News Briefs

What Happened this Week

Compiled for the Times by Norma Ngtamariki, Tiare Ponini and Teriu Woonton.

Women’s Soccer trials
Trials for the Cook Islands Under 17 Women’s National Soccer team for the FIFA World Cup Qualifying Tournament began on Wednesday at the Cook Island Football Association (FIFA) grounds in Matavera. Out of the 36 young girls trialling only half will be moving on to New Zealand to compete for the Cook Islands at the Qualifying tournament in Auckland.

Trade training restarts
The Cook Islands Trade Training Centre held its Orientation week starting Monday the 16th to the Saturday the 21st of January for the night classes. New comers or returnees looking to upgrade in their knowledge of a particular trade or just looking for a new challenge were told to bring in identification. Night Classes will begin on Monday the 23rd of January.

Are Pa Metua reopens
To all Mama’s and Papa’s The Are Pa Metua has reopened their doors on Tuesday the 17th of January.

New plane for Air Raro
Air Raro will be getting a new Banderante aircraft to join the three commercial aircraft that are already in use for the outer island flights.

BTIB Youth programme
A young entrepreneur course has been set up for the youth of Rarotonga by the Business Trade and Investment Board. They aim to fire up the interest of the youngsters so that they can participate in this program. BTIB plans to take action in March.
Netball programme for young girls
Netball training was attended by a lot of eager girls at theTupapa netball courts. Organiser and trainer Luciana Matenga took the girls under her wing with plans to train them to their full potential.
Team for Wellington Rugby 7’s
Due to injury there will be some new-faces this year with 8-players (12-man squad) debuting* at this year’s IRB 7’s Tournament in Wellington on 3-4th February. Although inexperienced, the squad will not lack ability with 7 NZ-based players (Ashley Drake, *Tiakina Manga, *Dexter Moroney, Arthur Mui, *Sean Fletcher, Jamie Makara & *Jerome Vogel), 4 players from Australia (Koiatu Koiatu, *Ryan Short, *Tai Marsters & *Beau Mokotupu) and the lone Rarotongan-based player in *Kairan Mahia. The team assembles in Auckland 27th January and participates in the Tailevu 7’s Tournament that weekend and then pre-Wellington tournament week they have organized a ‘hit-out’ against New Zealand, Australia or Samoa. The Cooks are in Pool B with: Sth Africa, England and USA. The Cooks have beaten England and USA previously.
Team is:
1.Ashley Drake Horowhenua Kapiti
2.Sean Fletcher Auckland
3.Koiatu Koiatu Perth
4.Kairan Mahia Rarotonga
5.Jamie Makara Auckland
6.Tiakina Manga Horowhenua
7.Tai Marsters Sydney
8.Beau Mokotupu Canberra
9.Dexter Moroney Auckland
10.Arthur Mui Auckland
11.Ryan Short Brisbane
12.Jerome Vogel Auckland
Head Coach: Ramsey Tomokino
Manager: Brent Matchett
Physio: Cameron Simmiss
Trainer: Morna Pulevaka

Woman of the Month Named
The Woman of the Month for the month of January, in conjunction of the Women in Sports Commission, is Mrs. Rima David. The Woman of the Month Awards Dinner will be at the Ariki Cafe on Wednesday the 18th of January at 6pm.

Police Report
Incidents reported during the weekend to police – 2 burglaries, 2 motorbikes were unlawfully taken, 3 arrests for drug charges, and 2 noise complaints. Police are also happy to report no vehicle crashes for the weekend.

Police on the hunt for missing Skipper
Cook Islands police say they are looking for answers to two big questions surrounding an Auckland man believed to be facing sex-related charges in New Zealand who is missing from a yacht in the islands.
Inspector John Strickland of the Cook Islands police is investigating the man’s disappearance two weeks ago; after a mayday call was made from a yacht later found floating empty 20 kilometers off the shore of Rarotonga.
Strickland said: “The biggest question here is, one: is he presumed dead? And two: was there anybody else on board the yacht?”
Police are also following up possible sightings of the man after his disappearance on January 3.
The man is believed to be an Auckland businessman facing 26 sex charges, including rape and unlawful sexual conduct.
He is due to appear in Auckland District Court next month and has name suppression.
The man was leaving Rarotonga when he disappeared. He had entered the country on December 31, and he had also made distress calls about heart problems on the way in.
When he got into the country he claimed to have lost his passport and documents overboard, but was allowed through customs into the country for urgent medical care.
Tests confirmed he was having a problem with his heart and he was told to stay on the island.
He refused and went back to his yacht. He returned to the island the next day to collect medicine, and then left on January 2.

Cruise Ships Bound for Rarotonga
On Thursday 2,700 tourist arrived at Rarotonga’s main wharf in Avatiu as there were two cruise ships berthed at the same time, the Ms Rotterdam and the Seabourn Odyssey.
BTIB discuss finances
Thursday evening at 6pm at the Sinai Hall the BTIB held a meeting with the Punanga Nui vendors on discussions of how to improve the current financial status, policy and admission fees of the Punanga Nui market.

Course enrolment at HTTC
The Hospitality and Training Centre (HTTC) in now open for enrollment. HTTC has two accredited courses for level 3 and 4 in Food and Preparation (Culinary Arts) and Food and beverages. Both courses last for a full year and will be starting on the 1st of March. Closing dates for the application is Friday 20th January.
CI’s bid Uirangi farewell
Sadly, the Cook Islands will be missing their favourite dancer and 5 time winner for Te Mire Kapa as Uirangi Bishop left our shores on Wednesday night for a life in Melbourne Australia. Uirangi says not to worry as she will no doubt be coming back for holidays.

Cook Islands to report to United Nations on protection of Children’s Rights

The Cook Islands will report to the United Nations in Geneva later this month on the country’s progress against meeting its international obligations for the protection of children’s rights.
Led by the Minister of Health, Hon Nandie Glassie, a small delegation including Secretary of Internal Affairs, Ms. Bredina Drollet, Foreign Affairs International Legal Advisor, Ms. Myra Patai and Crown Law Counsel, Ms. Martha Henry will report to the 59th session of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child on 26 January 2012.
The delegation will report on progress which includes development of the Family Law Bill, which will give legal effect to child protection provisions in the convention, as well as the drafting of the new Education Bill which enshrines protections around the child’s right to education.
“While these are still in draft form, expectations are that the bills will be tabled in Parliament in 2012,” said Minster Glassie.
“Further work to ensure better national policy coordination over the coming year will be undertaken to improve existing information regarding children in welfare, health, education and within the legal system.”
“This will enable better monitoring and therefore better policy approaches,” he said.
The initial and ongoing reporting processes for the Convention of the Rights of the Child are important accountability mechanisms for country states to benchmark and review its progress against the international obligations for the protection of children’s rights.
At this meeting, the UN Committee will consider the country’s initial report submitted in 2010 by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and a parallel NGO report submitted by Punanga Tauturu Inc. presented by Ms. Kairangi Samuel who will travel with the delegation.
The initial report outlined that, while not child specific, fundamental human rights are enshrined in the Constitution as well as incorporated into other legislation of the Cook Islands. The report showed that much of the existing Cook Islands legislation was consistent with the principles of the convention, however, further strengthening could be undertaken progressively to better protect the rights of the child.
A subsequent list of issues seeking an update on any new activities and recent data has since been received by the Cook Islands Government to respond at the January 2012 meeting.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs is considering an annual publication of the country’s progress against the articles in the convention and will pursue this option with the relevant government departments over the coming year.
The presentation and discussion of the report before members of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child will fulfil an obligation that was entered into when the country first acceded to the convention in June 1997.
Minister Glassie is representing the Cook Islands on behalf of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Hon Minister Mark Brown who is attending the Round Table Meeting at the end of the month.
Minister Glassie’s travel is funded from the Civil List with other delegates funded respectively by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. NGO representative, Ms. Kairangi Samuel will be funded by the United Nations.

2012 Round Table meeting to showcase National Sustainable Development Plan 2011-2015
The Cook Islands National Sustainable Development Plan (NSDP) 2011-2015 will set the scene for the 2012 Roundtable Meeting on Rarotonga this month.
The NSDP is the country’s second national plan and is the result of widespread consultations between government, civil society, private sector, academia and wider community.
Prime Minister Henry Puna said the NSDP takes the country’s development to the next level, “with eight overarching national goals that speak to a vibrant Cook Islands economy supported by good infrastructure development and energy security; resilient and sustainable communities; where our people have the opportunity to fulfil their potential; are resilient to the disasters and climate change impacts, live in a healthy environment and where our progress is underpinned by the principles of good governance, law and order.”
He said the NSDP would provide the backdrop to discussions at the Round Table Meeting (31 January 2012) and give development partners an overview of the country’s national priorities and pathways to achieve them.
“Achieving our national goals hinges on sustaining our relationships and dialogue with our development partners, as well as a concerted national effort spanning government, civil society and private sectors.”
The Prime Minister said the NSDP has provided opportunities to evaluate and discuss development outcomes, review national goals and consider new strategic options within government, the private sector, civil society and communities.
“This has been timely given the 2010 national elections, the need to incorporate new policy directions and the recent emphasis placed on strengthening linkages between the economic, social and environmental pillars of sustainable development.”
The revised national plan recognises the need to continue to strengthen the planning process. Specific actions identified include building robust sector plans and monitoring and evaluation capacity to inform the ongoing planning process.
New stakeholders on the National Sustainable Development Commission are proposed to broaden participation and dialogue on national issues. Setting up an effective and efficient monitoring system to report progress against indicators will improve accountability and the dissemination of knowledge.
Improving links between the public budget process and priorities established in the national plan is also seen as critical.
Lifting public service performance at national and island levels is expected to be a major contributor to improving delivery and development impact.
The Prime Minister said the combination of these actions is anticipated to increase the quality of advice provided to Cabinet.
“Better informed decision making will result in better development impacts. This sets the stage for the focus of the upcoming Round Table Development partners meeting.”
The NSDP further articulates objectives and strategies detailed in the full version of the draft NSDP found on: http://www.pmoffice.gov.ck/images/opm/NSDP%2011-2015.pdf
PM Office Media Release

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