News In Brief

Government committed to rigorous appointment process
Prime Minister Hon Henry Puna today reiterated the Government’s commitment to conducting a rigorous process for appointing senior public servants to the country’s top positions.
He said an announcement regarding the positions of Commissioner of Police and the Secretary of Justice position would be made next week, with the Government also close to finalising the appointment to the Director of Audit position.
“An announcement regarding the Director of Audit will be made by 3 October 2011 pending discussions related to employment terms and conditions with the prospective candidate.”
“At the very least prospective candidates have the right to ensure these discussions have been completed to their satisfaction before proceeding with any formal announcements,” said Prime Minister Puna.
He said the advertising process for the Public Service Commissioner was now underway with applications closing on 14 October 2011. An independent selection panel will be established to conduct the interview process with a recommendation to Cabinet and final appointment expected later in the year.
“In the meantime, I have requested that Mr Navy Epati remain Public Service Commissioner until the appointment process has been completed,” said Prime Minister Puna.
“I acknowledge that the process for selecting and appointing candidates to these roles has taken longer than is desirable. However, our commitment to selecting the best applicants and ensuring the necessary due diligence requirements are followed remains a top priority for Government.”
- PM Office Media Release

Mangaia Ready?
With the Manea games running from the 3rd till the 13th of October in Mangaia everything seems to be running smoothly so far. Despite rumors of a water shortage, the Island seems to be in the clear. Poroa Arokapiti the Director for the Manea games is pleased with how everything is coming along, such as the accommodation, which is currently in place. The local Mangaian School will be used to host the big team from Aitutaki. Other big teams such as the Mangaian based players from Rarotonga will be hosted by the AOG at their hall. The smaller groups will be hosted by the Tavaenga, Veitatei and the Te Apunavai halls. V.I.P’s will stay at Babe’s place. Officials will be situated at the Vainetini, Vaianga hall and at the Lodge.
Athletes should not fret as Arokapiti assures the Herald that there is plenty of food on the Island, with the likes of wild pig, fresh fish, taro, arrow root, kumara even chicken, which will be flown in from Rarotonga. As for facilities, Mangaia are waiting on two more hard courts that need to still be painted. However everything else is ready to be used. Arokapiti hopes that this year’s Manea games will be a success, and believes that it should be used as a stepping stone for the athletes, who should pursue bigger events such as the South Pacific Games, and even the Commonwealth Games. Arokapiti is confident the Mangaian athletes will perform well enough to gain a few gold medals, and feels that their under 18 athletes are the ones to look out for this year. -Alanna Smith

HAND-OVER FOR ADB GRANT PROJECTS
A handover ceremony will be held on Thursday at 3pm at the Ministry for Internal Affairs for two grant assistance projects which are being funded by the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, established by the Japanese Government and ADB.
One of the initiatives is supporting home care and nursing services for the elderly and those living with disabilities in Rarotonga and the outer islands of the Cook Islands. The other grant assistance is helping the Cook Islands Government to introduce wide-ranging, cost effective reforms to the public sector, aimed at increasing its efficiency.
At the ceremony, the Ambassador of the Embassy of Japan in Wellington, Hideto Mitamura, will hand over the support to Acting Minister of Finance and Internal Affairs, Nandi Glassie. Maria Melei, ADB’s Country Officer for the Cook Islands will witness the ceremony.
The Cook Islands became a member of the ADB in 1976. Since then, ADB has approved 15 loan projects amounting to $55.0 million and 31 technical assistance projects of almost $10.9 million. -ADB Release

Cowboys Corner
Welcome to “Cowboys Corner”, last Friday and Saturday was the last of 15’s rugby for 2011. The grand finals held out at Nukupure Park was well hosted by the Ngatangiia/ Matavera Flying Dragons Rugby Club and what a great day it was in the “million dollar setting” of Muri beach.
This year, four Clubs managed to claim victory with the Eels doing one better with two teams...U13’s and U19’s, the Panthers...Premier grade, the Cowboys...U16’s and the Bulls...Reserve grade. We congratulate all teams and Clubs for a great 15’s finish.
This week in our corner we acknowledge our team of the year...the Motor Centre Cowboys U16’s grade. Coached by Rob Heather Snr and managed by Nga “Joey” Tarai. Our U16’s statistics for 2011 are in the table provided on page 16.
Club notices;
Cowboy’s administration ask that all U13’s and U16’s players assemble at our Clubhouse at 8:45 am, as you will have an “amazing race” type challenge from 9:00am to 1:00pm. Wear comfortable walking shoes, a hat and bring a bottle of water...you will need it during the novelty challenge. All U11’s players are asked to be at the Club at 12:00 noon for your novelty games. The Club barbecue and awards for all three grades will start at 2:00pm...everything is provided by the Club with the assistance of supporters and sponsors...please be on time and be ready to have plenty of fun.
The U19’s, Reserve and Premier grade are requested to be at the Clubhouse at 8:00am to help prepare your umu and set up the Clubhouse, your awards will start at 5:00pm after our junior players awards is completed and they have been transported home. The NRL grand finals game will be projected at the Clubhouse. Everything is provided by the Club, supporters and sponsors. Those players that do not turn up in the morning to help prepare, you will be doing security duties in the evening.
Next week, we will bring more rugby news from the Cowboys Rugby Club 2011 campaign which will end in November after the International 7’s tournament and acknowledge another supporting sponsor of Cowboys Rugby.

NCW hold caucus on gender issues
The National Council of Women hosted a forum at its Headquarters in Takuvaine early Wednesday morning. It was the 4th Caucus on International Gender and Women’s Issues.
The event started at 11am and guest speaker was Hon. John Henry, associate minister, who spoke on his recent trip to Fiji for the Fourth Women’s Ministerial Meeting held in Nadi, from the 20th to the 22nd of July 2011 and his views of women in parliament.
“It was my first time traveling as the associate minister for internal affairs to a forum for Women’s rights, so it is has been a privilege to update and share what I had experienced and learned from the trip, to hopefully empower and strengthen the women here by the knowledge I had received at the Women’s Ministerial Meeting.”
Rebecca Hosking-Ellis, Senior Sergeant of the Cook Island Police, who attended the 8th Pacific Islands Chiefs of police Women Advisory Network Conference in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea from 20 June to the 23rd also spoke.
Also there to speak on the Cyber Legislation Workshop held in Samoa on the 22 to the 25th of August this year was Celine Cyer, OPM.
The forum was attended by the National Council members, private sector representatives, NGOs, ministers and the NZ High Commissioner John Carter.
The next forum will be held on the 15th of December. -Tiare Ponini

Saturday…
Do you ever get these random texts from your friends, saying that if you don’t show up, you’ll be kicked out of the “friendship circle”? Well, Saturday was just another one of those days. Here I am, minding my own business, trying to earn some pocket money working as a slave for my mum, when my phone starts buzzing like crazy. Have you ever tried answering your phone while you’re mopping at the same time? You should try it. It’s a very educating experience, and it teaches you how to multi task.
Since I ignored the last twelve texts that my mates sent me, one of them decided to ring me up. Cheeky man. Some people just don’t want to take the hint. But everybody had agreed to go to town and I had to show up. So while I was cleaning up, three of my friends (Nga, Steph and Li) all decided to pop around and check up on me. Huh, like I needed checking up. So I invited them upstairs to have a little chat. You know, what’s the latest gossip on the block, who’s cheating on who. That sort of thing.
Unfortunately for me, I had to stay behind and finish my chores. Boo hoo. But it wasn’t so bad, just giving the tables a little swipe with the cloth. When that was all done, I had to beg my mum to drop me off. I hate begging, but I had no other choice. If I wanted to arrive on time, begging seemed to be the only option. So off we went, on a journey to the Punanga Nui, on our chique-y looking Daelim. I was really looking forward to this day out, because it would be my first outing in two weeks.
When I arrived, they were all waiting for me, like the loyal friends they are. I got myself an ice cream-y thick shake from Reefside. I totally recommend it, as they have great service too. Jesse and Jessica, you rock! I found my mates at the “Fake Tattoo Parlour”. Nga and Li were getting tattoos on their back. It looked so…fake. There really is no other word to describe it. But it still looked pretty. While the “by-standers” were just standing around and observing, I was on the search for some real food. I ended up buying nothing. Who does that?
After the girls got their tattoos, we went to the Island Photo booth. It was really cool, especially for vain people like us girls. As soon as the flash went off, we all started screaming like idiots. We couldn’t get enough of ourselves. Every time our picture appeared on the screen, we started screaming our heads off. The next stop was CITC. Just for window shopping. Lolz. Nga found something that she really liked. It was some sort of frame for a special somebody. To end the day, we all went to the tables across the movies and that was that. -Norma Ngatamariki

Rare giant octopus found
Nan Hauser from the Whale Centre and her team have just recently found another rare giant octopus a kilometer out from Manua beach. This octopus is the largest octopus of the 40 species that are found in New Zealand waters. With Pupuke Robati Jnr’s finding of another damaged giant octopus back in July, Hauser’s recent finding is even more special with the recent octopus being found in prime condition. Only 3 have been ever found worldwide. From this rare finding there has been interest as far as Seattle, America, Te Papa, Wellington and National Geographic. - Alanna Smith

Herald Issue 554 09 March
- Norm exposes Trio of Doom
- Briefs from PM’s media conference Tuesday
- Tourism Industry ponders $5 million draft strategy
- Norman George resigns from Cook Islands Party
- Letter of Resignation from CIP
- Norman selfish says Prime Minister