Page 4 - IB Dec 2020

Briefs Briefs

American Samoa French Polynesia
American Samoa’s governor has provisionally approved plans Plans have been revealed for three new hotels for Bora Bora,
to repatriate about 600 residents who have been stuck in Tahiti and Tahaa by developer Joel Allain. The projected cost
the United States due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the of two of the hotels is a combined US$30 million, while the
first flight tentatively scheduled for mid-January 2021. The cost of the five star property planned for Tahaa is yet to be
repatriation plan requires travellers to undergo quarantine disclosed, as work is not scheduled to start there until 2026.
for 10 days in Hawai’i before departure. The wife of American
Samoa’s Governor-elect is amongst those stranded, and it
looks unlikely Ella Mauga will be able to join husband Lemanu
Mauga for his oath-taking ceremony. Guam
More than 80 Guam child sexual abuse claims have been
filed against the Boy Scouts of America in an ongoing federal
bankruptcy case against the organisation. Local attorneys are
Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands representing dozens of survivors of abuse from Guam, fol-
The Northern Marianas has acquired ten ultra-cold freezers lowing their representation of many survivors from some 300
which will allow it to take COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer. The clergy sex abuse cases in Guam, most of which were against
vaccines need to be stored at minus 70 degrees. Two freezers the Archdiocese of Agana.
will be located on Rota, two on Tinian and the remaining six
on Saipan.
Kiribati
The Pacific Mini Games have been postponed again, to June
2022. The Pacific Games Council say the games had to be The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US$14.7
moved not only due to the pandemic, but also because of the million project to install climate-resilient solar photovol-
knock on effects of the Tokyo Olympics postponement. taic, battery energy storage, and modern control systems
in Kiribati, thereby reducing reliance on fossil fuels, reduc-
ing greenhouse gas emissions, and cutting the cost of power
generation.
Cook Islands
Between 85-90% of businesses surveyed by the Cook Islands
Private Sector Taskforce say are continuing to spend large
amounts of capital or have taken out loans to continue to op- Marshall Islands
erate throughout border closures. The Taskforce recommends An American politician has been sentenced to six years in jail
one-off grants, covering up to three months’ cash losses, be for his part in an illegal adoption involving women from the
given to approved businesses who were known to be prof- Marshall Islands. Paul Petersen illegally paid women to come
itable and compliant pre-COVID-19. The Government has to the U.S. to give up their babies in at least 70 adoptions
already extended financial support for wage subsidy payments cases in Arizona, Utah and Arkansas, prosecutors said.
until the end of February 2021.
Jeh Island on Ailinglaplap Atoll has increased in size since
Four new local internet operators— Kuk i Net, ICT Nexus, AYA 1943, according to scientists from University of Auckland and
and ManaNet—have been granted licences, opening up Cook Simon Fraser University in Canada. Despite local sea level
Islands internet access service and breaking Vodafone Cook Is- rise, scientists have observed growth in land area, suggesting
lands’ monopoly in the market. More licenses could be issued. some atolls are able to accumulate the sediment needed to
expand, although this process is not well understood.

Federated States of Micronesia
The FSM’s sovereign Trust Fund and a second Trust Fund for Nauru
the People of the FSM (Compact Trust Fund) grew in value Nauru has updated its Climate Action Plan, with particular
during the 2020 financial year, despite market volatility reference to “Loss and Damage” provisions. “AOSIS mem-
resulting from the coronavirus crisis. The funds’ combined bers - and particularly their Pacific Women negotiators in the
worth is US$1.08 billion. The FSM has asked that the Fund UNFCCC - have put in a lot of hard work and energy into the
look at the environmental—and in particular, the climate issue of Loss and Damage,” says Minister Rennier Gadabu.
change impacts—of its portfolio.

4 Islands Business, December 2020