The Samoan Police Commissioner has announced a strong police presence for this year’s Independence celebrations, which began Friday.
Photo: Facebook / Samoa Police, Prisons & Corrections Services
Samoa
The Samoan Police Commissioner has announced a strong police presence for this year’s Independence celebrations, which began Friday.
The Samoa Observer reports acting Commissioner Leiataua Samuelu Afamasaga saying 400 officers will be deployed across all events.
He said this will ensure enough personnel and emergency services are on hand to respond to any incidents.
Festivities started today, including the launch of the Independence Games, with kirikiti, fautasi racing, and other activities.
Samoa
Samoa has allocated nearly 10 percent of its WST1.5 billion 2026-27 Budget (US$528 million) to fuel and energy resilience.
The “Accelerating Inclusive Growth and Access” budget shows WST156m (US$54.9m) will fund response measures.
A total of WST100m (US$35.2m) supports power and water utilities, with a contingency fund if the global fuel crisis worsens.
The government has allocated WST44.2m (US$15.5m) will be allocated to projects like three new solar farms, one in Upolu and two in Savai’i, which will help make a more secure, reliable energy grid for Samoa.
The remaining WST12m (US$4.2m) will be spread across frontline emergency resources and rural infrustracture power supplements.
Solomon Islands
A search continues for ten people who have been missing at sea in the waters of Temotu Province since May 17th.
ABC Wantok reports that the group, which includes a 2-week-old baby, went missing while travelling in a over-loaded fibreglass boat from Lata Station to Utupua Island.
Police say they have recovered several items from the boat, but that the search continues as there’s still no sighting of the actual boat or any of the passengers.
Vanuatu
Police Minister Andrew Napuat is urging citizens to remain vigilant after a drug raid in the capital Port Vila on Thursday.
Four men have been arrested and their yacht seized in relation to alleged possession and trafficking of illegal drugs.
Napuat told VBTC News the national crime unit received a tip off from Fiji and acted swiftly.
Customs, immigration and biosecurity helped to apprehend the suspects.
Napuat said more information will be released in due course – and he has called on the public to work with police.
“Keep watch and any suspicious yacht please report it to police. Because we cannot patrol all our waters at once so we are asking you our citizens too help because it is becoming a concern in our Pacific region.”
Vanuatu/Solomon Islands
Top health officials from Vanuatu have been on a mission to Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea to seek help for their workforce shortage.
The Daily Post reports that Vanuatu’s growing shortage of nurses and medical professionals has pushed the Ministry of Health to seek regional solutions.
Acting director-general for health Dr Santus Wari said as well as workforce shortages, Vanuatu needs help to lift the technical capacity and skills of its health workforce.
The ministry estimates the country’s nursing shortage exceeds 600 positions.
He and other health officials met with counterparts in PNG and the Solomons to discuss ways they might help Vanuatu.
Papua New Guinea
East Sepik Governor Allan Bird has questioned the tax-free incentives linked to the PNG Chiefs.
Bird said the 10-year tax exemption deal had already created debate among some NRL clubs on whether the arrangement gave the Chiefs an unfair advantage in attracting players.
The National reported he also questioned the government’s priorities, saying he’d rather see a nice hospital for mothers, so they don’t give birth on the floor, than large investment in rugby league.
But Bird also notes the decision has already been made, and attention must now shift towards managing the realities expected to come with the NRL project.
Fiji
Power rationing measures which were due to start next week in Fiji have been replaced by a new surcharge.
The Fiji Competition and Consumer Commission (FCCC) approved an interim electricity fuel surcharge of 5.91 cents per kilowatt hour.
It applies across all customer categories and came into effect on Monday.
FBC reported the country’s sole electricity provider, Energy Fiji Limited, has welcomed the measure but said this only partially covers the significant increase in costs due to the global fuel crisis.
It said government electricity subsidies will continue for those eligible for them.
Tonga
Tonga’s Anti-Corruption Commission says a former minister of police has been charged, following the completion of an investigation.
The charge relates to interference with the course of justice.
The matter is now before the Fasi Magistrates Court and has been adjourned to 22 June.
Kiribati/Marhsall Islands
Kiribati and the Marshall Islands have urged the international community to address historic wrongs in the form of nuclear testing in the Pacific.
Speaking during discussions at the United Nations on nuclear issues, the representative of Kiribati said people sitll live with the consequences of nuclear testing carried out decades ago.
Between 1957 and 1962, 33 nuclear tests were conducted in Kiribati by the United States and the United Kingdom.
The Marshall Islands endured 67 nuclear tests conducted by the US between 1946 and 1958.
The UN representatives for the two Micronesian nations said the devastating impact of the tests continued to affect their communities today.
West Papua
Oceania’s last tropical glaciers in West Papua have lost almost all their ice.
The Guardian reports that an expedition to document the end days of the glaciers in Indonesia’s Papua region has revealed sombre footage of “planetary destruction on fast-forward”.
The two glaciers in Papua’s Puncak Jaya region have lost 95 percent of their area since 2002.
A Danish member of the expedition Klaus Thymann said it is not a question of if the ice will completely vanish, it is a question of when.
He said it will likely be very soon.
Carbon pollution and the destruction of nature has heated the planet by about 1.4C since preindustrial times.
Glaciers are projected to lose a quarter of their global mass by the end of this century, with devastating consequences for drinking water and food security.
