Page 6 - IB July 2021

Briefs Briefs

for Economy, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum. The proposed 2021-2022
national budget has allocated F$23.1 million towards election
American Samoa preparations. Meanwhile Fiji’s parliament will have an ad-
The American Samoa government’s proposed Fiscal Year ditional four seats after the 2022 general election.
2022 budget is US$552.7 million, an increase of 19% over the
current year’s budget. Local revenues remain at $110.1 mil-
lion, grants total $219.5 million, Enterprise Funds amount to
$212.8 million and Capital Improvement Program funds total French Polynesia
$10.2 million. The territory has received $1.4 billion in federal Thousands have rallied in French Polynesia demanding France
COVID-relief funds since March 2020. take responsibility for the damage caused by its nuclear
weapons tests on the anniversary of testing in 1974. The rally
was organised by nuclear veterans group and the pro-inde-
pendence opposition under the banner ‘Maohi Lives Matter’.
Bougainville However they’ve been told they cannot rally during the visit
Mining company Rio Tinto has agreed to fund an independent of French president Emmanuel Macron in late July.
assessment of the human rights and environmental impacts
of its former Panguna copper and gold mine in Bougainville.
The mine was abandoned at the height of fighting on Bougain- Guam
ville in 1989, with Rio Tinto divesting its shareholding to the Guam has welcomed its first large group of “Air V&V” (vac-
PNG and autonomous government in 2016. The assessment cinate and vacation) tourists from Taiwan aboard a charter
will investigate the dumping of an estimated billion tonnes of flight. Under the scheme, arriving passengers who have a
mine tailings.
negative PCR-type COVID-19 test during the prior 72 hours can
skip quarantine. The vaccine doses for visitors are free, but
there is a US$100 administration fee per shot, plus a US$200
CNMI fee for a COVID-19 PCR-type test before the visitors leave
Commonwealth of Northern Marianas Governor, Ralph DLG the island. While it will take several months for regularly-
Torres has confirmed he will be seeking a second term in scheduled tourist flights to resume, Guam expects to receive
the November 2022 CNMI gubernatorial election. “We have thousands of Taiwanese Air V&V tourists on charter flights.
come too far to abandon the progress we made in the face of The program may also extend to South Korea and the Philip-
unprecedented disaster for our islands and our world,” he told pines.
local media while confirming his intentions.

The CNMI government’s total budget for fiscal year (FY)2022
is US$273.8 million, with more than half the funds coming Marshall Islands
through the American Rescue Plan Act. US$98.8 million will A woman who helped a former US politician in an illegal adop-
be raised locally. CNMI continues to suffer the loss of tourism tion scheme involving women from the Marshall Islands has
income and the impact of Super Typhoon Yuzu in 2018. been sentenced to two years in jail. Lynwood Jennet helped
to submit false applications for the Marshallese birth mothers
to receive state-funded health coverage, even though none of
the women resided in the state. She and Paul Petersen com-
Cook Islands mitted health care fraud totalling US$814,000.
The Cook Islands government has rolled out changes to its im-
migration policies in a bid to reduce labour shortages. Health
checks for workers wanting to come in from Australia or New
Zealand will be eased, secondary employment will now be al- Nauru
lowed, employers will no longer have to repatriate staff, and The Brisbane company running Australia’s offshore processing
short term work permits for up to six months will be available regime on Nauru, Canstruct International, has won another
to people with specific skills. six-month extension. It brings total revenue from its island
contracts to over A$1.5billion. 108 people remain in Nauru
under the regime.
Fiji
Fiji’s next general election can be held any time between July
2022 and January 2023 says Attorney-General and Minister New Caledonia

6 Islands Business, July 2021