Page 6 - IB MAY 2017

Whispers

Not good enough tors are sometimes involved in wheeling contracts once the dust has fallen.
SO, even the deputy head of a regional and dealing. So best to leave it to the foreigners, no
agency is not good enough for the Aus- matter how big the possible profit.
tralian aid facility which will administer t
assistance to programmes in the educa- t
tion, health and development sectors in
a number of regional countries. Religious fervour
News is that the woman – highly re- OVER the recent Easter weekend, the
spected and qualified – was one of the Samoan community was torn apart by
reasons an Australian company won claims that a young woman was found
the bid to administer the disbursement with stigmata – the wounds Christ suf-
of aid. fered during his crucifixion.
But when that news reached Austra- Last year the same woman displayed
lia’s Suva offices there were immediate sudden bleeding from the hands and
efforts to sabotage the appointment. forehead. What surprised many was that
Now the news is that the best candidate Enemy of the state she was not Catholic.
is out of the running and the high com- STILL in the friendly islands where it Stigmata is often associated with de-
mission staff are promoting themselves is not advisable for journalists to cross vout Catholics. Her father, a Protestant
to vacant positions in the facility. swords with the the Prime Minister. pastor, stood by his daughter throughout
Which, of course, calls into question The head of Tonga Broadcasting re- both criticism and praise.
the entire selection and tender process. cently had her contract renewed, much to Since last year’s incident the woman
the chagrin of the PM who wanted the in- has converted to Catholicism and this
cumbent tossed out of the organisation. year displayed the same wounds in what
t Now the members of the board of has been described as a miracle of faith.
Tonga Broadcasting have found them- Social media comments have not all
Money matters selves labelled Enemies of the State for been kind.
STILL on the Australians, remember reappointing the CEO and daring to allow t
the staffer in Whispers last month from free speech.
their Suva post who disappeared with Not so long ago PM ‘Akilisi Pohiva Port woes
visa payments for a prominent boys’ used freedom of speech to criticise the WHATS happening at the Port of Suva
school? royal family and effect major constitu- where tariffs are expected to increase
The matter came to light after the prin- tional changes. shortly?
cipal complained to authorities. How times have changed. That will push up the price of goods
Apparently the woman was escorted in which transit through Fiji to many of the
handcuffs from the building after it was smaller islands in the region.
established that she had indeed taken News from the waterfront is that ste-
money and promised to arrange travel vedoring charges will be increased to
documentation for the boys. improve wages of the port workers.
The incident points to the fact that But there is concern that despite the in-
people in Fiji still think they can circum- creased charges, the port’s second crane
vent the visa process system using the which was damaged over three years ago
people they know. has not been repaired. Shipping opera-
When will this end? tors are not happy but the monopoly on
the docks means they are powerless.
t t
t
Tongan tango PM’s home tender
CUSTOMS authorities in Tonga are LOCAL contractors have apparently Cut optic-fibre lines
chasing companies which import goods backed far away from tenders for the WHO will be held responsible for cut-
using false names. proposed new residence for the Prime ting fibre-optic lines to businesses in
It’s the latest scam in the kingdom Minister. Port Vila, Vanuatu, twice in two weeks?
which in the recent past has been The tender has been awarded to a Ko- A crew working on the Port Vila Urban
involved in the sales of passports to rean company, leaving the locals heaving Development Project’s drainage works
Chinese businesspeople and the use of a collective sigh of relief. got more than they bargained for when
space on satellites belonging to royalty. Word from the experts is this is a lose- their trenching equipment accidentally
The most recent rort came to light when lose situation. burst a local water main. Within 30 min-
Customs officials caught local companies With a contract this big and everyone utes services were restored - but that was
importing items using what have been trying to please the leader and having a not the point. Local residents said that
termed “alternative names”. say in the project, something is bound two weeks earlier a section of fibre-optic
According to sources in the islands, to be less than perfect. That’s when the cable was severed not 20 metres away
alterative is the friendly term for false. blame game will begin. The losers – usu- from site of the latest incident occurred,
But the battle against corruption can be ally the contractors and the engineers – knocking two local businesses off the
tough when even the kingdom’s legisla- will have great difficulty securing similar internet.

6 Islands Business, May 2017