Page 6 - IB June 2020

Briefs

of about US$21 million. Judge Tydingco-Gatewood said every
dollar that is not spent on other costs will go toward compen-
American Samoa sating the survivors.
The Korean owners of US based StarKist Inc., Dongwon
Industries, is amongst the defendants in an American case
alleging a tuna price fixing conspiracy in Washington State.
Bumblebee Foods, which has a tuna loin processing agree- New Caledonia
ment with the PAFCO tuna cannery in Levuka, Fiji, is also a The referendum on independence from France has been
defendant in the civil case. They are alleged to have colluded tentatively postponed until 4 October. The French prime min-
to reduce can size from 2004-2015 to drive up the cost of ister Edouard Philippe suggested the new date following calls
packaged tuna. from the pro -independence FLNKS movement for a deferral
from the original September 6 date. However, the COVID-19
pandemic may mean further delays.

Bougainville
Five parties have registered to contest the Autonomous Niue
Bougainville Government elections later this year. They are Niue’s newly elected Premier, Dalton Tagelagi says one of
outgoing president Joseph Kabui’s Bougainville People’s Con- his first priorities is to focus on financial matters. He told lo-
gress Party (BPC), Bougainville People’s Alliance Party, United cal media that the COVID-19 pandemic means there will need
Bougainville Front Party, Indigenous Democratic Party and the to be some sacrifices. “Prepare for some of the things that
Bougainville Republican Party. Several candidates will also run are going to be cut and at the moment that’s the number one
as independents. Polling will run over three weeks in August. priority and then we’ll start looking into other matters such as
the village development and all of that.” said Tagelagi.

Cook Islands
The Foreign Affairs and Immigration Ministry has encouraged Papua New Guinea
all Cook Islanders to stay involved in consultations on a new PNG’s Government has ordered the review of an agreement
immigration bill. Public consultations were held throughout with Australia to use the Lombrun Naval Base on Manus Island.
the country and amongst the diaspora, and submissions can Foreign Minister Patrick Pruaitch told parliament that a mem-
also be made online. The bill aims to enhance Cook Islands’ orandum of understanding signed by the former government
border security and facilitate movement into and out of the with Australia last year was invalid, as the foreign affairs de-
country in support of national economic, social and cultural partment was not involved. There have been concerns in PNG
priorities. A committee tasked with the consultations will about local companies being shut out of the $175 million plan
report back to Parliament before the end of September. to redevelop the base, and in Australia about whether China
might step into the fold.
Former Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has appeared in court
Fiji for the first time on charges of misappropriation and abuse of
Nine parliamentarians are being investigated for allegedly office under the Criminal Code Act. The allegations relate to
corrupt practices relating to travel and accommodation allow- payments made to an Israeli company LR Group Limited for
ances says the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corrup- the purchase of two turbine diesel generators in 2013, alleg-
tion. The investigations stem from a complaint made by the edly without following the right procurement or contractual
Secretary-General to Parliament last month. Eight opposition processes.
MPs and one government member are implicated. Parliament has passed bills which will enable the State to
participate more in the development of the country’s mineral
projects, and give the people of PNG control over the extent
in which oil and gas was extracted and developed, says Prime
Guam Minister James Marape. The PNG Chamber of Mines and
Some $1.75 million in legal and professional fees being Petroleum says it was surprised the bills were passed, as they
claimed in bankruptcy proceedings by the Archdiocese of understood consultations were ongoing.
Agana, have been scrutinised by U.S. District Court Chief
Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood. The expenses relate to a
case bought by sex abuse survivors affected by the Catholic Solomon Islands
Church. Almost 300 survivors of clergy sex abuse have come The Malaita Provincial Government wants to know why the
forward since 2016, prompting the archdiocese to file for re- central government has seized COVID-19 response medical
organisation under bankruptcy to settle the claims, which now equipment and supplies. The equipment was donated by Tai-
top US$1 billion. The archdiocese has made a counteroffer wan. Solomon Islands switched diplomatic ties from Taiwan to

6 Islands Business, June 2020