American Samoans appeal for US military clean-up

The American Samoa Power Authority is calling for public support to get US military funding to clean up fuel that has seeped into the ground and run off into the sea at Aua.

Authority Chief Engineer Jason Jaskoviak is urging residents to reach out to politicians and military leaders to not let the US Navy walk away from the contamination that it left behind

In the era of naval administration, a fuel tank farm was located in Aua with underground pipes from the tank depot to the canneries.

Mr Jaskoviak said there had been efforts over the years to clean up and mitigate against contamination but the situation had driven up costs of infrastructure projects in Aua and villages in the eastern district.

Pago Pago Harbour, American Samoa Photo: AFP / Michael Runkel / Robert Harding Premium

The US military said there was no human risk so it was not providing any further assistance.

But Mr Jaskoviak said it was not good enough.

“I can’t put a pipe in the ground and then throw dirty, contaminated soil on top of that pipe. It reacts with that pipe, it could break down the pipe over time, so I have to buy more expensive pipes. I have to handle that contaminated soil, haul it away, treat it. Water that comes into this hole, now I have to treat that, because it has got oil in it. Everybody that works here is going to get hit. The taxpayers are essentially going to end up footing the bill,” he said.

November 22, 2016 0

Solomon Islands Signs Melanesian Free Trade Agreement

Prime Minister Sogavare signing the new MSG Free Trade Agreement. Looking on are the Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade, Hon Milner Tozaka, Deputy Director-General of the MSG Secretariat, Mr Kilpak and an Administrative Officer from the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Ms Joy Tealiklava.

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare became the first Melanesian leader to sign the MSG Melanesian Free Trade Agreement, pledging his government’s full support for ratification of the Trade Agreement, as formalities are set down.

The MSG Free Trade Agreement is an expansion of the former agreements and includes trade in services, investment and labour mobility.

Prime Minister Sogavare who is also the MSG Chair, was elated at the new development in the sub-regional trade deal saying the agreement signals a new area for trade within the Melanesian region.

“Solomon Islands is happy to sign. Strategically, it is the right thing to do now”, he said when signing the new Melanesian Free Trade Agreement last Friday in Honiara.

He hailed the new trade agreement as ‘one of the answers’ to aid the economies of the Melanesian bloc, praising the contributions of the MSG Secretariat, as he thanked the MSG delegation. “Melanesia countries have more to gain out of this opportunity and I am excited as MSG Chair,” he said.

He said the signing of the new free trade agreement will harness the strengths and tap the opportunities of the Melanesian economies as they move to implement a free and integrated trade zone.

“It is just appropriate that we conclude this signing process,” he said, “As the Pacific island countries are moving towards completing the regional PACER- PLUS with Australia and New Zealand”.

The Melanesia Free Trade Agreement will come into force as long as two MSG Members ratify the Agreement.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade, Hon Milner Tozaka said the Cabinet of Solomon Islands agreed to ratify the Trade Agreement once ratification processes are put in place.

Deputy Director General of MSG Secretariat Molean Kilepak said the next countries to sign will be Fiji and Papua New Guinea followed by Vanuatu.

Mr Kilepak thanked Prime Minister Sogavare on behalf of the Director General Amena Yauvoli, for taking the lead as the first country to ink the milestone achievement.

“It is a milestone for the MSG Secretariat and a great achievement for Melanesia”, said Mr Kilepak.

The signing was witnessed by Minister Tozaka, Acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Joseph Ma’ahanua, Special Secretary to MSG Chair, Mr Rence Sore and MSG Secretariat Programme Manager, Trade and Investment, Mr John Licht.

November 22, 2016 0

Banned Papua flag raised near Indonesian ship in NZ

A group demonstrating in front of an Indonesian naval ship in Auckland raised the Morning Star flag in support of West Papuans.

Indonesia’s KRI Banda Aceh is one of numerous warships from other countries currently in New Zealand participating in the New Zealand Navy’s 75th birthday celebration.

Demonstrators in Auckland hold up Morning Star flag to Indonesian sailors Photo: supplied

The demonstration against Indonesian military involvement in West Papua was held by the solidarity groups Oceania Interrupted and West Papua Action Auckland.

Oceania Interrupted spokesperson Leilani Salesa says the demonstrators made sure their presence was felt.

She says they stood next to the naval ship holding the Papuan Morning Star flag which is banned in Indonesia.

“And to do an act that we know brothers and sister in West Papua would be punished for was a really powerful for us and it sends a very powerful message that the world is watching and we stand in opposition to the atrocities that they continue to commit.”

Raising the West Papuan flag is a crime in Indonesia punishable with years in prison.

Activists in Auckland concerned about Indonesian military Photo: supplied

November 22, 2016 0

Keanggotaan Kaledonia Baru dan Polinesia Prancis dalam PIF Dipertanyakan

Suva – Untuk pertama kalinya, rencana keanggotaan penuh Kaledonia Baru dan Polinesia-Prancis dalam Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) dipertanyakan. Sekretaris Jenderal PIF, Dame Meg Taylor menyatakan bahwa rekomendasi keanggotaan kedua teritori tersebut belum disahkan dalam sebuah piagam (charter).

Dame menyampaikan hal itu ketika memberikan pidato kunci dalam konferensi organisasi nonpemerintah di Pasifik (PIANGO) yang ke-8 di Suva, pekan lalu. “Dari sekretariat, kami terus mengklarifikasi dampak praktis dan dampak legal dari keputusan yang direkomendasikan oleh forum pemimpin Pasifik ini,” ujar Dame Meg.

Ia menambahkan, pihaknya banyak menerima pertanyaan tentang kriteria menjadi anggota PIF yang mewajibkan negara telah merdeka dengan kedaulatan penuh. Sementara, Kaledonia Baru dan Polinesia-Prancis masih berada di bawah kedaulatan Prancis.

Ia juga mengatakan bahwa banyak pihak berkepentingan dengan adanya hak penentuan nasib sendiri yang diperjuangkan di Kaledonia Baru dan Polinesia-Prancis. Yang pasti, kedua negara tersebut masih termasuk dalam daftar negara-negara yang harus didekolonisasi di Perserikatan Bangsa-bangsa (PBB).

Seperti diberitakan, dalam pertemuan forum pemimpin Pasifik yang berlangsung di Pohnpei pada September 2016, para pemimpin sepakat merekomendasikan agar PIF memberi keanggotaan penuh kepada Kaledonia Baru dan Polinesia-Prancis dalam organisasi yang kini berusia 45 tahun itu.

Selain kedua negara itu, PIF juga menerima pengajuan agar Papua Barat yang kini menjadi bagian dari Indonesia menjadi anggota penuh PIF. Selain itu, PIF juga menerima permohonan dukungan agar Papua Barat merdeka dari Indonesia.

Atas permohonan itu, Dame Meg mengatakan bahwa hal itu bisa saja asal berdasarkan aspirasi mayoritas penduduk dan tidak dilakukan dalam suasana penuh konflik sosial.

Baru-baru ini, enam negara anggota PIF, yaitu Kepulauan Solomon, Vanuatu, Nauru, Kepulauan Marshall, Tuvalu dan Tonga memanfaatkan kesempatan berbicara di Sidang Umum PBB untuk menyuarakan hak orang-orang Papua.

Dalam usianya yang ke-45, PIF telah seringkali digunakan oleh negara-negara anggota untuk mengadvokasi negara-negara tetangganya yang tidak memiliki status internasional. Landasannya jelas, yaitu prinsip fundamental berupa hak menentukan nasib sendiri sesuai dengan pasal 1 Piagam PBB. (*)

Sumber: http://www.tabloid-wani.com/2016/11/keanggotaan-kaledonia-baru-dan-polinesia-prancis-dalam-pif-dipertanyakan.html

November 21, 2016 0

Ada Isu Makar, Jokowi Perintahkan TNI-Polri Siaga Penuh

postmetro.co – Presiden Joko Widodo (Jokowi) memerintahkan prajurit TNI dan personel kepolisian bersiaga untuk mengantisipasi dugaan adanya rencana makar.

“Itu tugasnya Polri dan TNI untuk waspada yang membahayakan NKRI, membahayakan demokrasi kita,” kata Jokowi usai bertemu Ketua Umum PDIP Megawati Soekarnoputri di beranda belakang Istana Merdeka Jakarta, Senin (21/11/2016).

Jokowi kembali mengingatkan bahwa sudah menjadi tugas Polri dan TNI untuk mewaspadai adanya upaya makar itu.

“Tapi semuanya harus merujuk ketentuan hukum yang ada,” kata dia.

Kapolri Jenderal Tito Karnavian sebelumnya mengaku sempat mendapat informasi mengenai adanya unjuk rasa yang bertujuan untuk makar dan menduduki gedung DPR pada tanggal 25 November 2016.

Unjuk rasa ini diperkirakan masih terkait dengan kasus dugaan penisaan agama Gubernur nonaktif DKI Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama alias Ahok. [tsc]

November 21, 2016 0

Amien Rais : Saya Akan Memimpin Semua Rakyat Pisah Dari Indonesia , Bila Ahok Tidak Ditankap

Kabarhoki.com, Jakarta – Mantan Ketua PP Muhammadiyah Amien Rais meminta kepada Presiden Joko Widodo lebih mengedepankan kepentingan bangsa yang lebih besar terkait kasus dugaan penistaan agama yang dilakukan Calon Gubernur DKI Jakarta Basuki Tjahaja Purnama ( Ahok) itu.

“Untuk itu segeralah menahan Ahok, sebab kasusnya sudah bukan lagi persoalan umat Islam dan berpotensi memecah-belah bangsa,” kata Amien Rais usai memberi ceramah pada Resepsi Milad ke-107 Muhammadiyah Pimpinan Daerah Muhammadiyah Kota Surabaya, di Graha ITS, Minggu (20/11). Demikian dikutip dari Antara.

Dia mengatakan hal itu perlu dilakukan sebelum terlambat. “Nasi belum jadi bubur, tangkap segera. Kalau yang lain ditangkap, kenapa ini kok bebas. Ada apa?,” tegas Amien yang juga tokoh reformasi.

Amien menyampaikan hal itu agar Presiden Jokowi memerhatikan kepentingan bangsa yang lebih besar. Dia sendiri secara pribadi mengaku mengenal Jokowi sebagai teman baik.

“Tapi saya ingatkan agar cepat mengambil kebijakan. Tolong dipercepat selesai itu,” katanya.

Menurut Amien, jika sampai Presiden Jokowi terlambat, maka sama saja dengan membunuh sejarah Indonesia. Bangsa ini, kata Amien, sedang gonjang-ganjing. “Jangan sampai saya yang akan memimpin semua Rakyat Indonesia pisah dari Indonesia,bila Ahok tidak di segera di tangkap” ujarnya.

Amien menyarankan sebaiknya Jokowi tidak hanya mendengar masukan dari yang asal bapak senang. “Dengarkan juga tokoh-tokoh dari kalangan ulama, intelektual, orang kampus, wartawan, dan lain-lain. Insyaallah mereka akan memberi pandangan yang imbang,” katanya.

Sumber : Merdeka.com

November 21, 2016 0

Move to kick Solomons PM out of party invalid: AG

radionz – The Solomon Islands attorney general says a decision to revoke the party membership of the prime minister is invalid.

Manasseh Sogavare Photo: RNZI Koroi Hawkins

Pacnews reported James Apaniai saying that, in his opinion, the United Democratic Party president Sir Thomas Chan did not comply with the regulations of the Political Parties Integrity Act or his party’s own constitution when he terminated prime minister Manasseh Sogavare’s party membership earlier this month.

Mr Apaniai said according to the UDP’s constitution only a disciplinary committee can terminate an individual’s party membership.

He said there were also no charges laid against Mr Sogavare which is required by both the Political Party Integrity Act regulations as well as the UDP party’s constitution.

The attorney general said the original decision was reached after discussions between the executives of the three government coalition parties which he said was also wrong as party membership is an internal matter.

Mr Apaniai also clarified that the status of Mr Sogavare’s party membership had no bearing on his position as prime minister.

November 21, 2016 0

Pressure builds on PNG government over LNG Project

radionz, 21 November 2016

Papua New Guinea’s government is again under pressure from landowners with interests in the major LNG gas project.

LNG Project facility, Central Province, Papua New Guinea. Photo: RNZI / Johnny Blades

A Beneficiary Group, comprised of landowners and provincial governments, has petitioned the government to ensure maximisation of the value of equity interest in the project.

The petitioners are from Hela, Southern Highlands, Western, Gulf and Central provinces across which the ExxonMobil-led Liquefied Natural Gas project spans.

They claim that new changes to a 4.27 percent equity interest in the project being introduced by state-owned Kumul Petroleum Holdings Ltd erode the value of their equity.

ExxonMobil’s LNG Project cuts a swathe of development through Hela province in PNG’s Highlands. Photo: RNZI / Johnny Blades

This, the Beneficiary Group says, breaches the terms of the Umbrella Benefit Sharing Agreement signed with over 60,000 landowners at the inception of the project in 2009.

Among 14 demands, the petition calls for the government to rescind a move to pursue vendor financing for the 4.27 percent equity.

The government of prime minister Peter O’Neill has been given until this week to respond.

Project equity in the name of affected landowners and provincial governments is managed by the state in a complex structure.

Photo: RNZI/Johnny Blades

However, in the petition, the beneficiaries complain of a “prolonged lack of disbursement of benefits emanating from the PNG LNG project”.

Shiploads of the project’s gas product are being successfully exported each week to Asian markets.

However landowners says the state has not paid royalties and other entitlements; nor has the project released development levies to provincial governments.

Earlier this year, landowners in Hela blockaded a key conditioning plant at the project’s hub over their demand for long outstanding commitments from government.

Hides landowners met several times with the government to discuss outstanding LNG Project payments. Photo: Supplied

Representatives of government re-confirmed that the commitments would be honoured, saying a process of verification of genuine landowners was holding up the payments.

The blockade was lifted but this new petition warns of a serious risk of disruptions to the project’s operations at any time by dissatisfied landowners.

The five provinces had entered into the project having secured a government commitment to helping them directly participate in commercialisation of their abundant LNG resources.

ExxonMobil’s LNG Project cuts a swathe of development through Hela province in PNG’s Highlands. Photo: RNZI / Johnny Blades

However angst is growing over the perception that the that has not honoured the social contract that it tied down with indigenous and tribal people in affected areas

The long term security of the project is unclear.

November 21, 2016 0

Indonesia arrests over 100 Papuans in Sorong

RadioANZ

More than 100 indigenous activists were arrested by Indonesian police at the weekend in the West Papua city of Sorong.

The police took in 106 activists from the West Papua National Committee, or KNPB, for their involvement in an inauguration of its local governing body last week.

The KNPB is a pro-independence West Papuan political organisation with a wide following throughout Indonesia’s Papua region.

Indonesian police at a demonstration in the Papuan region. Photo: Supplied/ Whens Tebay

he inauguration of the KNPB’s Sorong governing structure included a mass worship celebration and drew Papuans from areas such as Tambrau, Ayamaru and South Sorong.

Tabloid Jubi quotes a KNPB Sorong spokesman Aud Augustine as saying Indonesian police, combined with Indonesian military, forcibly disbanded their peaceful event.

Mr Augustine said that in making the arrests, police breached the Papuans’ basic democratic rights.

The KNPB is one of the organisations represented in the United Liberation Movement for West Papua which has been lobbying for greater international representation for Papuans since last year.

Widespread demonstrations across Papuan cities in support of the Liberation Movement during May and June resulted in mass arrests in some cases.

Indonesian police have warned they will not tolerate activities that promote separatism.

November 21, 2016 0

Uskup-uskup Katolik Minta Maaf Akan Genosida di Rwanda

voaindonesia – PIhak Gereja Katolik di Rwanda hari Minggu meminta maaf akan perannya dalam genosida tahun 1994, dan menyesali aksi mereka yang terlibat dalam pembantaian itu.

Gereja Katolik di Rwanda hari Minggu meminta maaf akan peran gereja itu dalam genosida tahun 1994, dan menyesali aksi mereka yang terlibat dalam pembantaian itu.

“Kami meminta maaf atas segala kesalahan gereja. Kami meminta maaf atas nama seluruh umat Kristiani atas segala bentuk kesalahan yang kami lakukan. Kami menyesal karena para anggota gereja melanggar sumpah setia mereka atas perintah-perintah Tuhan,” kata pernyataan Konferensi Uskup Katolik, yang dibacakan di paroki-paroki di seluruh negeri.

Pernyataan itu mengakui bahwa para anggota gereja merencanakan, membantu dan mengeksekusi genosida, dimana lebih dari 800,000 etnis Tutsi dan Hutu moderat dibunuh oleh ekstremis Hutu.

Banyak korban tewas di tangah pastor, biarawan dan biarawati, menurut penuturan saksi mata. Dan pemerintah Rwanda mengatakan banyak korban tewas di gereja-gereja dimana mereka mencari perlindungan.

Pernyataan uskup-uskup itu dianggap sebagai perkembangan positif dalam upaya rekonsiliasi di Rwanda. [vm]

November 21, 2016 0