Your watching the "Weekend Report" for April 03, 2009 (requires Quicktime 7.4)
Below is the text vesion of the weekend report with headlines from around Palau and the Pacific.
NEWS:
A new council of chiefs has been formed in Melekeok. The new village council called Ngara Melech is the sixth hamlet of Ngermelech. This history was made on March 29th as Hamlet Chief Theodore Rengulbai and eleven heads of lineages and their female counterparts gathered for a traditional feast and ceremony.
President Toribiong has approved the Fiscal Year 2009 budget for $58.35 million. At the signing the Preseident did express his concern for the seven million unauthorized expenditures by the previous administration.
The special Prosecutor has met with the Ombudsman to ensure that all media outlets receive the same information for distribution. The former publisher of the Tia Belau responded by assuring the SP that he would guard against bias and would send press releases to all media outlets simultaneously.
The Asian Development Bank has predicted falling economic growth across the Pacific as a result of the international financial crisis.__ Overall growth in the region is predicted to drop from 5.1 per cent in 2008 to 3 per cent in 2009, with only Papua New Guinea and East Timor still growing moderately. __The Bank stated that five Pacific countries will experience negative growth including Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Palau. The ADB says it will help by increasing loans to the region by 50 per cent over the next 3 years.
The controversial $70 mainland China Tourist Visa program has been cancelled. A letter from Minister of State Sandra Pierentozzi stated that Chinese nationals are eligible to receive a one-month permit free upon arrival. The Ministry of State has initiated an inquiry regarding the legality of the visa program while the OEK has also begun their own probe.
Emory Mesubed and his family avoided eviction from their Airai home on March 18 by order of the Supreme Court. Mesubed, who was a former officer of Pacific Savings Bank, requested a temporary restraining order against PSB's receiver, Trustee and agent. On the same day that his house was put up for public auction, Justice Foster granted the restraining order. Then, on March 23, a hearing was held and the Receiver, Trustee and agent agreed to stop the transfer of the deed and any eviction pending resolution of Mesubed's civil action.
On the heels of the recently proposed legislation to overturn the ban on shark fishing in Palau, comes another bill that exploits Palau's marine resources. The new bill would exempt fishing companies from export taxes on fish caught by purse seining and to allow those to be offloaded at foreign ports would be effective for 5 years. The bill states that "the export of any fish caught by a commercial fishing company using the group purse seining or handline method shall be exempt from the fish export tax". Purse seining is a fishing method where boats drag massive nets behind them catching everything in the ocean. This form of fishing is known to produce massive amounts of waste as everything from sharks to turtles to unwanted fish are scooped up in the process and usually die before the nets are emptied.
The Island Times has reported that Former President Tommy Remengesau is being investigated by the special prosecutor and subpoenas have issued in connection with the Senators finances and real estate holdings. It was also reported that the seizure of the computers from the OERC is part of a larger investigation in to the Remengesau Administration.
On March 10, 2009 the Senate's Committee on Resources, Commerce, Trade and Development published a report 8-91 to the Senate President confirming that the documents presented by Youlsau Bells to the Senate during her conformation hearing to become Minister of Natural Resources, Environment and Tourism were forged. The report concluded that Ms. Bells never attended the University of Pennsylvania or Duke University and that she does not have degrees from those schools as she claimed. Despite claims by the Credentials Chair that Ms. Janet Ansert did not exist, the report confirmed that Ms. Janet Ansert is in fact employee of the University of Pennsylvaina's Registrar Office. The report states that Ms. Bells has not responded to questions regarding her educational credentials.
The reward on the missing mini-14 rifle has been increased from $15,000 to $20,000 for information leading to arrest and conviction or $5,000 for simply turning in the rifle with no questions asked. The rifle was last seen in a government vehicle used for presidential security and has a market value of less than $500.
The Palau Chamber of Commerce has elected new members and officers for the following year.
President - Francis Remengesau
Vice President - Mason Whipps
Secretary - Kassi Berg
Treasurer - Aurea Kuartei-Kanai
Director - Dr. Patrick Tellei
Director - Dr. Minoru Ueki
Director - Kenneth Uyehara
Director - Kaleb Udui Jr.
Director - Dermot Keane
The Chamber is organized for the purposes of publicizing, promoting, and developing commercial and business opportunities within and outside the Republic of Palau
Ivan Rudimch, who is the owner of Mobil Midtown, donated a Nissan March sedan to the Palau Red Cross Society. This car is to be raffled off at a fundraiser in which all the proceeds will go in to helping the Red Cross Society of Palau. Tickets will be sold at $1 dollar each. OTV will keep you updated on when and where the tickets will be available.
The 16th Women's Conference was a very big success. The President, along with High Chief Ibedul, Paramount Chief Reklai, and and Bilung Gloria Salii, and other noble leaders were present at the conference. During the conference, they discussed issues that dealt with the youth, social changes and the foreign influences that have impacted Palau, along with other big issues regarding Palau's culture.
This week, two more bars were indicted for the sale of alcohol long after 2am. Patrol Division Chief Ismael Aguon reported that the bars were cited early Saturday and Sunday morning. The owners of the bars will also have to pay a fine for the violation. That counts for five bars to be cited in two weeks.
Two people were injured during a boat collision on Sunday. Patrol Chief Ismael Aguon reported that the operator of the boat and the passenger were on the channel near the Coral Reef Center when the collision happened. The boat operator was brought to the hospital for treatment while the passenger had sustained minor injuries but refused to go to the hospital.
Otv extends its welcome to all the visiting Japanese students. Just last week, students from the Kotatzu Ariake private school in Japan went about visiting some schools in Palau and donating a handful of supplies. Also this week, four Japanese high school students and their two teachers are visiting Midzenty High School. These students come all the way from Sacred Heart High school, which is an all girl sister school of Midzenty that is lcated at Minatoku Tokyo and has been operating for well over a hundred years.
A two day Micronesian Youth Services Network seminar was held in Saipan. There, leaders of the Palauan community in Saipan had a chance to hear the delegation from Palau voice their opinions about the important roles they play in their community back home. During a dinner at the Saipan Grand Hotel, Palauan Community president Rufino Aguon talked briefly to the 16 youth delegates discussing the services that the Palauan consulate will offer to the Palauans in the NMI.
The Palau Conservation Society along with the Bird Life International is attempting to makiePacific islands rat-free for birds - and people. The UK Government's Darwin Initiative has granted Bird Life International $414,190 to implement a three-year island conservation project in the Pacific. The projects goal is to eradicate all rodents from the islands in an attempt to save the now withering endemic palau and fiji. The project would center around Kayangel where there are only about 190 people living there and the rats far outrun the people in numbers.
Thanks to an anonymous report, an invasive "city pigeon" was found and confiscated by officers of the Division of Fish and Wildlife Protection in Koror this week. The owner of the pigeon reportedly did not know that it was illegal to own the pigeon, and willingly gave it up. The pigeon was taken to the Koror Animal Shelter, where it was euthanized.
An escaped monkey was killed in Melekeok this week. The pet monkey escaped, and when the owners were unable to recapture it, they killed before it ran into the forest. Unfortunately, they then reportedly threw the body of the monkey into the ocean which is not a sanitary or safe way to dispose of a dead animal. If you question on monkeys or city pigeons please call the Bureau of Agriculture at 488-2504, or the Koror Animal Shelter at 488-5654.
Now here is a look at sports with international news and this weeks weird story to follow.
In international News the fist lady of the United States had a rare embrace with the queen of England. While some said it was a breech of protocol others have said it is an extraordinary show of affection from the Queen.
Lookout Palau for the monkey overlords. Researchers have revealed that they have observed monkeys Strategizing Future Combat, and Teaching their young to floss. A researcher from Sweden's Lund University, after observing a 30 year old chimpanzee that dislikes human visitors, explained that its daily routines begin with roaming around the enclosure in the morning to collect stones and strategically place them in plies to later hurl them at visitors. Another researcher in Kyoto university explained that the mother macaque monkey was flossing her teeth with strands of human hair. Most especially when the young monkeys are present. Possible class on hygiene? You be the judge?
Cincinnati is the new haven for pizzas. That's right. What had seemed to be an unactivated internet coupon for an ad campaign turned out to be Cincinnati's free pass for pizzas from dominoes. Someone online had figured out that the codeword 'bailout' was good for a medium sized pizza. Not long after that, 600 pizzas were freely given away to customers in Cincinnati alone. The total number of pizzas given within the dominoes chain was a whopping 11,000 pies. Dominoes' owner, John Glass promised the Cincinnati Enquirer that all pizzas will be reimbursed.
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