Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 15, Number 2, 1 February 1998 — Pacific [ARTICLE]

Pacific

A F F A I R S

PEACE TALKS PORT MORESBY, PAPUA NEW GUINEA — Preparations j for a new peaee summit began in Bougainville among leaders of the factions involved in the decade long secessionist crises. j Joining the two-day session were villagers throughout the embattled Papua New Guinea island, including areas eontrolled by the Bougainville Rev- j olutionary Army. The next round of talks will take plaee in j Christchurch, New Zealand. CENTER SUPPORT HONOLULU. HAWAI'I - Japan has awarded $400,000 in continuing financial support to the East-West Center's Pacific Islands Development Program. The award will support scholar- j ships for Pacific Island students. j DENGUE IN SUVA : SUVA, F1JI — Dengue fever has spread among Lautoka Hos- j pital staff. A spokeswoman said j that mosquitos breeding in the hospital caused the spreading of j the disease among staff. The outbreak in Fiji has already claimed six lives. T0NGA EXP0RTS I NUKU' ALOFA, TONGA — j Tongan exports of edible sea-

weed to Japan totaled 400 tons last year. Hoiiuehi Co„ whieh buys the seaweed for sale in Japan, wants to increase 1998 imports to 1,000 tons, according to the Secretary of Fisheries, 'Akau'ola. FIJIAN UNITY SUVA, FIJI — Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has recommended that all Fiji citizens — now identified by race, ethnicity or country of origin — should be called Fijian. Rabuka said that with the new millennium approaching, Fiji should promote unity as a nation. NUCLEAR CLEANUP MAJURO, MARSHALL ISLANDS — The U.S. government has approved a multi-mil-lion dollar radioactivity eleanup on Rongelap. Inhabitants of this remote island fled in 1985, fearing long-term heakh effects from fallout that followed a 1954 U.S. bomb test at Bikini Atoll. The islanders have been living in exile since 1985 and lobbying Washington to pay for the eleanup. MISSI0NT0SAM0A APIA, SAMOA — A Chinese trade mission visiting Samoa gave $650,000 to construct a school at Vaitele-uta, a eommunity of former rural dwellers and

j residents of the big island of j Savai'i. I MEDICINAL SHRUBS NUKU'ALOFA, TONGA — j Tonga's Royal Nonu Internationj al Corp. has established facilities j to manufacture medicinal prodj ucts from the noni or morinda j plant. The plant, whieh grows j wild on many Pacific islands, is j used to treat arthritis, high blood j pressure and other illnesses. I NAURUTOJOIN U.N. YAREN. NAURU — In a j speech marking the 30th anniverj sary of Nauru's independence, j President Kinza Clodumar j announced Nauru's membership j in the United Nations. Nauru's j membership will give it a voice j on critical environmental issues j such as nuclear testing and min- ! ing- ■ Aik .

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