Manokwari, Jubi – Jenazah Stevie Mambor drummer legendaris Black Brothers pagi tadi tiba di Bandara Rendani pukul 06.00 WP, disambut oleh ratusan warga bersama kerabat keluarga dan fans Black Brothers di Manokwari.
Usai prosesi penjemputan, jenazah Stevie Mambor diarak dengan iringan alunan musik seruling-tambur menuju rumah duka di Komplek Sanggeng Manokwari. Di rumah duka, juga dilakukan prosesi penyerahan jenazah dari panitia yang mengantar dari Canberra Australia kepada keluarga almarhum.
Benny Betay bassis Black Brothers yang ikut mengantar jenazah Stevie Mambor mengisahkan tentang kronologis wafatnya Stevi Mambor di salah satu Rumah Sakit Kristen yang berada di Canbera Australia pada hari Rabu, 18 April 2018 lalu sekira pukul 10.00 Waktu Canberra.
“Terakhir, dokter yang menanganinya (almarhum,red) mengatakan bahwa Stevie Mambor punya riwayat penyakit jantung, saat itu, sebelum menghembuskan nafas terakhirnya, dia sempat meminta secarik kertas dan pulpen, untuk menulis nomor telepon pribadi saya dan menyerahkan kepada dokter. Sesaat setelah itu, Stevie sudah tiada, dan pihak dokter pun menghubungi nomor yang diberikan dan saya sangat terpukul ketika mendengar kabar itu dan bergegas ke sana untuk melihat jenazahnya,” ujar Benny .
Soal keterlambatan pengiriman jenazah Stevie Mambor ke Manokwari, kata Benny, karena urusan administrasi kewarganegaraan.
“Pasalnya, Stevie sudah menjadi warga Negara Australia hampir 30 tahun, dan urusan administrasinya ke KBRI cukup panjang. Itulah sebabnya jenazah Stevie baru tiba hari ini di Manokwari,” ujarnya.
Benny menginformasikan bahwa sesuai kesepakatan pihak keluarga, jenazah Stevie Mambor akan dikebumikan pada hari Senin 14 Mei 2018, pukul 10.00 WP, di pekuburan Kampung Susweni Distrik Manokwari Timur. Saat ini jenazah Stevie Mambor masih disemayamkan di rumah duka milik Piter Mambor di Sanggeng. (*)
THE Vanuatu Government is moving positively to reduce the impact of single use plastics through a ban on single use plastic bags, drinking straws and polystyrene food containers.
This ban will begin on July 1.
The government will be holding a workshop to give details of the plastics ban and increase awareness of the dangers of plastic.
The workshop will be run by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program, and plans to develop a strategy and campaign to educate people about the dangers of plastics.
The workshop will be held at the Melanesian Hotel on May 15 and 16.
Tokelau’s controversial helicopter buy was part of at least one major Samoan airline deal, along with plans for the establishment of a luxury hotel on the remote New Zealand-administered territory.
In February, then Foreign Minister Murray McCully slammed Tokelau over the purchase of two helicopters that he described as “extravagances”, and later said they represented “a breakdown in Tokelau’s governance”.
Documents obtained by Asia Pacific Report under the Official Information Act confirm earlier revelations that the helicopters, which will now be sold off, were part of an “interim air service”, with the end goal of establishing runways on Tokelau.
Last October, a Tokelau “senior public servant”, whose name was redacted, advised the NZ Civil Aviation Authority (NZCAA) that Tokelau was exploring a fixed-wing air service between Samoa and Tokelau.
According to the public servant, Polynesian Airlines, which is co-owned by the Samoan government, would be functioning as the service operator, made possible through a “partnership arrangement” with private Samoan tourism company, Grey Investment Group (GIG).
It is unclear whether the public servant is one of the two who were suspended pending an investigation by Tokelau’s government into their role in the helicopter purchases.
Commercial deal
A document from February last year, composed by a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) official, reveals Tokelau’s bilateral team advised MFAT of a proposal made by a hotelier, whose name was redacted, for a commercial deal involving “operating a helicopter service from Apia to Tokelau”.
Its purpose would be to deliver tourists “to a proposed high end hotel in Tokelau”.
The chairman of GIG is Alan Grey, son of famous proprietor Aggie Grey and who holds several senior government and corporate positions in Samoa, including a directorship of Polynesian Airlines.
GIG has an extensive portfolio of investments, including several high end hotels and resorts across the Pacific, and Alan Grey is also chairman of the Samoa Hotel Association.
Polynesian Airlines and GIG have not responded to requests for comment.
The arrangement with Polynesian Airlines was mentioned as early as September in email correspondence between NZCAA and MFAT officials.
It was also described in a January meeting between David Nicholson, several MFAT and NZCAA officials, and Tokelau’s Chief Technical Helicopter Adviser and Financial Adviser.
‘Logistical support’
Polynesian Airlines was “providing logistical support” to Tokelau, “including hangar space and access to fuelling facilities”, according to notes from the meeting.
However, earlier documents reveal Polynesian Airlines was not the only Samoan company that expressed interest in a fixed-wing air service to Tokelau.
In a November email, which had its recipients redacted but includes a “minister”, then High Commissioner to Tuvalu Linda Te Puni said she had “heard about a number of proposals for helicopter services and a seaplane service involving Talofa airways with possibly a Japanese company”.
In another email later that month and this time addressed to multiple NZCAA officials, Te Puni confirmed Tokelau was in discussions with Talofa Airways.
In October, a representative for the airline advised NZCAA of the logistics of future flights to and landings on Tokelau, after NZCAA requested the information so that it could determine the relevant rules for aircraft operation in Tokelau.
Following earlier statements from Ulu-o-Tokelau Siopili Perez and former Foreign Minister Murray McCully that the helicopters would be sold off, a chain of emails starting from late February show those plans are now under way.
A number of discussions between CAA and MFAT officials detailed the logistics of selling or contracting out the two helicopters to recover their initial cost.
March correspondence between NZCAA and MFAT officials revealed Administrator David Nicholson had “been approached” by Hawker Pacific, an Auckland-based aviation provider, with the intention of it acting as a sales agent for the helicopters.
IT’S a little known detail of the so-called ‘blackbirding’ trade: how a group of Aboriginal Australians ended up in Vanuatu, never to return home.
Chief Richard David Fandanumata has travelled to Australia from Vanuatu to see the land his great-grandfather came from.
He hopes to find his lost relatives with just a handful of clues.
“I want to find out where Manuma from, that name,” he said. “If any Aboriginal people know ‘Manuma’ or ‘Makuma’, that is the place where my great-grandfather was taken.”
Chief Richard’s great-grandfather was an Aboriginal Australian who ended up on the island of Tongariki around 1910.
His story starts with the so-called ‘blackbirding’ trade of the mid to late 1800s.
Thousands of workers were tricked, kidnapped, or occasionally came willingly, from the Pacific Islands to work in Australia’s sugar cane fields.
Chief Richard’s forebears from Tongariki were among them. He says the men were chained and sometimes beaten. They worked for some time at a sugar factory in Caboolture, but may have moved between towns for work.
Emelda Davis, chairwoman of the Australian South Sea Islanders Port Jackson, said Pacific Islanders often lived closely alongside Aboriginal people.
“Given the nature of that trade, you had Indigenous, Torres Strait Islander and South Sea Islanders all working alongside each other under slavery conditions,” she says.
This close interaction sometimes led to marriages – and violence.
In 2012, Chief Richard and his brother Abel David, a former Vanuatu Member of Parliament, were part of a group of South Sea Islanders who travelled to Bundaberg for a ‘sorry’ ceremony, apologising for the past killing of Aboriginal people.
Ms Davis says the workers were acting under instruction from their bosses.
“This was something, their hands were forced, in order to do this, tribal warfare, in order to clear the land, but same time, our people took on board the young children that were abandoned,” she says.
An estimated 7000 Melanesian workers were deported after 1901 when the White Australia policy kicked in.
“We’ve always been aware of the Australian Aboriginal descendants living in Vanuatu,” says Ms Davis.
Details of exactly how they ended up there and what happened next are unclear. But tales have been kept alive by oral histories passed on through families.
Generations of Chief Richard’s family have told how his great-grandfather, a man named ‘Manuma’ or ‘Makuma’, depending on the dialect, was rescued at sea and taken to Tongariki with returning workers.
He narrowly avoided a grim fate.
“They should have ate him, because we [were] still cannibals at that time, but chief says we’ll take care of him, and chief gave him his daughter to marry,” he said.
“[It was] because of his hair. Curly… Aboriginal hair. So chief says don’t kill him, we’ll keep him.
“That’s where my grandmother was the daughter of that man, Manuma.”
Pastor Yanick Willie
Yanick Willie is a pastor and also from the island of Tongariki.
His family story tells of two children who were smuggled into the hold of a ship called the Lady Norman.
“They bring with them two children, namely Willie Tutukan and Rossi. We are born out of these two little children. Willie Tutukan married to a Tongariki woman.”
Pastor Willie says there are now about 400 known descendants of Willie Tutukan and Rossi, living in Tongariki and elsewhere.
He says Aboriginal descendants today face discrimination in Vanuatu.
“It’s very hard, we are always under discrimination,” he says.
“They look down on us and… sometimes call us ‘trouble people’. We have been hurt.”
Last week the men, along with several other descendants, travelled to Australia to make the first steps towards finding their long lost family members.
Tukini Tavui of the Pacific Islands Council of South Australia helped facilitate the trip after hearing of their plight through Dr David Bunton, whose own forebears were missionaries to Vanuatu in the 1800s.
“I think it’s important that Australians are aware, particularly Aboriginal people, that they have families over there that were taken during those times, in the early 1900s,” he says.
Chief Richard David says he knows finding his family will be a difficult task, but even being in Australia has been healing.
“It’s been hard today, but there will be tears of joy since we are coming back home.”
FRONT PAGE_Mr. James Howey [L] Business Development Manager Air Canada with Mr. Dwivedi during announcement of new partnership arrangement that will benefit Solomon Islander’s travelling to Canada.
Solomon Islands nationals traveling to Canada as part of the Foreign worker program or migrating under Permanent Residence nomination program from Guadalcanal Province, will be benefiting from a new partnership arrangement with Air Canada for their travel into Canada.
This partnership benefit will also be extended to any Solomon Islands province that is joining the education and training program offered by Canadian International Training & Education [CITREC].
The proposed route will be from Brisbane, Australia into Vancouver, Canada.
The arrangement becomes effective immediately and offers convenient travel for Solomon Islands nationals.
Air Canada is pleased to be able to support the Guadalcanal Province CITREC Graduates of the Solomon Islands and their Foreign Worker Migration program to Canada via Brisbane, Australia gateway which offers nonstop service to Vancouver and easy connections to the rest of Canada,” said Kevin Howlett, Senior Vice President Regional Markets & Government Relations.
“And we will soon add another year-round Australian gateway to our network with the addition of direct Melbourne service, adding to our ongoing flights from Sydney and Brisbane.
“With an unparalleled choice of 3 Australian gateways, we are delighted to be welcoming Solomon Island nationals on board Air Canada,” Mr. Howlett said.
Guadalcanal Premier Honourable Anthony Veke has welcomed this opportunity.
“We welcome this opportunity with Canada’s national airline Air Canada and the support this arrangement will be providing to people of my province and other Solomon Islands provinces in the very near future,” Premier Hon. Veke said.
Premier Veke said that Air Canada has embarked on a venture where it is transporting Solomon Islands citizens to new opportunities.
“As Canada’s national airline, Air Canada is flying my people to new heights. New heights of opportunity. It is helping make dreams come true and I thank every staff member and management of Air Canada for this opportunity.
“I look forward to my people from Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands experiencing Canadian hospitality on Air Canada flights very soon as we prepare a pool of people for Canadian job opportunities,” Premier Veke said.
CITREC Chairman Mr. Ashwant Dwivedi has welcomed the partnership saying the Air Canada partnership will help further propel Solomon Islands partnership with Canadian’s.
“This partnership will become a great convenience for people travelling into Canada under the arrangement. Air Canada being Canada’s national airline has united families from across the world for many years.
“Now it is bringing the people of Solomon Islands into Canada. It is demonstrating its global commitment. This is a great achievement for our partnership with Canada and we look forward to growing this opportunity together with Air Canada,” Mr. Dwivedi said.
“There is also cargo opportunity that we can discuss with Air Canada. There is great opportunity that this partnership brings with itself.
“Air Canada has Pacific reach and we can work in partnership with the airline to develop our export of goods and services from Solomon Islands into North America,” Mr. Dwivedi who is also Solomon Islands Hon.Consul General to Canada said.
Air Canada is Canada’s largest domestic and international airline serving more than 220 airports on six continents. Canada’s flagship carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2017 served close to 48 million customers.
Air Canada is also the first airline to voluntarily join the World Bank’s IMF Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition. Air Canada’s efforts to be environmentally responsible – were recognized recently when Air Transport World named Air Canada Eco-Airline of the Year for 2018, global recognition that the airline says they are very proud of.
THE Port Moresby Nature Park has taken the lead in supporting the ban on plastic bags by introducing paper bags and green eco-bags in all its shops at the park.
Park general manager Michelle McGeorge said the shops in the park stopped using plastic bags as part of an attempt to support environmental sustainability.
“This also aligns with recent calls by the Minister for Environment and Conservation, John Pundari, for a ban on plastic bags in the best interest of the environment and health of all Papua New Guineans,” she said.
“It not only makes sense to reduce plastic bags from an environmental perspective, but from a business financial perspective as well.
“Business leaders must be responsible with their business practices and be serious in investingin positive changes by removing plastic bags in their business activities.
“We can stop the issues of plastic bags only when the businesses realise and start to stop the supply of plastic bags.”
McGeorge said it was an ongoing effort by Nature Park to improve its environmentally sustainable practices. It set up an environmental committee last year.
Guest relations team leader Heidi A’aru said it was the rightthing to do because it would contribute to a safer and greener environment.
“It’s also a timely move for us as the Government plans to impose a total ban on plastic bags in due time,” A’aru said.
The athletes are 100m and 200m sprinters Frederick Ageda (Pom) and Linus Kuravi (WNB); distance runners Gethru Komba and Mary Tenge (Simbu) ; middle distance runner Lyanne Tibu (ENB); and East Sepik athlete Isila Apkup who runs 400m. Athletics PNG …Read more
Rosie Boylan’s bespoke hats have featured in glamorous Hollywood films, on fashion runways and magazine covers but she also finds great reward in sharing her skills with Pacific island communities. Over the past several years the Sydney-based milliner …Read more
Latest Ambae eruption produced worst ashfall – volcanologist. Report. from Radio New Zealand International. Published on 07 May 2018 â View Original. The latest eruption on Ambae island in Vanuatu produced more ash than last year’s event …Read more
BOXER Joseph Kwadjo defeated Vanuatu’s Jacobus Kali on TKO during the Best Boxing Promotion held at Nadi’s Prince Charles Park last night. Kwadjo’s powerful punches were too hard for Kali to contain that forced him to retire at the end of the third …Read more
