Pacific News Briefs

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Crime Stoppers and the Honolulu Police Department (HPD) are asking for the public’s help locating a man who went missing a couple of weeks ago.

Aliivaa “Jeff” Letuli, 67, was last seen on Friday, August 9, 2024, at approximately 1 p.m. He was walking along Farrington Hwy and was heading towards the 7-Eleven store in Maili.

The Honolulu Police Department is asking for the public’s help in finding 67-year-old Aliivaa “Jeff” Letuli, who was last seen on Friday, August 9, 2024.

His family and friends are concerned for his safety and well-being as he suffers from medical conditions that require daily medication.

Letuli is described as Samoan, weighs 220 lbs., 6’0” tall, has gray hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information about Letuli’s whereabouts are asked to call Crime Stoppers at 808-955-8300.

(Island News)

DIGICEL SAMOA BOSS TO STEP DOWN

The Chief Executive Officer of Digicel Samoa Anthony Seuseu will be stepping down from his position in November. 

Seuseu was contacted on Tuesday after this newspaper found out that he had three months left in the position. But he refuted the claims saying that he was still employed and declined to comment about his contract ending in three months time. 

However, on Wednesday, Digicel Samoa announced that Seuseu will be stepping down. 

After a notable five-year period with Digicel Pacific, including over three years leading Digicel Tonga and more than a year at the helm of Digicel Samoa, Anthony will be returning to New Zealand with his family.

During his tenure with Digicel Pacific, Anthony achieved considerable milestones. As CEO of Digicel Tonga, he adeptly managed a series of unprecedented challenges, including the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the catastrophic volcanic eruption and tsunami of 2022, and the strategic acquisition by Telstra. His leadership and strategic vision played a crucial role in navigating these obstacles and steering the company toward recovery and growth.

In April 2023, Anthony transitioned to the role of CEO for Digicel Samoa, where he has overseen significant advancements, including the successful introduction of Samoa’s first 5G services. His leadership has been marked by a commitment to innovation and excellence, contributing to the company's continued success in the region.

(Samoa Observer)

SAMOA BATTER BREAKS RECORD

History was created at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub Regional East Asia-Pacific Qualifier A event on Tuesday as Samoan batter Darius Visser helped break the record for most runs from one over of a men’s T20I contest.

Visser smashed six sixes and was helped with three no balls from Vanuatu seamer Nalin Nipiko at Garden Oval No.2 in Apia, Samoa, as a total of 39 runs were scored from the 15th over of the contest.

The 39 runs conceded from the over was the most in the history of men’s T20I, surpassing the famous 36-run feat achieved by Yuvraj Singh at the inaugural ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in 2007 and more recent efforts from Kieron Pollard (2021), Nicholas Pooran (2024), Dipendra Singh Airee (2024) and Rohit Sharma / Rinku Singh (2024).

Visser smashed sixes from the first three deliveries of Nipiko’s over and then cleared the boundary from the fourth legal delivery of the over to help bring up the hundred for his country.

A dot ball from the fifth ball of the over did little to dampen Visser’s spirits as the 28-year-old smashed a six from the third no ball of the over and finished the over with another almighty blow to ensure he broke the record and became the first player from Samoa to score a century in international cricket. Visser finished his innings with a total of 14 sixes – four adrift of the most hit by one batter in a men’s T20I – and his individual score of 132 from just 62 deliveries was enough to ensure Samoa registered their second victory at the event and kept their hopes up of qualifying for the next edition of the T20 World Cup in 2026.

(Islands Business)

FIJI EXPLORING DEATH PENALTY

A Cabinet minister in Fiji has floated the idea of bringing back the death penalty, hoping it will send a warning to international drug traffickers using the island nation as a transit point - a call that has attracted mixed reactions from the public.

Fijian law enforcement agencies have been found wanting to tackle the rapid spread of the sale and consumption of hard drugs trafficked into the country by international drug cartels and criminal networks.

But the Minister for Women and Children, Lynda Tabuya, believes capital punishment as a "deterrence" can be the solution to protect the community.

"I would like to see the death penalty brought to Fiji for those who traffic large quantities of drugs," she told local media at a news conference on Wednesday.

"We need to do this as a deterrence because as Fiji continues to be used as a transit point.

We are vulnerable, our borders are vulnerable, we need to explore the possibility of the death penalty to protect our people."

Fiji is in the company of about 170 nations that have abolished the death penalty.

"There is growing consensus for universal abolition of the death penalty," according to the UN Human Rights Office.

"Despite this abolitionist trend, the death penalty is still employed in small number of countries, largely because of the myth that it deters crime."

While the Fijian government has not previously hinted at such a move, Tabuya said Fiji needed to send a message "to all the drug lords", according to local media reports.

However, Minister's comments have divided the ordinary Fijians, who took to social media to express either their support or opposition to the suggestion.

"We can all have our beliefs & ideas about this but there are hundreds of studies that show that harsh sentences do little to deter crime (sic)," wrote one user on X (formerly Twitter), who was against the idea.

"This is really dangerous rhetoric," wrote another, calling on the Minister to "Please stop".

One person posted that Tabuya "needs to go immediately".

"The poor iTaukei youths will be impacted by this the most," they wrote, adding "This women is advocating for state-sponsored execution that could breach the rights of indigenous peoples (sic)."

But others on Facebook reacted with a more positively, saying the death penalty had worked for South East Asian nations, such as Singapore and Philippines, and could also work for Fiji.

(RNZ Pacific)

HURRICANE GILMA STRENGTHENS ESE OF HAWAII

The Hawaii News Now First Alert Weather team is keeping a close watch on strengthening Hurricane Gilma and a tropical disturbance to the southeast that has the potential to bring severe weather to the islands this weekend.

As of the 11 a.m. report, the National Hurricane Center said Gilma is a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 miles per hour. It was 2,105 miles east-southeast of Hilo and was moving toward the west-northwest at 7 miles per hour.

Hurricane-force wind of 74 miles per hour or stronger extend outward up to 30 miles from the center. Tropical storm force winds (39-73 mph) extend outward up to 125 miles.

Forecasters said Gilma is expected to intensify over the next 24 hours and may become a major Category 4 hurricane Thursday.

Meanwhile, tropical disturbance EP91 is forecast to become a tropical depression or tropical storm over the far western East Pacific sometime today.

If it becomes a tropical storm while still in the Eastern Pacific, it will get the name Hector; if it is in the Central Pacific, it will be given the Hawaiian name Hone.

The HNN First Alert Weather Team has declared Saturday, Sunday and Monday as Frist Alert Weather Days because of the potential for severe weather from this system.

The National Weather Service said, “Interests in Hawaii should closely monitor this disturbance, though it remains too early to determine the exact location and magnitude of potential impacts.”

(Hawaii News Now)

$20 MILLION IN FUNDING FOR PALAU

The Department of the Interior’s Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs Carmen G. Cantor has announced $20 million in direct economic assistance from the United States Government to Palau for health and education sectors in the island nation. These fiscal year 2024 funds represent year one of economic assistance to Palau under the recently negotiated Compact of Free Association (Compact) Section 432 Review, Public Law 118-42, which was signed between the United States and Palau on May 22, 2023.

The announcement represents funding assistance for fiscal year 2024 as follows:

• •          $10 million – Health Sector – to support operations of the Government of Palau’s health sector as submitted in Palau’s Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Implementation Plan.
• •          $10 million – Education Sector – to support operations of the Government of Palau’s education sector as submitted in Palau’s Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Implementation Plan.

“Interior is proud to partner with the Department of State and other federal partners as we begin to implement financial provisions of the Compact of Free Association relationship that the United States has with Palau,” said Assistant Secretary Cantor. “We are excited for Palau’s continued growth and economic success as a democracy and free market economy in the Pacific.”

Since the Compact of Free Association Amendments Act was signed into law by President Biden on March 9 of this year, the Interior Department has transferred $66 million to the Palau Government for the Palau Compact Trust Fund, the Palau Consolidation Fiscal Fund and for the Infrastructure Maintenance Fund.

(DOI-IA press release)