PACIFIC BRIEFS

Marshalls workers to receive U.S. nuke benefits

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Marshall Islanders who worked at Bikini and Enewetak during nuclear testing following World War II are eligible for new U.S.-provided nuclear compensation under two recently passed laws, Ambassador Banny deBrum announced.

Workers employed on the islands after 1958 (or their survivors) who became ill, disabled or died from diseases associated with exposure to radiation are “eligible for a $150,000 lump sum, plus health insurance,” he said.

A second law, the amended Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, provides compensation for certain illnesses experienced as a result of exposure to 1946-1958 nuclear tests.

Ne Caledonia unions get $1,000 per month minimum

NOUMÉA, New Caledonia – Three New Caledonia unions ended a weekend protest after receiving government assurances that a planned $1,000 monthly minimum wage would be implemented by July 2001 at the latest.

The increase initially was planned to become effective in 2003.

Over 300 protesters set up roadblocks and staged a sit-in in front of the local government headquarters building beginning Thursday.

“We got what we wanted, so now we stop,” said mining union leader Sylvain Néa.

Probe continues in Solomons fire

HONIARA, Solomon Islands – Police and fire officials are continuing to investigate the cause of a weekend fire that burned down the former headquarters of the Guadalcanal provincial government.

As the ethnic war intensified on the island of Guadalcanal earlier this year, Premier Ezekiel Alebua and his Guadalcanal administration fled the capital.

Their headquarters, a two story building on the main road in the center of the capital, was then occupied by the Malaita Eagle Force in June after a successful coup toppled the government.

Following last month’s Townsville Peace Agreement, the MEF leadership withdrew from the building.

Police suspect that disgruntled members of the MEF may have set the building on fire.

Last Fiji rebel surrenders

SUVA, Fiji Islands – The last soldier involved in a failed attempt to overthrow the military command earlier this month and still on the run has surrendered.

Lt. Col. Henry Manulevu said the soldier gave himself up to local residents in a rural area near Ba. Also recovered were two M16 A2 rifles and 60 rounds of 5.56-millimeter ammunition

Meantime, the curfew in Suva has now been reduced to midnight – 5:00 a.m., back to what it was before the mutiny by members of the army’s former Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit. (Pacific Islands Report)