BRIEFS
July 1, 2014
Luncheon
Held By Yap HPO
COLONIA, Yap (Civic Affairs) — On Wednesday,
June 25, 2014, a late luncheon was held at the Nungoch recreational area by the
Yap State Historic Preservation Office (Yap HPO) and Mangyol Stone Money Bank
Nomination Advisory Council. The event was in celebration of several occasions.
The main draw was in acknowledgement of the
nomination of the Mangyol Stone Money Bank. The Mangyol site is a part of a
trans-boundary nomination with Palau for consideration as a World Heritage
site.
The other reasons for the luncheon was to
congratulate the organizing groups for the UNESCO workshop and MCES held
earlier in the year, as well as to recognize the youths that assisted in the
endeavors and the youth delegation to be sent to Guam for the Pacific Heritage
Youth Summit in mid-July.
With Yap HPO's John Runman acting as MC, the
luncheon began with a flurry of remarks from noted speakers, including Stan
Kensof—Coordinator for the UNESCO workshop, Peter Rebeuluch—Chief of Youth
Services, and Francis Reg—Yap State Historic Preservation Officer, as well as
remarks from the honorable chiefs present for the event—Gagil Chief Francis
Fithingmow on behalf of the Council, and Peter Ruechugrad on behalf of the
Tomil Chiefs, Steven Mar and John Kadannged .
After the remarks and thanksgiving, the late
lunch was served a little after 2:30 PM.
Early
Registration For Fall 2014 Semester
PALIKIR, FSM (COM-FSM News) — College-wide early registration for Fall 2014
semester will begin on July 7-11, 2014. For online registration, period one
will be from July 7-11, 2014, and deadline for paying the registration fee,
July 25, 2014 after which Business Office will run the registration purge for
those who are not able to pay the registration fee after the deadline.
In the past, early registration was given as
an option exclusively to continuing students; however, this option is now
extended to include returning students. Although
we now have (a) online, (b) face-to-face and assisted, and (c) mixed online and
face-to-face registration modes, returning students will have to register,
face-to-face, as they may not be eligible to registering online or mixed online
and face-to-face.
First-time in college students (new) will
register during the dates set for them to register.
For more information contact the Admission
office at (691) 320-2480 Ext. 171/172
FSM
Coconut Development Authority's Functions Now Repose Under FSM PetroCorp
PALIKIR, FSM (FSMIS, June 30, 2014) — On June 16, Federated States of Micronesia
President Manny Mori signed into law a bill that dissolves the FSM Coconut
Development Authority (CDA) and reposes the CDA's responsibilities under the
FSM Petroleum Corporation.
In a brief signing message to Congress,
President Mori emphasized, "...the intention of the Act is dissolve the
FSM Coconut Development Authority and assign its essential function and
responsibility to the FSM Petroleum Corporation. The FSM Petroleum Corporation
will assume the assets of the dissolved government agency and utilize the
assets to develop the coconut industry".
The President expressed appreciation to
Congress for its "favorable action" in passing the bill.
By request of the Executive, the bill was
introduced by Floor Leader Singkoro Harper on September 16, 2013.
Tourist
Arrivals In Palau Continue To Surge
KOROR, Palau (Marianas Business Journal/PIR, June 29, 2014) — Tourist arrivals in
Palau continue to show a robust performance with a nearly 50% increase in May.
According to the latest Palau Visitors Authority's arrival statistics, there
were 8,691 tourists compared to the same period last year of 5,879.
The statistics showed that Japan is still the
top market for tourists with 2,101 arrivals. The nation experienced a surge in
arrivals from Japan when Japan Airlines resumed its charter flights and with
the celebration of Golden Week.
... The Korean market, although still the
third top market, has declined by 17.9%. The decrease maybe due to the Korean domestic
economy and the significant appreciation of the won against the U.S. dollar.
Tourists from mainland China had the most
significant increase by more than 550%. In May 2013, there were only 212
arrivals. This year it was 1,295 arrivals. The Palau Visitors Authority said
the rise is due to Mega Globe Maldives Air Services Inc. resuming operation in
Palau in April. Mega Maldives airline flies from Hong Kong to Palau.
Asian
Development Bank Team Visits Marshall Islands
MAJURO, Marshall Islands (Marianas Business Journal/PIR, June 29,
2014) — A top-level ADB team spent five days in mid-June in the Marshall
Islands getting briefings from government leaders, visiting Arno Atoll, talking
with U.S., Taiwan and Japan embassy officials, and engaging in a lively
discussion with business representatives about private sector needs.
The visit by the bank's board members was the
first in four years. The group was led by executive director Muhammed Sami
Saeed from Pakistan and included executive directors Jerome Destombes of France
and Bhimantara Widyajala of Indonesia and alternate executive director Khin
Khin Lwin of Myanmar.
Key points the team made about the Marshall
Islands:
•
From 2015 onward, the bank will
triple its level of grant and technical assistance support to no less than $3
million per year.
•
A planned donor partners meeting
for August will help give momentum to the Marshall Islands' new development
plan and help with donor coordination and reducing duplication of effort.
"We want outcomes and next steps from the meeting," Destombes said.
•
The stagnant economy in the
Marshalls is a concern, with a focus needed on how to get the economy growing.
•
Asian Development Bank will
conduct an analysis of the Marshall Islands private sector during 2015.
In talks with a small group of local business
representatives, the point was made by businesspeople that the private sector
lacks capital for expansion. ADB officials responded by saying the bank's
Private Sector Operations Department at its Manila headquarters is focused on
working with governments to improve legislation and operations in support of
the private sector and also is able to make loans to the private sector.
One recommendation made by local businesses
was for the bank to provide funds to the Guam-based Pacific Islands Development
Bank so it has more funding to lend to business projects in U.S.-affiliated
islands it serves.
$114
Million Operating Loss For Guam Memorial Hospital
HAGÅTÑA, Guam (Pacific Daily News/PIR, July 01, 2014) — Guam Memorial Hospital has
been losing so much money for so long, auditors now have "substantial
doubt" about whether it can continue to operate, according to a financial
audit released yesterday.
Despite receiving $50 million in subsidies
from the government of Guam during the past five fiscal years, the hospital
posted net operating losses of $114.6 million, according to a fiscal 2013
financial audit released by the Office of Public Accountability. It was
prepared by Deloitte & Touche.
The hospital's inadequate cash flow has
resulted in higher prices from frustrated vendors and has threatened the
hospital's ability to provide patient care, according to the audit.
Despite declining revenues, the hospital's
staffing and payroll costs have remained steady, the audit states, with 1,096
people on staff during fiscal 2013.
The government in May lifted a freeze on
government pay raises and merit bonuses, but the hospital cannot afford the
full additional $3.6 million cost, the audit states, and has made only partial
payment.
No
surprise
GMH Administrator Joseph Verga yesterday said
he wasn't ready to respond in detail to the audit findings, but said the
auditors' concerns do not surprise him.
"I've always said that unless the
government fully funds GMH, there is a concern ... whether the hospital is able
to sustain services that we provide," Verga said.
Lawmakers in January allowed the hospital to
borrow $25 million, but that wasn't enough to erase its debt, according to the
audit.
Lawmakers last year earmarked gambling taxes
to support the hospital, but the audit states the new gaming law "has not
delivered the funds that were expected," and the hospital is owed $310,000
for fiscal 2013.
The hospital needs even more financial
support from GovGuam, the audit states, but it also notes that GovGuam has
nearly reached its limit on its ability to provide subsidies.
GovGuam must provide financial support for
GMH's services to self-pay and uninsured patients, which represented 13 percent
of the government hospital's billings, the audit report states.
The government hospital also will face
competition when privately owned Guam Regional Medical City opens later this
year. The $219 million private hospital is expected to open in October.
Science
And Technology ‘Ignored’ In Pacific Plan Review
SUVA, Fiji (Science Dev. Net/PACNEWS, July 01, 2014) — Science and technology
organizations that contributed to a review of the Pacific Plan, which is
designed to strengthen cooperation between countries in the region, say it
ignored their concerns.
The review, which has produced various
recommendations to update the Pacific Plan, received nearly 70 public
submissions from organizations including the Pacific Senior Health Officials
Network, the Pacific Europe Network for Science & Technology (PACE-Net) and
the Digital Society Foundation (DSF).
But some of the organizations are unhappy
that few of their concerns are included in the review’s recommendations about
building the suggested Framework for Pacific Regionalism, which is to replace
the existing Pacific Plan.
The forum secretariat’s governing body will
be considering the suggested framework at their meeting in Suva, Fiji, this
week (2-3 July), before sending it to country leaders for approval at their
forum in Palau in the last week of July.
Christopher Sampson, founder of the DSF,
believes “old thinking” dominated the review.
He adds that the forthcoming Framework for
Pacific Regionalism should recognize that it is better if decision-making and
development activities are locally driven, rather than centrally organized.
“I was disappointed that affordable
broadband-speed internet was not highlighted,” he says. “This infrastructure is
vital for enabling a sustainable future for the island people of the Pacific
and to enable local empowerment.”
For Jito Vanualailai, a mathematician at the
University of the South Pacific and interim coordinator of the Pacific Islands
Universities Research Network (PIURN), the most glaring omission was related to
scientific research.
“I can’t see any reference to science,
technology and innovation (ST&I) in the review,” he says.
PIURN was established to “advocate for
ST&I”, which Vanualailai says is under-appreciated in the region. He points
to a recent survey of Pacific island governments—carried out by PACE-Net—which
revealed a lack of interest in the role of scientific research.
“It’s not a priority for them and they don’t
see it as a tool to solve problems like climate change and poverty,” he says.
Despite ST&I not being mentioned in the
review, Vanualailai says there may be other ways of promoting the importance of
scientific research—such as by setting up a regional research council.
But Matthew Dornan, an economist at the
Australian National University, says the review has done what it set out to
achieve.
“It was never meant to be a development plan,
or a list of priorities—but a process to advance regionalism and help countries
with their own development plans,” he says.
Dornan adds that earlier versions of the
Pacific Plan were unworkable because they included too much detail and too many
priorities.
“This didn’t serve anyone,” he says. “The
review has taken the right approach against further priority setting.”
And, he says, people should not judge the
review harshly “just because it does not include their own area of interest”.
He adds that science would remain vitally important in the region—despite there
being no mention of it in the review.
“As the effects of climate change become more
pertinent in the Pacific, I expect funding for science to increase,” he says.
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