Air France Boeing 747 during a refueling stopover at Los Angeles airport earlier this month has returned to French Polynesia.

The young man, who flew back to Tahiti in a cabin seat, was immediately arrested by police, briefly appeared in a Pape’ete court and was released pending his trial.

He was charged with breach of air safety regulations and stealing the uniforms he used to illegally board the plane at Pape’ete’s Faa’a International Airport. He survived temperatures of -30 degrees Celsius.