DP_3755_20131501.pdf

Local News Santo News Letters Regional /Inter News Classified/Real Estate ADS Sports

By Godwin LigoO p p O s i t i O n L e a d e r , Edward Natapei, says the Opposition sees the appoint-ment of MP Moana Carcasses as Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister as another new ministry and unjustified.

He said the appointment by Prime Minister Kilman raises a number of questions.

“One of the concerns that the Opposition has is that the

Government already has in place a Department of Strate-gic Management whose role is to negotiate and facilitate donor partnership programs.

“The appointment of Moana Carcasses will only duplicate responsibilities and is not necessary,” Natapei expressed.

The Leader of the Opposi-tion also questions how this appointment will be made

as normally only the Pub-lic Service Commission can make such an appointment and furthermore he ques-tioned where will the funds come from for the position.

“The Opposition also sees this appointment as under-mining the responsibility of the Minister of Foreign Affairs if the role of the new position is to include diplomatic status and to assists the Ministry of

Foreign Affairs in negotiating overseas aid projects.

“This is clearly anoth-er duplicating and un-neces-sary responsibility,” Natapei stressed.

He also said creating such a new ministerial post is con-tradicting the Prime Minis-ter’s decision in that he has just abolished the Ministry of Sports and Youth Develop-ment and now creating anoth-

er ministry on top of the Civil Aviation Ministry which is costly for the government and questions where the budget for this will come from.

“As far as dealing with back log of administrative and technical issues and a trouble shooter as being part of the responsibilities of this post, the government already has qualified administrators such as the Director Generals and

the Directors, Advisors and Managers to handle the back-log issues facing the govern-ment.

“The Opposition sees this as purely creating a job for an MP to keep the Government intact,” the Opposition Lead-er Natapei told Daily Post yes-terday.

At this stage Article 40 (2) of the Constitution of Vanuatu only allows for 13 ministries.

By Thompson MarangoC a p i t a L F M 1 0 7 h a s confirmed taking legal action against the Prime Minister’s Political Advisor, Richard Kaltongga when responding to last week’s letter from Prime Minister, Sato Kilman.

“Lawyers have confirmed a law suit against him (Kaltong-ga) to claim for the damage to reputation and business he has done,” stated the FM 107 Management.

Instead of the threat tone of the content of Prime Minister’s letter the private owned com-mercial station is calling for dialogue with the government authorities responsible and fair treatment to all radio stations.

“There have been no threats

on air which Kaltongga is making a big deal about as no issues on air has led to an extreme undesired end such as protests, strikes, civil claim, community unrest or any other detriment,” stated the FM 107 statement.

“We haven't got any com-plaints from any individuals either on our reporting in the last 3 years.

“No other calls of such a nature have been received and callers have been continuous-ly educated on how to partic-ipate within parameters of the show.”

FM 107 Management added that “Kaltongga has accused FM107 of being political, slant-ing programs to incite and

being biased which is defama-tory - as it is printed and circu-lated by local mediums.

“We are not a political sta-tion but a commercial station, a public service operating with no grants or donor aid with 95% news, music, ads in our aim to inform, educate and entertain the public.

“He's just using this for propaganda to close FM107 which only strips ni-Vanuatu and local grass roots from a good radio station.

“Kaltongga maybe referring to one cold comment from years ago and using this to jus-tify that the whole of FM107 is "unethical" and should close is defamatory.

>>To Page 2

Carcasses appointment unjustified: Natapei

FM 107 pressing charges, calls for fair treatment

The ground-breaking ceremony of the national Convention Centre was made on Sunday by Prime Minister, Sato Kilman and China's Vice Minister Shan.The multi-purpose convention Centre is said to cover a total construction area of roughly 6,574m2 spanning over 90% of its site, the Parliament Park, next to the Parliament House. Story Inside

WWW.DAILypoSt.vuISSUE NO 3755 TUESday, JaNUary 15 2013

P1 CMYK PLATE

Published since 1993

L o c a l N e w s[ 2 ] vanuatu Daily Post | Tuesday January 15, 2013

Courtesy VanuatuMeteo Office Call 22932

General situation: A trough from a tropical lowover Fiji remains over north-ern Vanuatu, slow moving

TTODAODAYSYSWEAWEATHERTHER

WEATHER REPORTS DAILY AT 6AM,10AM AND 3PM FROM THE VANUATU

METEOROLOGICAL OFFICE

TEL: 22932WEBSITE: www.meteo.gov.vuSUNRISE

Today: 05-24Tomorrow: 05-24

REGIONAL CHART

SUNSETToday: 18-28Tomorrow:18-28

TIMES HEIGHT (Meters) TIMES HEIGHT (Meters)

05:18 0.23 14:27 0.6308:30

1.4620:15 1.42

Forecast for today:Cloudy with showers about northernislands and part of central, elsewherefine though chances of afternoon orevening showers. Light to moderateeast and southeasterly winds.

Yesterday’s record-ed weather variables

(8am-8am)Sola

Saratamata(Ambae)

Pekoa (Santo)

Lamap (Malekula)

Bauerfield (Vila)

WhitegrassTanna

Aneityum

Rainfall (mm) 12.0 0.2 28.5 0.2 12.6Max. Temp (•c) 32.0 31.4 31.6 33.0 29.8 31.5 29.5Min. Temp (•c) /// 23.0 23.5 25.3 22.0 24.0 25.5

Mariners:E/SE winds 12/17 knots. Light to moder-ateseas to 1.0 metre northern and centralwaters, SE winds 15/20 knots over chan-nel and southern waets with light to mod-erater seas to 1.5 metres.

“WHATEVER THE WEATHER – HAVE A GOOD DAY’’

For specific requirements, contact VMGD on Telephone 22932 and email [email protected]. You can also visit our website

http://www.meteo.gov.vu, our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Forecast-Section-VMGD/180449788639995 and our Twitter page http://twitter.com/#!/ForecastVMGD

By Godwin LigoThe DirecTor of inDusTries under the Ministry of Trades, Commerce, Industries and Tourism, Jimmy Rantes, has been appointed Pacific Islands Forum World Trade Organization (WTO) intern.

He left Vanuatu last week to take up the new position at the WTO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

Mr Rantes was selected

out of four Forum countries, according to a statement from the Ministry of Trade.

He is expected to per-form his duties as the ‘Voice of Vanuatu ‘ and representa-tive to the WTO for the WTO matters in Geneva, on nego-tiations, in the WTO com-mittee meetings, in meetings with other agencies relat-ed to Vanuatu’s obl iga-tions on WTO matters and

also in the general coun-cil meetings of the World Trade Organization(WTO) in Geneva.

The statement from the Ministry of Trade expressed confidence in Mr Rantes to bring more skills and knowl-edge to support Vanuatu’s capacity building in trade matters.

In his farewell speech to Rantes on the his depar-

ture to Geneva, the Director General in the Ministry of Trade, Marokon Alilee, said Mr Rantes will be based at the permanent delegation of the Pacific Forum Secretariat to the WTO in Geneva, Swit-zerland.

“I am so delighted to make this brief intervention on behalf of both the min-istries, as indeed and his-torical achievement for Mr

Rantes and our Ministry. The process on having Mr. Rantes appointed as the WTO intern would not have been possi-ble without the organization of the ministry staff, particu-larly the Director Mr Sumbe Antas.

“ In acco rdance w i th the Pacific WTO members work program, I am obvi-ously very pleased with the appointment of Director of

the Industries as the next Pacific Islands Forum WTO Intern in Geneva for the next six months.

“Vanuatu wil l rely so much on your efforts as you relate to Vanuatu’s obli-gations on WTO and at the General Council Meet-ings outcomes,” DG Ali-lee advised Mr Rantes on the eve of his departure to Geneva.

By Len GaraePorT Vila baseD Tanna chiefs, Willie Kaswally and Joe Kuanu are adamant for only registered agents to work closely with recognised chiefs to select the right people to go to New Zealand to pick “good apples”.

The two chiefs claim when workers are chosen behind chiefs’ backs through direct recruitment and independent agents then some workers return home with “bad apples” and expect the chiefs to sort them out for them.

The two chiefs put the blame squarely on the shoulders of direct recruiters and independent agents for the negative image presented by workers who take advantage of the opportunity to misbehave while overseas.

The two chiefs want the Com-missioner of Labour to make sure that everyone who applies to work under the RSE Scheme in New Zea-land or in Australia is approved of by a recognised custom chief of the applicant’s own nakamal and a pas-tor of the applicant’s own church.

The two chiefs say they have evidence that well over 20 homes have been broken in the last six years as a result of extra marital affairs by men and women who

work under the RSE Scheme in New Zealand.

“I was invited by a man for sup-per when his wife was leaving to work in New Zealand and this time around he called me in to cry on my shoulder because his wife is pregnant with someone else’s baby,” Chief Kaswally says.

That is exactly what the chiefs do not want to see happen. They explain that the purpose of the story is not to criticise the RSE because it is a fantastic scheme, nor to pro-mote jealousy for men or women whose other halves travel to work in New Zealand or Australia for that matter, but for the relevant authori-ties to stop “direct recruitment and unregistered agents” from taking part in selecting potential workers saying they are partly to be blamed for the blooming sexual relations between workers.

Chief Kuanu says, “We chiefs know our people and we should be the ones to help select those work-ers that we know are of good char-acter and show respect for others.

“We appeal to the responsible authorities to make sure that all workers who travel to New Zea-land, their names must be endorsed by the chiefs, to make sure that when the workers return home,

they come home to live happily with their families knowing that they have worked well and behaved well while in New Zealand.”

They are concerned that when workers are not approved of by the chiefs, on their return, it is the chiefs that have to work hard to try and sort out their problems while their recruiters relax. “To avoid this from happening again, it is the chiefs who must sit down with their people to find out who is the person with the right attitude to qualify to go to NZ or Austral-ia”, they insist.

The two chiefs have shown Daily Post a form showing Labour’s two lists of official agents that recruit for New Zealand and Australia. “We went hunting for one independent agent who asked us to select some workers for her but when we found her, she told us that she already had enough workers but we know that the 20 workers we were going to hand over to her were of good character and should be included in her list but she refused them,” they say with concern.

Daily Post called Labour at a quarter to four yesterday afternoon for comment and the secretary con-nected us to the Commissioner’s Office but there was no answer.

Rantes appointed Pacific Islands Forum WTO intern

Chiefs want workers to pick “good apples” >>From Front Page

“We have commitment to business-es and listeners - why didn't Kaltong-ga just pop in and have a meeting - we are locals like him not foreign-ers.

“There have not been any com-plaints from the public in 3 years so we don't know where Kaltongga is coming from. Kaltongga is just play-ing politics and misleading the PM who has promised to have a meet-ing with the MAV and PINA President (FM107 Manager) to address media issues since his re-election.

“Kaltongga has failed to say what specific issue he is referring to when he says journalists are failing to report in a balanced, accurate way.

“We have never received any press release or statement from Kaltongga so it is clear he is against FM107.”

In regards to FM 107’s broadcast license raised in the Prime Minister’s letter, FM 107 claimed “there is no civil or criminal charges as licenses are up to date”.

“All licenses to operate are up to date and looked at annually and FM107 has been operating accord-ingly. Comments that we are break-ing the nation's laws is defamatory.

“The licensing matter is between BLAC (Broadcasting and Licensing Advisory Committee) and VBTC - the government media and then need to carry out their administrative duties but they themselves are in conflict as

they are both regulator and player so no guarantee of fairness or imparti-ality.

“It's competition within radio and media and while VBTC get govern-ment grants they are still offering services to private businesses news, current affairs and talk back has been held responsibly and within code of ethics which BLAC should have from the first management

“A majority of the local pub-lic responds within the parameters of talk back shows and you cannot just conclude that because someone makes a jagged statement that the station should close down. Views of callers are not the views of the Sta-tion.

“Kaltongga's advice is damag-ing ni-Vanuatu business and causing shame to its own national product that provides a free to air services for listeners locally and abroad

“Kaltongga talks about media free-dom yet is trying to close down a radio that promotes it through their talk back show which encourages fair comment on public concerns or issues of the day that affect people's every-day lives.”

Meanwhile FM107 is waiting for the PM to confirm a time to meet to resolve issues amicably through dia-logue rather than attacking each other through local and regional media.

The station is still operational while lawyers work on the issue.

FM 107 pressing charges, calls for fair treatment

L o c a l N e w s vanuatu Daily Post | Tuesday January 15, 2013 [ 3 ]

By Anita RobertsTelecom VanuaTu limiTed (TVL) launched yesterday its Mobile Internet 3G+ Serv-ice.

It was in the commercial area of Telecom House in Port Vila that the Chief Mar-keting and Commercial Offic-er, Gerome Guicherd broke the news: “ TVL 3G+ (plus) is now available in Port Vila and Luganville!”

This announcement was made in front of invited guests from the ICT Policy Unit under the PM’s Office, the French Embassy, TVL staff and others during the confer-ence that eleven minutes after midnight (yesterday) those who have TVL Mobile Phones with 3G+ internet in Port Vila and Luganville could be able to access the web; face book, google, email and everything the Internet offers and could also make video calls.

After the official inaugu-

ration of the new 3G+ dis-play inside the Telecom House, two officials tried the first TVL 3G+ video call in Vanuatu.

Guicherd said this 3G+ launch was in preparation for quite a long time since TVL wanted the customer journey to be the easiest and most user-friendly. TVL’s new 3G+ Internet prepaid option is a 20MB valid 7 days for only Vt250.

Following the launch, this would contribute to educa-tion as it allows for a quicker and easier access to informa-tion, especially for the stu-dents. In health, Guicherd said in times when a child is sick video calls allow for vis-ual communication between parents and child as when being in the care of a doctor at hospitals.

TVL also launched its new ‘Back To School Campaign’ and a new website yesterday.

As the first telecommu-nication provider, it is TVL’s responsibility to bring com-munication everywhere in Vanuatu. Its latest network openings were on Futuna and Erromango and now people there can connect to Inter-net with TVL Mobile Internet Service.

This year the company assures it will be committed to its customers by expand-ing its network. Guicherd announced two new sites would be opened on West and East Tanna very soon.

Representat ives f rom the ICT Policy Unit under the Office of PM, who have always been encouraging for ICT Development and “inter-net for all” in Vanuatu, con-gratulated the company and wished TVL and its custom-ers the best of success in the future.

The launching was later celebrated with a parade

through town, followed by numerous people dancing from Telecom to Market House in a flash mob style.

Guicherd then declared that 2012 had been a very busy year for the compa-ny with the launch of TVL

Mobile Internet service. He thanked all the staff

for their dedication and reminded that TVL is offer-ing a cheaper internet (with new decreased prices) via ADSL, Wimax and optical fiber, as well as on mobile

phones with Mobile Inter-net. Mr Guicherd added that this service is available in most of Vanuatu islands, wherever there is TVL cov-erage.

TRR unveil the TVL 3G+ display yesterday.

By Glenda ShingVanuaTu has achieVed anoTher historic milestone in its development especially with the relations between the Government of Vanuatu and the People’s Republic of China, as Vanuatu recently witnessed the Groundbreak-ing ceremony for the start of construc-tion work on the China funded Vt1.5 billion worth Vanuatu National Con-vention Centre.

Upon completion, the Convention Centre will boast a main assembly hall accommodating 1,000 persons, one large conference room accommodating 200 persons, one banquet hall accom-modating 600 persons, one press box, one exhibition room and several small size conference rooms as well as park-ing lot and rooms for secretariat, meeting affairs and office, transition, kitchen facilities and other necessities for the smooth functioning of such an establishment, as announced by the

Prime Minister Sato Kilman.The multi-purpose convention Cen-

tre is said to cover a total construction area of roughly 6,574m2 spanning over 90% of its site, the Parliament Park, next to the Parliament House.

In acknowledging the contribu-tions of the staff from the Embassy of China on their efforts and collabora-tions with the Vanuatu appointed Task Force, Prime Minister Kilman stated, “your efforts collectively have brought us this far and I look forward to your continued alliance and collaboration to bring the project to fruition in 18 months or so”.

According to PM Kilman, experi-ence shows that there is indeed a def-inite need for such a facility owned by the government and the people of Vanuatu. He said the positive econom-ic impact of hosting regional and inter-national events and conferences on our shores cannot go unmentioned.

The Head of the Government point-ed out that one of the benefits of hav-ing this kind of facility is to promote Vanuatu, especially, as it will increase its opportunity to bid for and host other international conferences paving way for greater socio-economic bene-fits to the people and business com-munity of this country.

The Prime Minister said the build-ing should be completed around the 4th quarter of 2014, therefore, he is urging all sectors to play their part to bid for Vanuatu to host more regional and international forums and events in 2015 and beyond.

PM Kilman has expressed his heart-felt appreciation on behalf of the Gov-ernment and the people of Vanuatu to Mr Zhong Shan of the People’s Repub-lic of China for their continuously gen-erous assistance.

The Groundbreaking ceremo-ny began with a signing ceremo-

ny between the two Governments at the Prime Minister’s office. The del-egations then moved to the ground-breaking site, where the officials were escorted to the area by Ambrym Cus-tom Dance group. A ceremony of appreciation was carried out to a rep-resentative to the Head of Chiefs of Ifira for allowing their land to the Government of Vanuatu.

Official speeches by the Prime Min-ister and Chinese Representative were presented, followed by the actu-al ground breaking which saw PM Kil-man and Zhong Shan dig the earth with digger-machine.

The crowds then witnessed the cut-ting of ribbon and the unveiling of the plaque to the foundation stone, com-memorating the significant event, fol-lowed by planting of namele leaves beside the foundation stone. And final-ly all agreements were sealed with a kava ceremony.

The VanuaTu agriculTure Development Bank (VADB) has welcomed the Ministry of Agriculture, Quarantine, For-estry and Fisheries’ statement in the media clarifying the Ministry’s intention to refocus on the bank and hopes that refocusing means resumption of grant funding by the gov-ernment to the bank.

The Government by policy decision No. 130 of 2007 is obligated to provide annual grant funding of Vt100 mil-lion to the bank commencing 2012 but this did not happen last year.

This is necessary funding to enable the bank to give special regard to agriculture, forestry, fisheries, livestock, and manufacture and tour-ism loans significantly.

However chairman of the VADB Board of Directors, Wil-

lie Ben Karie, said in 2012 the government for whatever rea-son did not honour its policy decision No.130 of 2007.

The VADB was established by the Development Bank Act No 20 of 2006. However it was only in April 2008 that the bank opened doors and started giving out loans.

Section 3 of the Act sets out the purpose of the Bank.

“The purpose of the Bank is to facilitate and promote the economic development of the national resources of Vanuatu with special regard to agriculture, forestry, fish-eries, livestock, manufacture and tourism.”

“From 2008 to 2011 the government paid Vt500 mil-lion equity injection to the bank by Vt200 million in 2008 and Vt100 million each in 2009, 2010 and 2011,”

stated Mr Karie.“The gradual increase in

equity funding over four years coupled with uncer-tainty of future grant fund-ing by the government means that the bank must be very careful in lending out money.

The bank has to survive and the only way to survive is to ensure that it gives out loans in a responsible man-ner in the best interest of the bank according to policies approved by the board of directors made up of mem-bers appointed by the Minis-ter of Finance and Economic Management.”

Karie stated in 2009 Vt31.8 million was loaned out to the agriculture sector including livestock, forestry and fish-eries.

In 2010 the Agriculture

sector including livestock, forestry and fisheries made up 37 % of loans by number and 43 % by value or Vt129, 162,871.

In 2011 total number loans outstanding to the agricul-ture, livestock, forestry and fishery was 464 by number and Vt180, 702,969 by value. The total lending portfolio was Vt375,913,915 which therefore means that the agriculture, livestock, forest-ry and fishery by value make up 48 % the total portfolio in 2011.

Lending products currently on offer to potential borrow-ers are Standard Loan, Cred-it Access Loan, Hom Aelan Investment Loan, Joint Lia-bility Obligation Loan and Special Loan. Special Loan is designed specifically for those who are already actively par-

ticipating in the agricultural value chain from production to Market and need finan-cial assistance to boost oper-ations.

The VADB Board of Direc-tors chairman said the bank will continue to support the agriculture, livestock, forest-ry, fisheries, and manufac-ture and tourism sectors in a responsible manner. This means that the bank will not compromise survival for development and will always strive to ensure that it sur-vives so that it can continue to support agriculture, live-stock, forestry, fisheries, man-ufacture, and tourism.

The Bank has forwarded the 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 annual reports to the Shareholding Ministries.

Its total asset as at 31 December, 2011 was Vt427,

656,207.“Lest we forget, human

resource is also a national resource and development of human resource contrib-utes to facilitating develop-ment of other resources,” concluded.

“The bank relies on the government to provide con-tinuous annual grant funding over the long term according to policy No. 130 of 2007 to facilitate reach into the rural areas with loans that stimu-late economic growth.

“Therefore it welcomes the Ministry of Agriculture, Quar-antine, Forestry and Fisheries’ statement in the media clar-ifying the Ministry’s inten-tion to refocus the bank and hopes that refocusing means resumption of grant fund-ing by the government to the bank.”

minisTer of agriculTure and Fisheries Kalvau Moli has extended the ban on Bechdemer or sea cucum-ber to January 2018 fol-lowing recommendations by the Department of Fisheries.

Technical surveys con-ducted by fisheries biol-ogists in spot checks from Banks to Aneity-um revealed Vanuatu’s Bechdemer stock has not recovered after five years to warrant commercial Bechdemer harvesting.

Thus the extension of the ban for another five years to ensure full recov-ery of the stock.

TVL launches 3G+ Mobile Internet Service

Vanuatu Agriculture Bank hopeful on Ministry’s intention to ‘refocus’ on bank

Convention Centre to cover 90% of Parliament Park Beche-de-mer ban

extended

L o c a l N e w s[ 4 ] vanuatu Daily Post | Tuesday January 15, 2013

Port Vila Ph:22341 * Santo 36244 * www.asco.vu * www.toyota-southpacific.com

1389

VAN

A world of old fashioned service awaits at the Asco Tyre Centre. Your one stop shop for Tyres, Punctures, Repairs, Sales, Batteries and all your Fisher & Paykel whiteware products too.

You will never know if you never go!

WHAT AWAITS DOWN THE ASCO ALLEY?

Send your news to [email protected]

By Kathie SimonThe public is wiTnessing a massive increase in the number of G-plated vehicles on our roads in Port Vila.

A bus driver, Willie Saute, raised his concerns on the number of G-plated vehi-cles on our roads in the Cap-ital. “While I understand that State Ministers and other offi-cials are entitled to the vehi-cles, the number of g-plate vehicles have increased dra-matically to a level that it is almost equivalent to the number of buses and taxis in port vila.

“What is part icular ly alarming is the possibility that a lot of those driving the G-vehicles are not only enti-tled to drive the vehicles but you also wonder whether the vehicles are being used sole-

ly for productive services and are not being abused for per-sonal gains,” stated Saute.

In raising his concerns Mr Saute wishes to bring his concern to the appropriate authorities to ensure at all times that public property is used for public service and not to be used as a person-al property.

“While some government ministers have opted to use the recently donated silver, black G-vehicles by the Chi-nese government, what hap-pens to the Pajeros?

“At the moment it has become quite confusing as the public in Port Vila cannot distinguish between a state minister and other officials as even ordinary members of parliament (MPs), the politi-cal advisors, their supporters,

and even the civil servants drive the vehicles during working hours and at week-ends which raises the obvious questions of who actually is entitled to drive the vehicles and more importantly who is to foot the fuel bill,” ques-tions Saute.

He also wishes to inform that during this time when the country is facing finan-cial difficulty, the last thing the government wishes to see is public finances drained through lack of proper con-trol of G-plated vehicles and wastage of fuel for unproduc-tive errands.

It is understood that every year, the government fuel bill remains one of the single-most expensive items to be paid from government cof-fers.

By Len GaraeThe Two spokesmen for Chief Amearaliu and Chief Tarmama of Takara, Kaltilia Albert and Don Titus wish to appeal to the chief and people of Wiana Village in Emau and Dellwin and N’Tain Kanas to all remain calm, saying Chief Amearaliu’s appeal is already in court.

They also wish to assure Chief Manapanga Manua of Wiana Village and his people that they (two spokesmen) have not made any statement in any meeting or court to say that the first indigenous chief of Takara, Paramount Chief Amearaliu and Chief Tarma-ma would not share anything in Takara with Chief Man-apanga Manua of Wiana in Emau, Billy Ameara of Takara or N’Tain Kanas.

The two spokesmen explain, “The caution that Chief Amearaliu has announced in last week’s issue of Daily Post, goes specifically to advise two brothers and others from Taka-ra who are trying to stop Kuth Australia, the company that is licensed to explore specif-ic areas of Takara to drill for geothermal energy, to remain calm and allow the project to

continue because it is going to benefit everyone.

“With respect, we also wish to assure Chief Manapan-ga Manua and his people of Wiana of Emau and the per-

son who declined to give his name in his story in last Fri-day’s issue that Takara is the right place for any meeting concerning Takara because it is about the land that gives

Takara its name.”In conclusion the two

spokesmen wish to assure the person who declined to give his name as well as the chief of Wiana and his people

that Chief Amearaliu has two more appeal cases to go and they appeal to every resident of Takara as well as Wiana in Emau to remain calm.

If there is an internal issue

between two villages con-cerning Takara land, we wish to recommend that it is sort-ed out in the nakamal to maintain peace in the villag-es concerned.

T h e n e w l y a p p o i n T e d Agriculture Minister, Kalfau Moli, has slammed lip service from previous government administrations after famil-iarisation visits into Forest-ry, Quarantine, Fisheries and Agriculture departments in the capital.

Prime Minister Sato Kil-

man has assured the current government will renew its investment in the agriculture sector because it is the Trade Policy Framework as other Trade developments the gov-ernment is embarking upon.

The agriculture sector stands rights at the end of the line when it comes to govern-

ment budget allocation.In 2012 there was a flick-

er of hope when the gov-ernment announced that its Indonesian Aid pack-age includes 100 tractors to boost the Agriculture sector.

But these have yet to materialise on Vanuatu’s shores.

Government vows to revive investment in Agriculture sector

Concern over large number of G-plated vehicles

Spokesmen ask for calm

F i n a n c e N e w svanuatu Daily Post | Tuesday January 15, 2013 [ 5 ]

The new world Bank Country Director for the Pacific Islands, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste, Franz Drees-Gross, says the organization will focus on effectively delivering a growing number of projects in the region, to help gov-ernments find solutions to common challenges like disaster preparedness and response, connectivity and poverty reduction.

Mr Drees-Gross will lead the management of the World Bank’s growing port-folio of over 30 projects across Timor-Leste and the Pacific region, helping gov-

ernments meet their prior-ities on issues like climate change adaptation, disaster risk management, health, education, governance and infrastructure.

“ T h e Wo r l d B a n k ’ s strength is delivering solu-tions that help governments address difficult devel-opment challenges,” Mr Drees-Gross said. “Pacific island countries are some of the most vulnerable in the world to climate change and natural disasters. These are a common challenge but we must also look to build on growing opportunities, from expanded telecoms and air-

ports, to better managed fisheries.”

He said the launch of the Tonga broadband cable later this year will be a vital step to connecting people in the Pacific, across islands and countries, and to the world.

Mr Drees-Gross is a Ger-man and United States national with more than 15 years’ experience at the World Bank, including oper-ational experience in Asia, South America and Africa.

Most recently he was the Sustainable Develop-ment Manager for Indone-sia, based in Jakarta, from where he oversaw an annu-

al lending program of about $1.5 billion. This includ-ed a large rural and urban, community-driven develop-ment program, infrastruc-ture investments in power, drainage and roads, the final stages of the reconstruction effort after the 2004 Aceh Tsunami and a program to protect Indonesia’s coral reefs.

He holds Masters degrees in Mechanical Engineer-ing and Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Mr Drees-Gross will reside in Sydney with his wife and two daughters.

More ausTralians are using debt agreements to avoid bankruptcy.

Nearly 50,000 people have used the agreements during the past five years, resulting in a 20 per cent decline in bank-ruptcies, according to new fig-ures.

Debt agreements are princi-pally aimed at consumer debt-ors.

They provide the protec-tions of bankruptcy, such as staying enforcement action against provable debts and relief from harassment.

They also release debts that would be provable in a bank-ruptcy if the debtor satisfies all the obligations under the agreement.

As well, the debtor needs to have to all creditors agree to an agreement proposal, unlike

an informal arrangement to settle debts.

The agreements also help debtors keep their house.

"Debt agreements give many Australians in financial distress an alternative option to get back on their feet sooner than bankruptcy," federal Attorney-General Nicola Roxon said in a statement today.

In many cases they could be the smarter way forward, especially as bankruptcy could leave a financial legacy for years, she said. Figures from the Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia show there were 150,353 bankruptcies between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2012.

During the same time debt agreements increased 68 per cent to 49,034.

AAP

s T r u g g l i n g e u r o z o n e countries seeking future aid from the region's rescue fund to prevent their banks collaps-ing will have to share the cost burden, according to a draft euro zone proposal seen by the Financial Times.

Countries asking for help would have to either invest alongside the European Stabil-ity Mechanism (ESM) or guar-antee it against any losses, according to the plan, which the newspaper said had been circulated in late 2012 among finance ministry officials.

In a major step last June, EU leaders agreed to allow the ESM to directly recapitalize banks and reduce the burden on countries such as Spain and Ireland, whose governments are carrying large amounts of debt after propping up banks when

real estate bubbles burst.But Germany, the Nether-

lands and Finland have since said there was never any ques-tion of past bad banking debts being shifted off the states' books and onto the ESM.

The FT said the two-page European Commission draft proposal would force countries that could afford it to put their own funds into failing banks before the ESM would pay out.

If a country faced insolven-cy following a bank bailout, it would still need to guaran-tee that the ESM would get its money back, it said.

The newspaper said officials had declined to comment, other than to say that they had until June to make a final decision and that the draft was likely to be changed in the interim.

Luxembourg Prime Minister

Jean-Claude Juncker, outgoing chairman of the monthly meet-ings of euro zone finance min-isters, said on Thursday that the euro zone must use its res-cue fund to inject money into banks with past debts if its crisis response was not to be under-mined.

Reuters

The yen pluMBed a 2-1/2 year low against the dollar on Mon-day as Japan's central bank faced relentless political pres-sure to deliver bold stimulus, while Asian stocks got off to subdued start with Tokyo closed for a public holiday.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday said the Bank of Japan (BOJ) must set a 2 percent infla-tion target and make it a medi-um-term, not long-term, goal to show markets it was determined to pursue bold monetary easing to end nearly two decades of deflation.

His comments emboldened yen-bears, who took a fresh swipe at the currency. That saw the U.S. dollar hit a high of 89.67 yen, a level not seen since mid-2010, while the euro climbed as far as 119.84 yen, scaling a 20-month peak.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat in early dealings, but not far from a 17-month peak set on Fri-day. The index has gained more than 2 percent so far this year

on growing optimism about the health of the global economy.

Australian's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.3 per-cent, while South Korea's KOSPI slipped 0.2 percent, partly weighed by lingering concerns about corporate earnings and a firming local currency.

Analysts at HSBC believe global developments this week will support demand for riski-er assets, with U.S. and Chi-nese data likely to show further momentum in the world's two biggest economies.

"In addition, the Fed speak-er calendar is dominated by doves in the early part of the week. These should provide reassurance that the Fed is in no rush to turn off the liquidi-ty tap despite these early signs of encouragement on activity," they said in a client note.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is due to speak later on Monday at the Univer-sity of Michigan and investors are eagerly waiting for clues on how long the Fed's latest bond

purchase program will last.Any signs that the Fed is in

no hurry to end its quantitative easing program could see the U.S. dollar soften against high-er-yielding currencies such as the Australian dollar and those of faster growing emerging economies.

The Aussie dollar traded at $1.0531, still remaining within easy reach of a four-month high of $1.0599 set last week.

Against the euro, the green-back dipped to a fresh nine-month low. The single currency rose 0.1 percent to $1.3357, continuing to outperform after European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi last week gave no indication the bank would ease monetary policy any further.

Optimism about the global economy also helped stem a slide in oil prices. U.S. crude rose 29 cents to $93.85 a bar-rel, recovering from Friday's 26-cent fall, while Brent crude was little changed at $110.62 a barrel.

Reuters

The sale of the U.S. Treasury's stake in General Motors and a possible credit rating upgrade of the U.S. automaker in 2013 will help distance the company from the stigma of its 2009 bankruptcy restructuring."We lose the stigma of 'Government Motors'," GM Treasurer James Davlin said on Sunday during a speech at a conference of automotive analysts. "People will be more focused on the things that they should, which is our underlying operations."The U.S. Treasury outlined plans last month to sell its GM stake over the next 12 to 15 months. Last week, Chief Executive Dan Akerson said he expects GM to earn an investment-grade credit rating in 2013.GM is already "trending toward investment

grade," Davlin said. He pointed to GM's eleven-quarter streak of profits, its large financial cushion and its strong position in the world's two largest automotive markets, the United States and China."We want to ensure we have the liquidity to make it through the cyclicality of the industry," Davlin said, speaking to reporters and analysts a day before the Detroit auto show.Until recently, uncertainty over when and how the U.S. Treasury would sell its 26-percent stake hurt GM's overall market value, Davlin said. But GM shares have risen nearly 20 percent since the U.S. government announced its exit strategy.GM shares are ended at $30.36 per share on Friday.

Reuters

Debt agreements rise to avoid bankruptcyDelivering solutions to difficult development challenges is what the World

Bank does best: new Country Director

News inbriefEU draft bank rescue plan says countries must share burden: FT

Yen pressured, Asian stocks subdued

european Union flag fly amongst eU member countries' national flags

Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS) is considering delaying bonus payments in the U.K. until after April 6, when the top rate of income tax in the country will drop to 45 percent, from 50 percent, a person familiar with the bank's operations said on Sunday.The strategy relates to bonuses that were deferred from 2009, 2010 and 2011, the person said. The Financial Times reported the news earlier today.Goldman recently brought forward payments of deferred stock to executives in the U.S. to 2012, in order to beat tax hikes implemented for top earners in 2013.

The investment bank made the payments weeks earlier than usual, disclosing about $65 million of stock awards to 10 executives including Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein in filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on the last day of December.About 24 hours after the grants, the U.S. Congress agreed to raise the top tax rate for individuals with more than $400,000 in taxable income to 39.6 percent in 2013 from 35 percent last year, and to raise capital gains taxes.

Reuters

The Coalition is demanding the Australian Federal Government reveals how much revenue the mining tax has raised amid reports it has generated no revenue for a second consecutive quarter.The Australian newspaper has yesterday reported that none of the country's three biggest miners - BHP Billiton, Xstrata or Rio Tinto - will make payments when second quarter instalments are due next Monday.The Government has declined to comment on the revenue figures, with a spokesman for Acting Treasurer Penny Wong saying: "It's no secret that our budget revenues have already taken a big hit from the impact of continued global instability, commodity price volatility and the high dollar."The companies involved are saying little, with BHP noting the market situation has changed considerably since the mining tax was designed in 2010.

"The Australian dollar and commodity prices in particular have experienced significant volatility over this period and these have a direct bearing on MRRT payable," a company spokesman said.The latest budget figures released last month show the Government received $1.1 billion in resource rent taxes (including both the Minerals Resource Rent Tax and the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax) between July and the end of October, but it did not provide a breakdown of the figure. The mining tax secrecy must stop. People deserve to know how much or how little the Government has raised.In the 2012-13 budget, the Government predicted the mining tax would raise $3 billion, although that was later revised down to $2 billion.

ABC

U.S. stake sale of GM to revive image

Goldman may delay UK bonuses until top tax rate falls

Report suggests still no revenue from mining tax

PFF, RaRotonga, CooK ISLANDS -- Killing, beating, abducting and jailing journal-ists in West Papua remains the most immediate issue in regional affairs, states the Pacific Freedom Forum.

Wrapping up its fourth year of advocacy, PFF chairs said that ongoing suppres-sion of freedom of expression under Indonesian rule often involves violence against news media.“Well document-ed allegations of killings and torture depict medieval levels of brutality by Indonesian security and ad-hoc militia forces in West Papua”, says PFF chair Titi Gabi.

“Ongoing violence against citizens makes a mockery of Indonesia pretensions towards democracy, adher-

ence to international law, and the peaceful majority of the world’s biggest Muslim nation.”

“There is also concern over Indonesia security forces infil-trating Papua newsrooms and planting fake stories”.

PFF endorses calls from October by the Pantau Foundation and the South-east Asian Press Alliance for Indonesia to uphold the right of citizens to freedoms of speech, to end violence against journalists and to prosecute those responsible for violence.

In November, PFF joined IFEX, International Freedom of Expression Exchange, in a 23 day campaign against a “culture of impunity” sur-rounding those in authority

across the region.PFF co-chair Monica Miller said concerns also include a “culture of silence among partner news media across the islands, as well as Australia and New Zealand, when it comes to sensitive issues like West Papua.”

Miller praised an upturn this last year in media atten-tion on West Papua, notably via state broadcasters like Radio New Zealand Interna-tional and Radio Australia.

“After a decade or two of focusing mostly on Fiji, it is welcome to see metropolitan media including newspapers address much bigger concerns in West Papua,” says Miller.

“Yet many articles lament the lack of public awareness about serious events happen-ing on our own doorstep.”

“Clearly there is much more that could be done, including not bowing to polit-ical sensitivities that deem West Papua to be outside the Pacific Islands region and of concern only to Indonesia.”

Reporters Sans Frontiers ranks Indonesia at 146th place, on a list of 179 nations followed by the press freedom body.

PFF also expressed concern about assaults and threats against journalists in Papua New Guinea and other states across the region.

-Solomon Times

Post ComicsGARFIELD

R e g i o n a l N e w s

[ 6 ] vanuatu Daily Post |Tuesday January 15, 2013

HARGAR THE HORRIBLE

Fiji

W.Papua

TARzAn

SWAMP

HARGAR THE HORRIBLE

Fijian government commits to September 2014 election deadline

Fiji's inteRim goveRnment says its determined to meet its election deadline of Sep-tember 2014.

The country's Information Ministry says preparations are underway in earnest to assemble materials needed throughout Fiji to conduct the scheduled polls.

The interim government is inviting companies within Fiji and abroad to register their interest in supplying such items as ballot boxes, polling kits, ink, voting booths and voting screens.

They are being asked to submit expressions of inter-est tot he Acting Permanent Secretary Responsible for Election, Ms Mere Vuniwaqa by February 28th.

The Fijian Attorney Gen-eral and Minister responsible for Election, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said interested com-panies would be required to meet several accepted inter-national standards.

"We invite all interested companies to register as soon as possible and contribute to this landmark event in Fiji's

history - the introduction of the first genuine parliamen-tary democracy based on the principle on the principle of one person, one vote, one value," he said.

F i j i ha s been fac ing mounting pressure to hold democratic elections since it scrapped its constitution in 2009.

Union campaignUnion groups are calling

for international condemna-tion of Fiji's Interim prime minister for effectively tear-ing up the draft constitution.

The draft, which took into account seven thousand sub-missions, was drawn up by a committee headed by Pro-fessor Yash Ghai ahead of planned democratic elections.

Commodore Frank Baini-marama has announced he's scrapping the draft and his legal officers will write a new constitution to be presented to a constituent assembly appointed by him.

The general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, Sharon Bur-row, has told Radio Australia she's just returned from Fiji where many people are frus-trated over what's happened.

-Radio Australia

Indonesia Brutality towards West Papua "medieval" - PFF

SCORPIO {Oct. 24-Nov 22}

ACROSS1. Type of eel

6. Matured10. Small island

143-banded armadillo 15. Rant16. Close 17. Pariah 18. Snip 19 . Make melod ious

sounds 20. Nonphysical22. Annul23. Couch 24. Apprehend 26. Shower with love 30. 18-wheeler 31. Henpeck 32. "Oh my!" 33. Cards with 1 symbol 35. Mortise and _____

joint 39. Prolific 41. Adolescent 43. Quinine water 44. Wander 46. Team 47. Adult males 49. ___-tac-toe 50. Visual organs 51. Scour 54. Journey 56. Satyr 57. Self-centered 63. Hindu princess 64. Russian parliament 65. Genus of heath 66. Therefore 67. Historical periods 68. A tart fruit 69. Biblical garden

70. A ridge of sand71. Adolescents DOWN 1. French Sudan 2. Not closed 3. Awestruck 4. District 5. Tall tales 6. Inventor 7. Trash 8. Wicked 9. Humiliate 10. An organized rebellion 11. A river through Paris 12. Territories 13. Grain disease21. Small goat antelope 25. Be worthy of 26. Wacky 27. Margarine

28. Mountain pool 29. Appraisal 34. Steps 36. Not 37. Curved molding 38. Recent events40. Chilled 42. Master of ceremonies 45. Footstool 48. Required 51. Concur52. Plank 53. Cooktop 55. Genuflected 58. Mentor 59. Tall woody plant60. Frost 61. Computer symbol62. Tins

Dear Editor,I write with the support

of the people of West Papua, New Guinea, pro-democracy activists around the world and defenders of the rights of West Papuans, to say that the global support for democracy and freedom, and the end of 50 years of military colonization by Indonesia for will be exercised firmly and peacefully.

Peaceful demonstrations are planned for January 17, 2013 at the Embassy of Indonesia in Washington DC, Los Angeles, as well as in Manokwari, West Papua, Yapen Waropen, Papua, and Australia and the Solomon

Islands to demand freedom for West Papuan political prisoners.

Today, people around the world are watching the peaceful demonstration in West Papua, where most are people are ready to take to the streets with music, dancing, and their demand that Indonesia free West Papua political prisoners.

Over the years, peaceful demonstra tors in West Papua have been terrorized, impr i soned and k i l l ed by Indones ian mi l i tary police. Edison Waromi, one

of West Papua’s human rights defenders, has been imprisoned for more than 14 years, and we were imprisoned together for two of those years. West Papuan activists Edison Kendi and Yan Maniamboy currently are threatened with 20 years in prison for organizing a nonviolent rally in support o f the Uni ted Nat ions ’ International Day of the World's Indigenous People in New York in August 2012.

W e d e m a n d t h a t Indonesia immediately and

unconditionally free all West Papuan political prisoners and end its military occupation of West Papua. We also request that the UN Special Rapporteur, who is scheduled to be in Indonesia in January, visit West Papua and meet with imprisoned political leaders

of the Federated Republic of West Papua, such as President Forkorus Yaboisembut, Prime Minister Edison Waromi, and others.

Herman WainggaiFormer political prisoner

and visiting scholar at George Mason University

Dear Editor,I refer to Godwin Ligo’s

article in the Daily Post on 12th January, entitled “Political sponsorship of s tudents d i scourag ing: Garae”

The type of th inking held by Mr. Garae in itself i s “d i s courag ing” . H i s statement – “...it would be better if political parties and MPs allocation is spent on a technical or agricultural studies for failed students so that they can become more

productive.....” is an insult to intelligence itself.

Can you imagine what i t would be l ike i f we prioritized the so-called financial “needs” of the lazy, uneducated, morals-deficit people over those of the intelligent, the achievers, the educated and those with “the right stuff”?

WHOOPS! I guess we already are, at least judging by the recent performance

of some elected officials and their public service “toadies”.

Mr. Garae, I respectfully s u g g e s t , a s s u m i n g a n ability to read on his part, should embark on a self-education course, quickly. Some light reading akin to “The Communist Manifesto” (basically espouses the Mr. Garae-type thinking) would be a good start followed by Ayn Rand’s 12-years-in-the-writing “Atlas Shrugged”,

a philosophy more akin to the modern-day hopes and aspirations of the citizens of a young nation such as Vanuatu and states thus: “My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.”

Phil Manhire

Your new daily sudoku puzzleThere is one rule: Every row, column and box of

3x3 cells must contain the numbers 1 to 9 exactly

• Your LETTERS and OPINION

Voice of the PeoplePO Box 1292, Port Vila fax: +678 2411 email: [email protected]

Letter must be less than 300 words.Every one has the right to express an opinion without fear of persecution. All letters must give your full name, adress (not PO Box) and a daytime phone number for verification. Letters emailed must be from a confirmed address. Your name will be kept confidential if requested. Letters may be edited

for space and legal issue. The opinions expressed here are not those of Vanuatu Daily Post. The Editor reserves the right to decide whether to print or not.

ARIES {Mar. 21-April 20}

TAURUS {Apr. 21-May 21}

GEMINI {May. 21-June 20}

CANCER {June. 22-Jult 22}

LEO {July. 23-Aug 22}

VIRGO {Aug. 23-Sept. 23}

LIBRA {Sept. 24-Oct 23}

SAGITTARIUS {Nov. 23-Dec. 21}

CAPRICORN {Dec. 22-Jan 20}

AQUARIUS {Jan. 21-Feb. 19}

PISCES {Feb 20-Mar. 20}

Listen to the advice given by others. You can make new connections if you play your cards right. If they're really interested, they'll wait.

Stabilize your own position by locking up your savings. You may be emotional and quick to judge others. Organizations may cost you more than you can afford.

You should be setting up interviews or sending out your resume today. Take advantage of moneymaking ventures. You will probably have to defend your mate.

Opportunities for travel must be carefully considered. You need more space for the whole family. Be careful not to consume too many spicy foods, or minor health problems.

Refrain from using the highway as a racetrack. You need to mingle with people who can spark enthusiasm and confidence in you. Do not push your opinions

Opportunities for new and exciting relationships will be yours if you get out and join groups. It might be time to make a fresh start. Travel will result in new romantic attractions.

Your ability to deal with others will help you accomplish your goals. Your unique approach to life will interest others. Don't be angry, but be on your guard.

Don't consume more than necessary. Try looking into new ways to make extra money. Make creative changes to your living quarters.

You can't lose today unless you get involved in gossip or overwork to the point of exhaustion. Opportunities for new and exciting relationships will be yours.

Be prepared to lose friends or alienate loved ones due to your stubborn nature lately. Try to control your irritability if you're experiencing emotional problems with your partner.

Expect to pay more than anticipated for entertainment or other purchases. People who try to persuade you to do things their way will annoy you. Your tendency to dramatize may be a little much for your partner to take.

Good day for romance. Don't overspend to impress others. You can buy or sell if you're so inclined.

vanuatu Daily Post |Tuesday January 15 2013 [ 7 ]

Mirroreyes

Today's crossword puzzle Solution

Re: Political sponsorship of students

Open letter to the President of Indonesia

W o r l d N e w s [8 ] vanuatu Daily Post |Tuesday, January 15 2013

Fallen firefighter suffered medical condition

Police investigating the death of a Victorian firefighter on a Tasmanian bushfire ground are believed to have ruled out an accident, or suspicious circumstances.The Gippsland man, aged in his 60s, was found dead on Sunday in forest country near Waterfall Bluff on the Tasman Peninsula, police said. He is believed to have suffered from a medical condition.He had been preparing for a backburn about 2 kilometres from the front of the fire that burned through Dunalley and other nearby towns, destroying about 170 properties.His death was discovered when workers were sent to the area after the man failed to make a scheduled call-in, and police are now preparing a report for the coroner.Tasmania Fire Service chief officer Mike Brown said the help of people from interstate services had been key to the firefighting effort."To have one of these people die on the fire ground is absolutely tragic news," Mr Brown said.Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings said she expressed her deepest condolences to this brave Victorian's loved ones."I hope that his family can gain some comfort from the sincere gratitude we feel for his willingness to assist us during this bushfire crisis. I thank them, and our thoughts are with them at this most tragic of times."

-sydney herald

Properties destroyed in NSW bushfire The New South Wales Rural Fire Service says 12

properties have been lost in a bushfire west of Coonabarabran, which also damaged the Siding Spring Observatory.The fire in the Warrumbungle National Park in the north-west of the state has burnt out up to 40,000 hectares and has already forced the evacuation of over 100 residents.The fire is presently burning in a northerly direction away from Timor Road and is about a kilometre south of Bugaldie.The Rural Fire Service confirmed this morning that 12 properties had been lost on Timor Road and there could yet be more.Residents in the area, as well as 18 staff from the Siding Spring Observatory, had to be evacuated at the height of the blaze late yesterday.The observatory, run the Australian National University (ANU), is the country's largest optical astronomy research facility and was deliberately located in the Warrumbungle Ranges for the altitude, clear air, and low humidity.ANU acting vice-chancellor Erik Lithander says five buildings, including cottages that house staff, have been destroyed, but fortunately the telescopes remain in tact.

—Radio Australia

Australia, Japan to cooperate on North Korea response

Australia and Japan have agreed to work together on an international response to North Korea's recent rocket missile launch.Australia's foreign minister, Bob Carr, on Sunday met with his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, in Sydney.The visit was Mr Kishida's first overseas trip since Japan's new government took office in December.Mr Carr described the day's talks as productive, and said the two countries discussed Australia's role on the United Nations Security Council, as well as North Korea's missile launch."We hope to be able to work closely with Japan when it comes to shaping a response on the security council to that unsatisfactory and illegal behaviour," Mr Carr said.Mr Kishida also expressed his sympathy to those affected by bushfires across south-eastern Australia.

-Radio Australia

Australians own as many guns as in 1996A study has found Australians now own as many guns as

they did at the time of the Port Arthur shootings in 1996. More than 1 million guns were destroyed in the aftermath of the massacre, but research shows Australians have restocked over the past 10 years, importing more than 1 million firearms. Despite that, the number of gun-related deaths has halved since the gun buyback. he University of Sydney study's findings will be used by the gun control task force set up by United States vice-president Joe Biden in the wake of the Sandy Hook school massacre. Public health researcher Philip Alpers, who will be presenting the study at a summit, told ABC News 24 the task force has asked to learn about the Australian experience. "Remember there were several massacres in Australia - Port Arthur wasn't the only one - and during the period that people were thinking about those massacres a total of a million guns were surrendered," he said. "What's happened since then is that gun imports spiked while people replaced them, and then crashed again for several years and they were way down at lower levels..

-Radio Australia

IN FOCUSAfricaFrance bombs Islamist strongholds in north Mali

The aTTacks on IslamIsT positions near the ancient deser t t rading town of Timbuktu and Gao, the larg-est city in the north, marked a decisive intensification on the third day of the French mis-sion, striking at the heart of the vast area seized by rebels in April.

France is determined to end Islamist domination of northern Mali, which many fear could act as a base for attacks on the West and for links with al Qaeda in Yemen, Somalia and North Africa.

Defense Minister Jean-Yves

Le Drian said France's sud-den intervention on Friday had prevented the advancing rebels from seizing Bamako. He vowed that air strikes would continue.

"The president is total-ly determined that we must eradicate these terrorists who threaten the security of Mali, our own country and Europe," he told French television.

Residents and rebel lead-ers had reported air raids ear ly on Sunday in the towns of Lere and Douentza in central Mali , forcing Islamists to withdraw. As

the day progressed, French jets struck targets further to the north, including near the town of Kidal, the epicenter of the rebellion.

In Gao, a dusty town on the banks of the Niger river where Islamists have imposed an extreme form of sharia law, residents said French jets pounded the air-port and rebel positions. A huge cloud of black smoke rose from the militants ' camp in the city's north, and trucks ferried dead and wounded to hospital.

"The planes are so fast

you can only hear their sound in the sky," resident Soumaila Maiga said by tel-ephone. "We are happy, even though it is frightening. Soon we will be delivered."

Paris said four Rafale jets flew from France to strike rebel training camps, logis-tics depots and infrastruc-ture around Gao with the aim of weakening the rebels and preventing them from returning southward.

"We blocked the terror-ists' advance and from today what we've started to do is to destroy the terrorists' bases behind the front line," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told LCI television.

France has dep loyed about 550 soldiers to Mali under "Operation Serval" -- named after an African wild-cat -- split between Bamako and the town of Mopti, 500 km (300 miles) north.

In Bamako, a Reuters cameraman saw more than 100 French troops disem-bark on Sunday from a mil-itary cargo plane at the international airport, on the outskirts of the capital.

The city's streets were calm, with the sun streaking through the dusty air as the seasonal Harmattan wind blew from the Sahara. Many cars had French flags draped from the windows to cele-brate Paris's intervention.

-Reuters

French fighter jets pounded Islamist rebel strongholds deep in northern Mali on Sunday as Paris poured more troops into the capital Bamako, awaiting a West African force to dislodge al Qaeda-linked insurgents from the country's north.

Suspects arrested over India bus rapesIx men were arresTed on Sunday over the rape of a passenger on a bus in India, weeks after the gang-rape and murder of a student on a bus in New Delhi sparked nationwide protests.

The victim had board-ed the service to her in-laws' home in the northern state of Punjab when she was abducted and driven to a house in a district bor-dering the city of Amritsar, local police officer, Raj Jeet Singh said.

F i ve men j o ined the driver and conductor and took turns raping the vic-tim before dropping her off near her in-laws' village on Saturday morning, he said.

" S i x m e n h a v e b e e n arrested on allegations of having raped a 29-year-old woman... after forcibly tak-ing her to an unknown loca-

tion on the night of January 11," Mr Singh said, adding that a seventh suspect was being hunted.

"The lady, after being kid-napped, was raped brutally throughout the night by the seven accused," he said.

"After raping the victim throughout the night, one of the accused dropped her near her in-laws' house the next morning where she nar-rated the whole incident to her two sisters-in-law."

He said the extent of her injuries had yet to be established.

The attack echoes the December 16 gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old stu-dent in Delhi, with five men on trial in the case, which has fuelled anger across India over the treatment of women.

-AFP

Six-month Philippines firearms ban begins

a ban on carryIng fIre-arms went into force in the Philippines on Sunday, amid growing debate about the need for stricter controls following a series of shooting deaths.

The ban will end on June 13 and is meant to curb vio-lence linked to mid-term elec-tions in May, when the country elects thousands of local offi-cials ranging from governors to senators.

Commission on Elections spokesman, James Jimenez, said random checkpoints had been set up across the country to enforce the ban.

Mr Jimenez said the cam-paign would likely lead to arrests, though none had hap-pened in the first hours of the ban.

The ban covers the carrying of firearms, the hiring of armed bodyguards by candidates and the transporting of arms, explo-sives, raw materials or parts, the elections body said.

Exempted from the ban were members of the police, armed forces and President Benigno Aquino - himself a gun enthusiast.

Mr Aquino had earlier rejected calls to declare a per-

manent, total gun ban as a knee-jerk reaction following high-profile gun-related deaths since the start of the year.

Two children died from bul-let wounds caused by celebra-tory gunfire from New Year revellers.

Just a few days later a drug-crazed gunman shot dead seven people during a 30-minute rampage on the out-skirts of Manila, before police killed him.

As well as this, on Sunday last week security forces shot 13 alleged criminals dead.

Rights monitors have said the proliferation of unlicensed guns fuels a sense of impunity across the Philippines, where some politicians employ pri-vate militias to threaten rivals and voters.

Acco rd ing t o po l i c e data, there were 1.2 mil-lion registered firearms in the Philippines as of last year, with roughly another 600,000 unli-censed firearms in circulation.

While carrying an unli-censed firearm is punishable by up to six years in prison, it is relatively easy to acquire guns on the black market.

-AFP

Philipines India

VANUATU DAILY POST Tuesday 15th January 2013 [9]

F e a t u r e N e w s[ 10 ] vanuatu Daily Post | Tuesday January 15, 2013

Personal financeThe best advice is to keep your wallet closed

H a v e y o u e v e r m e t anyone who has grown rich just by saving? Probably not. But you may well have met someone who has grown rich looking after other people’s savings. That dark secret lies at the heart of “Pound Fool-ish”, Helaine Olen’s excellent book, a contemptuous expo-sé of the American personal-finance industry.

With icy logic, Ms Olen, a journalist, demonstrates that much of the advice given by moneymaking gurus on tele-vision or in print is either fat-uous or based on ridiculously optimistic assumptions about future investment returns. Take the idea that saving the cost of a daily latte and investing the proceeds in the stockmarket would make you rich. Saving $3 a day, or $1,100 a year, might be a sensible economy measure but it won’t build a fortune.

Such faddish ideas are the financial equivalent of mira-cle diets. A belief in instant riches lured millions into buying internet stocks in the late 1990s or overpriced houses in the middle of the past decade, when any per-sonal-finance adviser worth his salt should have been advising clients to run in the opposite direction. But opti-mism sells, and realism tends not to.

As well as bad advice, the gurus have plenty of expen-sive products to flog—from courses that teach people how to become better real-estate investors to branded goods like a $49.99 canvas laptop bag or a $34.98 silver leather wallet. By the time clients have bought all the books, attended the courses and stocked up on the acces-sories, someone has definitely become rich, though proba-bly not the saver.

Savers make all sorts of rookie mistakes—from fol-lowing the stock tips tout-ed on television to paying through the nose for com-plex financial products when simple low-cost alternatives (like index-tracking funds) are available. And debtors are similarly foolish, running up big bills on high-charging credit cards. Perhaps such les-sons could be rammed home by financial-literacy courses but Ms Olen is cynical, noting that many courses are spon-sored by financial-services companies, creating an obvi-ous conflict of interest.

Indeed, this is one of the central problems of per-sonal finance—how to get advice to apathetic con-

sumers. The unwillingness of consumers to pay for advice has led to hard-sell-ing, high-charging sales-men taking over the industry. Britain has just reformed its payment system for finan-cial advice and if Ms Olen’s book has a fault, it is the lack of an international per-spective offering such exam-ples. The personal-finance pages of British newspapers are doughty champions of consumer rights. While she rightly attacks the high-cost annuities sold to American consumers, she might have reflected that the kind of low-cost annuities sold in Britain ensure that retirees do not outlive their savings.

But Ms Olen is right to home in on the biggest prob-lem that personal-finance gurus neglect; people earn-ing $20,000 a year will strug-gle to pay for the basics in life and will simply not be able to save their way to a life of comfort, let alone rich-es. As Ms Olen concludes, “We do not live in an eco-nomic environment that will permit mass personal-finan-cial progress, no matter how well meant the guidance or advice.”

Like Ms Olen, the latest book from Jack Schwager, best known for his “Mar-ket Wizards” books based on interviews with traders and fund managers, takes a pot-shot at TV stockmarket tip-sters. A four-year analysis of the share recommenda-tions by Jim Cramer, star of CNBC’s “Mad Money”, shows that while the stocks rose on the day he mentioned them, they underperformed the market over longer peri-ods. The experts polled by Louis Rukeyser on “Wall Street Week” (a programme on public television) proved to be almost perfect contrari-an indicators; they were most bullish in December 1999, at the peak of the dotcom bub-ble.

Mr Schwager’s book starts off with plenty of sound, basic advice—beware of assuming that past high returns can be maintained, for example—before expert-ly demonstrating that a lev-eraged exchange- traded fund (a fund that promises to deliver an enhanced market return) is a dreadful invest-ment because of its structure, being almost bound to disap-point.

He then moves on to more sophisticated measures of risk, rightly pointing out that “faulty risk measurement is worse than no risk measure-ment at all, because it may give investors an unwarrant-ed sense of security.” As the book develops, beginners may start to struggle with mathe-matical concepts, such as Sor-

tino and Calmar ratios, that regularly get trotted out.

Oddly, this curate’s egg of a book then veers off in a dif-ferent direction—a lengthy description and defence of the hedge-fund industry. Mr Schwager demonstrates that hedge funds are less risky than many mutual funds, but he does not really deal

with the central issue; that their fees are too high for the returns they deliver. One suspects that Ms Olen would respond to his conclusion that “hedge funds are a desirable investment even for unso-phisticated, lower-net-worth individuals” with a loud, and well-deserved, raspberry.

— The Economist

Solution to your Sudoku puzzle

VACANCY NOTICE

Application are invited for the following vacancy that (Sunshine Shopping Centre) to fill.

- Supermarket Manager- To open and close the Supermarket- Supervising the staffs- Any other work relating with Supermarket

Applications to include work experience and reference for more information or to fill in your application please forward

to PO Box: 507

Recherche un candidat Ni-Vanuatu susceptible d’occuper le poste de :

RESPONSABLE QUALITEPROFIL REQUIS Diplôme : • Ingénieur Qualité

Compétences :• Connaissance des outils et méthodes de management de la qualité et d’évaluation et de gestion des risques• Connaissances appréciée dans le domaine des utilities

Qualités requises• Bonne connaissance du métier• Rigueur et Méthode• Bon relationnel et diplomatie• Ouvert aux autres, empathie

MISSIONS :• Contribuer à la Conception de la politique qualité• Mettre en place d’un système de management de la qualité à UNELCO• Animer les groupes de travail chargés de l’élaboration des procédures et modes opératoires• Mettre en œuvres les outils de contrôles, d’évaluation et d’amélioration continue propre à la qualité.• Conduire une démarche de certification.• Former et conseiller à la qualité et à la gestion des risques• Entamer une démarche d’évaluation des risques industriels

LANGUES :• Le candidat doit avoir une bonne pratique du français courant et de l’anglais.

Les candidatures devront être envoyées au Directeur Général Délègue d’UNELCO VANUATU LIMITED BP. 26 Port-Vila au plus tard le 18 janvier 2013.

VACANCY

Manager RequiredQualifications needed are

- Advanced Rope access and current First Aid Certificate

Email: [email protected]

HARDWARE STORE MANAGERQualifications:Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:• Operates with initiative, commitment, strong work ethic & sense of urgency • Flexible, responsive to feedback • Operates with a high degree of honesty / integrity; treats others with respect, dignity, and fairness • Possess and operates with high degree of managerial courage • Physically capable of performing work • Critical thinker; aptitude for learning • Positive attitude – cooperative, positive outward demeanor • Exceptional customer service; Team player • Hardware experience for at least 2 years • Effective communication skills; maintains/exhibits professional conduct at all times • Well-groomed professional appearance

Interested applicants should forward their applications to: [email protected]

VACANCY NOTICEWanted, driver, preferably heavy

weight, must have current licence.

Phone 22560.

Daily Post Dining Guide

The Daily Post Dining Guide explores the wealth of culinary experience that is available in Vanuatu. The guide reaches out to visitors,

residents and businesses alike presenting an easy overview of the different venues and cooking themes on offer. Advertising here is a simple and easy means of bringing your latest dish into the eye of

those seeking the latest experience.

To ensure a long shelf life this dining guide will also carry a number of recipes compiled by participating restaurants.

The Daily Post Dining Guide will reach both residence and tourists through:

• Daily Post Saturday issue with 3,500 copies • What to Do February issue with 5,000 copies 8,500 copies. That’s a big readership.

TheDailyPostDiningGuideallowsadvertiserstoshowcasetheirvenuewithbotheditorialandfullcolourdisplayadvertisements.

1 page full colour display + ½ page editorial

Rate: Vt35,000

For more information or to book your place contact the Daily Post advertising department on 23224 or email: [email protected]

VANUATU DAILY POST Tuesday 15th January 2013 [11]

AUSTRALIA, SIDING SPRING : This handout aerial picture taken on January 14, 2013 and provided by Rural Fire Service (RFS) of New South Wales shows the group of buildings at the Siding Spring Observatory, a remote global research facility in New South Wales, surrounded by smoke after a fire raged through the night, fuelled by hot, strong winds, damaging parts of the facility. Telescopes at the global space research facility appear to have survived a devastating Australian inferno that destroyed 12 nearby homes and damaged several buildings on the site, officials said on January 14. AFP PHOTO / NSW Rural Fire Service

W o r l d N e w s

AustraliaAustralia

[ 12 ] vanuatu Daily Post |Tuesday, January 15 2013

Bushfire starts after drug labs torched

Garnaut worried about PNG ban precedent

Drug squaD Detectives have arrested a father and son over two clandestine drug laboratories, after a bushfire swept through Sydney's south-west.

Police believe the laborato-ries, hidden in remote bush-land at Camden and only accessible by foot, had been operating for years.

They say a fire was delib-erately lit to destroy the labs last week, sparking a bush-fire in the Blue Mountains N a t i o n a l Pa r k w h i c h destroyed 55 hectares.

A father and son were arrested last night and have been accused of making mil-lions of dollars worth of the drug known as ice.

Police say the laboratories were capable of producing five-kilogram batches of the drug. A kilogram is worth up

to $2 million.Detectives began watch-

ing the men just before Christmas and had planned to raid the labs last Tuesday, but the hot weather and extreme fire danger stopped them.

The next day, police allege the 27-year-old son started the bushfire when he tried to destroy the drug labs.

"We don't know what tipped them to light the fire," said Acting State Crime Commander Peter Cotter.

"It will be our summation that they obviously became aware of our investigation - we're not sure how that happened."

The bushfire was only completely extinguished last night after six aircraft and ground crews worked on it.

-Radio Australia

a u s t r a l i a n e c o n o mist, Ross Garnaut, says the ban imposed on him by the Papua New Guinea Government, is a low point in Australian diplomacy and PNG democracy.

P r o f e s s o r G a r n a u t resigned as chairman of Ok Tedi Mining after he was banned from entering the

country.PNG Prime Minister, Peter

O'Neill, imposed the ban on Professor Garnaut in November after he weighed into a spat between Mr O'Neill and mining giant BHP Bi l l i ton over con-trol of the PNG Sustainable Development Program - a $1.4 billion charitable trust

that is the biggest sharehold-er in Ok Tedi Mining.

P r o f e s s o r G a r n a u t resigned on Friday, saying was not possible for him to fulfil his responsibilities to this large and complex com-pany while the PNG govern-ment maintained its ban on him.

He is concerned the PNG

government action may have set a precedent.

Professor Garnaut is call-ing on the Australian gov-ernment to negotiate an agreement with Papua New Guinea to prevent this sort of incident occurring again.

"The important thing now is that things like this never happen again, that a govern-ment never again seeks to exercise leverage over legiti-mate international corporate interests through the misuse of immigration powers.

"If it became an accepted precedent it would introduce a major new element of sov-ereign risk, a barrier to PNG development and a recurring volcano in bi-lateral relations." he said.

Long-time PNG observ-er Stephen Howes from the Australian National University says the Australian government should have criticised the ban.

"Australia should be sup-porting free speech in PNG and Australia should certain-ly be supporting the rights of its citizens to engage in law-ful business activities in other countries." he said.

He says the Australian government may have stayed silent because it needs PNG's support for the asylum seek-er processing centre on Manus Island.

-Radio Australia

Australia

S p o r t s F e a t u r e VANUATU DAILY POST | Tuesday January 15 2013 [ 13 ]

We’ve all been there: our club goes on a winless streak when the strikers can’t buy a goal and the defence leaks more than an old bucket.

Eventually, after a month or two, they win again, but some teams go years, even decades, without victories.

For the national team of Guam, they faced a 32-year winless streak before their first ever success.

While they waited, their defeats ranged from a couple of respectable 3-0s to a more one-sided 21-0 thrash-ing by North Korea in 2005.

Their solitary foray into World Cup qualification, in 2001, resulted in a 19-0 defeat by Iran and a 16-0 loss to Tajik-istan.

But the rugby scores are becoming a thing of the past, thanks to an ambi-tious Englishman.

At an early age, Gary White decided that, after spells with non-league clubs in England, he wasn’t going to be good enough to touch the heights of profes-sional football as a player.

So he became a coach. His first experience of international

football happened when, as a 24-year-old, he became the national coach of the British Virgin Islands.

A year later, as he left for the Baha-mas national team, he handed the reins to an even younger man called Andre Villas-Boas, who went on to manage Chelsea and is currently the Tottenham Hotspur boss.

White moved the Bahamas 55 places up the Fifa rankings and, in less than a year, has already taken Guam to their highest position of 178th in the world.

“Prior to myself, the coaches going in there never really saw the potential and they just tried to keep the score down,” he told the BBC’s World Football pro-gramme.

“When I got in I could see the players were just needing someone to believe in them and the biggest thing we did was connect the Guam national team to the (native) Chamorro culture.

“We said when the national team plays we all play so before every game we do the Inifresi. It’s a chant like the Haka and it’s a chant pledging them-selves to the country.”

White, 38, soon realised that a popu-lation of fewer than 200,000 people on the island would not yield a big enough crop of talent to harvest, so he’s been searching for players with Guamanian heritage.

“Our star player is Ryan Guy who was born in the US to Guam parents. He plays for the New England Revolution in Major League Soccer,” said White.

“He was getting a few communica-tions about joining the US national

team. It took me six months to really sell him the vision of what we’re trying to do and he now sees himself as a trail blazer.

“He thought he could do much more good for football playing for Guam than the US.”

White, who is also the technical director of the Guam FA, has started a 10-year plan which aims to elevate the national team to fifth in East Asia, behind Japan, North and South Korea and China, all of whom have World Cup experience.

And he’s got off to a promising start. “They played Hong Kong two years

ago and lost 12-0 but we just played them in the East Asian Championship and lost 2-1 in a very, very close game and that was their strongest team,” said White.

“Prior to myself coming, we lost 9-0 to Chinese Taipei and we have now

drawn 1-1 in the same competition so we’re moving very, very quickly and a lot of it is down to the vision of the head of the Guam FA, Richard Lai.”

But White’s ambitions go beyond improving Guamanian football.

He has been selected as one of 16 coaches to be on a two-year develop-ment programme run by the FA in an attempt to boost the number of English Premier League coaches beyond the cur-rent amount of five.

“I want to be working in the J.League in Japan or the K-League in South Korea, which are very competitive leagues, in the next couple of years,” said White.

“Then I see myself coming back to the UK and working in the Premier League with my ultimate goal being to work with the England national team.

“Andre [Villas-Boas] has set a wonder-ful example for younger coaches.

“I’ve been trying to figure out how he

got to where he is. We’re similar ages and were on a very similar path at one point.

“It’s all about mentorship. He was smart enough to find a mentorship from Sir Bobby Robson and Jose Mourinho and it really helped him in his career.”

And White is also taking heart from the career path of Roy Hodgson who, for many years, appeared to be out of sight, out of mind in what are regarded by England fans as spurious, lesser foot-ball nations like Sweden, Finland and Switzerland.

White added: “Roy Hodgson has gone out to the world and coached in different countries.

“But he’s come back and is now coach of the England national team so I don’t see working abroad as being a hurdle. You have people like Roy who have set the standard.”

BBC

Guam coach Gary White wants to manage

in Premier LeagueBBC World Service Sport’s Mani Djazmi looks at the Guam national team as their head

coach targets the Premier League

Guam’s star player is Ryan Guy #13 of the New England Revolution in the Major League Soccer

GENERAL GOODS FOR SALE

Goods For sale

Apple MacBook Pro 15”Laptop Computer ( 100,000) : Apple iPad 2 WiFi ( 50,000).or buy the lot for 140,000vt Ring 5691097 ( 18/01/13)

For Sale1 Double glass door commercial Fridge good condition – 125,000 vatuFisher and Packyl matching upright Fridge and Freezer good condition –50,000vt for the two.Alvey Queen Poulet fish Reel – good Condition – 50,000 VatuPhone 22883 / 7743733 (02/01/13)

MOTORS VEHICLES

For saleToyota Hilux, Kilo Meter: 43418, Air Conditioned. Alloy Wheels, Roll bar Good Condition Price 2,500,000vt Contact: 25966, 7775966 and 7744807 ( 16/01/12)

For sale 2009 Toyota Hilux 2.8 L Diesel, 5 Speed Manual Full Service record, Torneau cover vt 2.6 Mil Phone 7756808 (15/01/13)

For sale Hyundai starlex, Good Condition. Sale with Permit 400,000vt Contact: 5686054 (15/01/13)

For saleKIA Picanto 24,000KM1 year 5 months old900,000vtContact: 7117022 (02/01/13)

General Goods

3 laptops for sale due to major business upgrade:ASUS M50V Intel Core2Duo 2.53Ghz 4GB Ram, Windows7, 16” screen, DVD-writer. Powerhouse business machine. vt60’000. Fujitsu Lifebook T4215 TABLET PC. Transforms between full laptop and tablet for writing on, drawing, taking notes – perfect for Uni or business requiring handwriting or drawing. Windows Vista Business Tablet, Inter Core2 1.66Ghz, 3GB Ram, 12” screen, DVD-writer, protective case, stylus. Vt60’000.Apple MAC Powerbook G4, 512Mb Ram, aluminium body, huge 17” screen, perfect for watching DVDs, internet browsing, office work. Vt25’000.Call 7710123 for inspection. (02/01/13)

terios For sale

Registration 7/200690.000 km, good conditionregularily servicedVUV1,550,000Contact: 7740250 (02/01/13)

BOAT & MARINEBoat For sale

In Santo 19ft (6mt) Yamaha fiberglass boat Near new condition 485,000vtIn Sola- Banks 19 ft ( 6 Meter ) Yamaha Fiberglass boat K/W 25 HP . Yamaha out board Motor Near new Condition 840,000vt. Phone: 7796849 (18/1/13)

LOSTlost pHone in FresH water 3 area. samsunG Galaxy SII. Generousreward offered. Contact 7768728.”

a Brown nina riCCi readinG sunGlass with dark green lenses was lost at Sunset Lagoon Pool at Iririki Island Resort on Friday 28th December 2012. A BIG reward will be paid by returning the same to Guest relation Manger / Duty Manger, Iririki Island Resort or contact 23388 Thank you. (11/1/13)

COMMUNITY NOTICECommunity notiCeWould you like to deepen your knowledge of Gods word? We are now offering FREE Bible correspondence courses to every one in Vanuatu. There are six English lessons available. Send us a letter with your name, mailing address and mobile number and we will send you your first course! World Bible School, 2901 South Yale Avenue, Tulsa, Ok, 74114,USA (11/02/13)

MISSINGmissinG puppyFemale, Glossy black color with white spot on chest. Young playful, 3 months old. Missing since Sunday midday 06th January 2013. Last seen at home, Tassariki. Please call 5387895- reward to whoever returns puppy, no question asked. (19/01/13)

[14] VANUATU DAILY POST, Tuesday 15th January 2013

WANTEDASTJ- Nidim Volentia

Mifala I nidim wan man/ Woman blong mekem fultaem Volintia wok olsem wan missnari hem I mas wan witness blong Johova we I stap wok olsem wan fultaem paenia bitim wan yia finis . Eni witness we I interest blong wok olsem long Vanuatu , Hemi mas tok Bislama mo hemi mas naf blong lanem kwiktaem mo hemi mas save ko long ol narafala aelan no long Efate nomo, sipos yu nidim mo save, plis ring long TeL. 25425 ( 15/01/13)

Sapos eniwan i gat interest blong tekem strong kava blong N/W Malekula,

Plis kollem namba ia 7779683, blong save gat wan arrangement.

NOTICE I GO LONG OL KAVA BAR OWNA.

SALES & RENTSREAL ESTATE

PROPERTY FOR RENT

ExEcutivE watErfront apartmEnt 3 bEd-rooms, 2 bathrooms, on quiet, calm bay in Pango. Sandy beach, close to Surf and only 10 minutes to town. Pool, aircon, security, lockup garage, Tel Sat Connection, TV/DVD, spa bath Stunning setting, beautifully finished and Balinese furnished.Longterm rentals: VT 255,000/Month or short term rentals: fully furnished including full inven-tory of linen /crockery. Good for newly arrived or short term contacts call 5554942. ( 11/03/13)

fuLLY furniSHEd Studio apart-MENT right on the lagoon (Cook’s Avenue, First Lagoon). Suitable for couple or single. Short-term accommoda-tion. 85,000vt/month or daily rate. Includes electric-ity, water, internet and housekeeping. Contact Jenny 7745001 (12/1/13)

dock à LouEr 318m2 contact 7740812, Location BladiniereWare house for rent 318m2 Contact 7740812, Bladinere (12/01/13)

for rEnt, SHort or Long tErmmodern, Big studio unit Located in the center of the town, with spectacular views over port Vila harbor, Happy friendly environments, Very private & safe, full time security & alarm/Camera system. fully fur-nished, big fridge, stove, Satellite TV, internet, sofa launch/bed. Suitable for working single or couple, or home & office at 79.000vt+ per month OR short term 30,000 vt+ per week all included. Please email, [email protected] (1/2/13

for rEntApartment near USP, studio, one and two bedroom avail-able self-contained with full kitchen, 2 door Fridge, Cook-top, Bathroom, air-cond, fan, TV, Sat, DVD, WIFI, your owned grassed Country Yard. Quiet and good Gated Security, from 69,000vt pm PH 7723088(16/1/13)

1 BEDROOM1 bEd room, taSariki LovELY, 1 bEdroom with walk in robe, minutes’ walk to USP & shop, quiet location with lagoon views, partly furnished, with fridge, beds, tables, etc...., separate water and electric meters, on street parking .1 MTH Bound + References REQ - 70,000vt P/M Call 7750812 (17/1/13)

HoSE for rEnt1 Unit Room: Anamburu & 2 Bedroom Unit: Mele village include some Furniture’s, Electric and Water more information contact 5448877 (5/1/13)

1 bEdroomLuxury appointed 1 + bedroom apartments to let. Sleeps up to 3 fully furnished and self-contained to an executive level, Pool, a/con parking. Some with magnificent labour views. From 5,500 per night for short term or minimum 5 ngiths, 125,000 per month long term. Contact 25462/25460 or 7776476 for view-ing. (26/01/13)

2 BEDROOMfor rEnt

Two Bedrooms, kitchen, Dining room shower & Toilet sea side .80,000vt per month Mob 7750085(26/01/13)

HouSE for rEnt

2 Bed room house for rent Fully furnished and secured property , set in landscaped gardens in gated community with lagoon views. Includes Swimming pool and night Se-curity vt 180,000 per month inclusive. Contact 5441764 ( 8/02/13)

2xonE bEdroom unit for rEnt LocatEd at Agathis area. Unit has its own toilet and bathroom, kitchen and living area. Renting at Vt20,000 per month. Please contact 7749121. (1/01/12)

2 bEdroomLuxury appointed 2 bedroom apartments to let. Fully fur-nished and self-contained to an executive to an executive level, Pool, a/con, secure parking with magnificent labour views. From 7,500 per night for short term or minimum 5 nights, 165,000 per month long term. Contact 25462 /25460 or 7776476 for viewing. (26/01/13)

2 & 3 BEDROOMapartmEnt for rEntBeautiful Renovated Spacious & Modern 2 & 3 Bedrooms apartments + study, Huge living areas and large Double bedrooms with build in robes. Lovely private country yard, Phone, Internet and Cable TV all available secure gated complex of only 8 apartments just 5 minutes from town at Malapoa Estate.Available unfurnished or fully furnished and self-contained. Short or long term from only 70,000vt per month. Phone: 7749478 (19/01/12)

3 BEDROOM

HouSE for rEnt3 bedroom furnished house for rent at Tassariki, Mez-zanine, Toilet & Bathroom, Living Room, Kitchen, Front Porch, Laundry, Air Condition, Hot & Cold Water, own driveway, Fenced and spacious yard. 10 minutes’ walk to USP, 5 minutes’ walk to Tassariki Health Clinic.Monthly rent vt110,000 (negotiable). Contact 5387895 (26/01/13)

LARGE 3 BED EXECUTIVE WATERFRONT APARTMENT

, 2 bathrooms, on quiet, calm bay in Pango. Sandy beach, close to Surf and only 10 minutes to town. Pool, aircon, security, lockup garage, Tel Sat Connection, TV/DVD, spa bath Stunning setting, beautifully finished and Balinese furnished.Longterm rentals: VT 255,000/Month or short term rentals: fully furnished including full inventory of linen /crockery. Good for newly arrived or short term contacts call 5554942. ( 11/03/13)

3 brm fuLLY furniSHEd apartmEnt FOR RENT: Only 5 min walk to town, good security, spacious living area, large cov-ered balcony with lovely aspect – 85,000 vt/mth – suit expats Ph: 5546112 or7773369 (19/01/13)

3x2 bEdroom unitS for rEnt at bEvErLY Hills, partly furnished, quiet and off the main road, fully secured with security fence & metal gates, car park @ 38,000vt/unit. Call 5981165/5978705 (19/01/13)

HouSE for rEnt Three Bedroom 2 bathroom water front house at Tasiriki. Fully furnished or unfurnished, Tiled throughout, and air conditioned. Double carport with your own private boat ramp, White Sand beach and lovely covered BBQ areas on the water’s edge. 2 Min walk to Port Vila internation-al School. Available short or long term from 220,000vt per month. Phone 7763774 for an inspection. ( 19/01/13)

LuxurY 3 bEdroom, 2 bathroom, waterfront's exw-cutive apartment in town- fully furnished and self con-tained to the highest standard. 300,000vt per month. permanent lease available 19 january 2013. contact rinn-ick on 25460/25462 or 7776476 (26/01/13)

4 BEDROOMtaSiriki 4 bEdroom HouSE pLuS office with separate entry. Huge Master bedroom with ensuite, his/hers built in wardrobes. Large house of around 230sq/m+ outside area, plus carport. The house is well secure, security gate, huge cubby house for the kids, fully renovated around a year ago. 2+ year rent-al agreement no problem. 190 thousand p/m neg. House comes furnished. Tel 7776767 (16/1/13)

PROPERTY FOR SALE

Land for SaLEA land for sale 50m long – 25m wide with no title = 650,000vt. Tel: 5497108 (18/01/13)

Land for SaLE2000 square meter block of land at Teouma Hillside ( Nar-pow / Tamanu Rd) Water and power to block , Sea Views. 3 Mill Vatu. Ph : 7725142 or email angela@vanuatu,com.vu(16/1/13)

LOOKING FOR ROOMLooking for a rEnting room LESS tHan 30,000vt a Month.Contact: 5609801

VANUATU DAILY POST Tuesday 15th January 2012 [15]

property for rent

Check out website for the latest listings

Office hours: 8am-5pm Mon-Fri ph 29014Email: [email protected]

www.firstnationalvanuatu.com (click onto rentals)

RESIDENTIAL -COMMERCIAL

[16] VANUATU DAILY POST, Tuesday 15th January 2013

VANUATU DAILY POST Tuesday 15th January 2013 [17]

[18] vanuatu Daily Post Tuesday, January 15 2013

Representaive to Head of Ifira 1 Chiefs, Chief Tasila Kalorib appreciating the customary items by walking around them as a sign of respect. PM Kilman officially doing the groundbreaking

Foundation Stone Unveiling the plaque to the Foundation Stone

Convention Center groundbreaking photos

From the publishers of Vanuatu largest privately owned media organisations “What to Do in Vanuatu” is the official tourism newspaper for Vanuatu Tourism. How important are tourists for your business.We reach every tourist arriving in Vanuatu with 5000 copies printed every month

From the publishers of Vanuatu largest privately owned media organisations “What to Do in Vanuatu” is the official tourism newspaper for Vanuatu Tourism. How important are tourists for your business.We reach every tourist arriving in Vanuatu with 5000 copies printed every month

OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE VANUATU TOURISM OFFICE www.vanuatu.travel

DISCOVER… NATUREDISCOVER… DIVERSITY DISCOVER… CULTURE

So many islands, so much to see!

Experience Vanuatu’s unique traditions

New worlds await, above and below the sea

FREE

MARCH 2012 ISSUE 37

P L U S

� NEWS � EVENTS � WHAT’S ON � MAPS � and more!

March explodes

into lifeTanna’s Yasur volcano hots up

See our column inside… www.waterfront.com.vu

Commercial tourism land Havannah – only 210,000 AUD

100m water frontage + luxury residence650,000 AUD

Boutique Real Estate Agency—your one stop shop for Vanuatu property enquiries

Francesca Grillo+678 [email protected]

Jack Dihm+678 [email protected]

FEATURE ARTICLE

Gorgeous tropical surrounds, perfectly white sandy beach

when visiting the ultra modern Moyyan Day Spa

The Wild Ginger room features a soak tub , double massage tables and shower for body rituals including exotic body polishes

The Orchid room beauty room is available for, Manicures, Pedicures, Faux Tanning, lash and brow tinting along

Inspired by ancient traditional customs and rituals, Moyyans Body Rituals are designed to harmonise both body and mind

through the use of botanical formulations and herbal infusions. All Moyyan treatments begin with a complimentary footbath

ritual.Allow yourself to surrender to the cocoon like ambience and

transported to a calm and relaxing state of mind

When visiting the marvellous

Espiritu Santo, make time to

treat yourself, partner or group

of friends to a couple of hours

of pampering.

Treatments range from

1500vatu to

7500vatu

E spiritu Santo is the largest island in the nation of

Vanuatu, with an area of 3,955.5 km2 (1,527.2 sq mi). The

town of Luganville, on Espiritu Santo’s southeast coast,

is Vanuatu’s second-largest settlement and the provincial

capital. Santo is also the hub for the Northern Islands of

Banks Torres, Malekula, Ambrym and Pentecost. Santo is less than

an hour flight from Port Villa and only two and half hours flight

from Brisbane.The Champagne Coast

Santo is rich with natural beauty and has some of the best beaches

in the world. Take a trip down the East Coast which now has a sealed

road and discover for yourself the beauty of Champagne Beach (Voted

one of the world’s best beaches by Lonely Planet). Champagne Beach

was named because fresh spring water bubbles up from the sea

floor… like champagne. A little way after Champagne Beach there

is a peaceful fisherman’s village nestled on the edge of an amazing

white sandy beach, Port Olry. Here you will find a hidden little secret

“The Little Paradise of Port Olry” positioned right on the beach. This

grassed thatched rustic beach bar and restaurant is open 7 days and

serves great Island food and cold beer. If you want some of the best

sea food like crab and lobster you need to order in advance, so give

Tarcisius a call on 542 4893. They also rent out traditional outrigger

canoes and can provide tours too some of the nearby islands. “The

Little Paradise of Port Olry” have bungalows for only Vt4000 which

includes breakfast. So now you can spend a few nights in paradise

and really experience the South Pacific. Again best to call Tarciscus

on 542 4893 to make a booking.

Santo is famous for their blue holes and several of them can be

experienced along the Champagne Cost. They are not signed posted,

but that’s part of the fun finding them if you are not on a guided

Espiritu Santo

Page 4

Issue 38.indd 4

11/04/12 3:40 PM

Call us for more information on rates plus anyquries that you may have with advertising on Telephone: 23224 or send us an email on email: [email protected]

Advertise NOW in Vanuatu’s Official Tourism Newspaper!

OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE VANUATU TOURISM OFFICE www.vanuatu.travel

DISCOVER… NATUREDISCOVER… DIVERSITY DISCOVER… CULTURE

So many islands, so much to see!

Experience Vanuatu’s unique traditions

New worlds await, above and below the sea

FREE

new master head.indd 1 20/04/12 1:25 PM

VANUATU DAILY POST Tuesday 15th January 2013 [19]

[ 20 ] vanuatu Daily Post | Tuesday, January 15, 2013

S h o w b i z

The Last Stand releases an action-packed new clipThe LasT sTand has reLeased a new clip in which vet-eran act ion hero Arnold Schwarzenegger spr in t s through battered streets under a hail of gunfire from a gang corralled by the FBI's most wanted drug kingpin.

The film sees Ray Owens (Arnie), the sheriff of a small border town trying to stop the destruction brought by notorious criminal Gabriel Cortez (Eduardo Noriega) as he evades the feds and heads for the Mexican border with a convoy of armed goons.

The Austrian Oak recog-nises his age as he smashes through a door and crashes to the ground, offering a deadpan reply when asked, "How are you, Sheriff?".

Directed by Kim Ji-woon, the film also stars Johnny Knoxville, Forest Whitaker, Genesis Rod-riguez and Jaimie Alexander. The Last Stand explodes into UK cinemas on 25 January 2013. Arnie's back!

— Totalfilm

Godzilla reboot eyes Kick-Ass star Aaron Taylor-Johnson for lead role

The fiLm is based on The iconic Japanese monster and will be directed by Brit Gareth Edwards (Monsters).

Godzilla has had a number of big names linked to the lead role in recent weeks including Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Henry Cavill.

Taylor-Johnson is said to be the front runner, but he won't make a final decision until Frank Darabont finishes his re-write of the script.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson recently reprised his role in Kick Ass 2 (read our complete guide) and looks set to have a busy year.

Godzilla is due to begin production in March 2013 with a scheduled release date of 16 May 2014. This has 'summer blockbuster' bitten right into it!

— Totalfilm

Britney spears and jason trawick split! briTney spears and Jason Trawick have split, a source confirmed to People. Brit-ney and Ja son s t a r t ed dating in early 2009 and got engaged in December 2011. Britney never shared any wedding plans, and it seems like there won't be "I dos" after all. There have been rumors of trouble for months and now, appar-ently, it's confirmed.

Britney released a state-ment saying, "Jason and I have decided to call off our engagement. I ' l l always adore h im and we wi l l remain great friends."

Britney is also leaving The X Factor, she confirmed today in a statement. She wants to get back into the studio, so it sounds like 2013 wil l mean a fresh start for Britney in more ways than one.

— popsugar.

Justin Bieber sued for ‘hitting minder’Teen pop sTar JusTin bieber is being sued for allegedly battering one of his 6ft body-guards.

Ex-Israeli soldier Moshe Benabou, 45, claims the sing-er, 18, punched his chest then fired him in LA.

He wants damages plus £260,000 wages.

Benabou — who claims he was offended and “harmed” by the tirade even though he towers over pop star — has filed court papers alleging assault and battery.

In papers submitted to Los Angeles Superior Court, Ben-abou claims Bieber attacked

him while being egged on by pals backstage at a concert on October 10 last year.

Bieber is said to have yelled “You’re fired” at Benabou — who worked for the star from March of 2011 to October of 2012 —as he walked away from the incident.

But sources close to Bie-ber say Benabou was sacked after it was discovered he lied when he claimed he had worked for pop star Justin Timberlake on his CV.

His management made no comment on the bodyguard’s claims yesterday.

— The Sun

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart 'fighting a lot'

T h e T w i L i g h T h u n k i s allegedly still struggling to forgive his co-star and girl-friend Kristen for cheating on him with her Snow White And The Huntsman director Rupert Sanders.

The pair have been in Lon-don ever since ringing in the New Year in the British capital with pals.

But sources say they were 'fighting a lot' and fear they are on the verge of another break-up.

A source told Life & Style magazine: “Things with them aren’t good.

"They’ve been fighting a lot.“Rob isn’t happy. It’s just a

matter of time before he ends this.”

Robert, 26 and 22-year-old Kristen briefly split up last year when she was caught in a clinch with married Rupert.

The beauty confessed to a “momentary indiscretion" but Rupert's brother-in-law Leopald Ross has said the couple had been secretly dat-ing for months

A source added: "Rob is at a point where he sometimes ignores her.

"He'll go out and won't respond to her calls or texts right away. Things will be strained for a while.

"She knows she has to go along with it. She is working hard at the relationship."

Friends believe their rela-tionship will be truly tested when they are forced to spend long periods apart on different film sets in the near future.

One pal said: "If they are able to work out being apart while Kristen is filming then they have a shot."

— The Sun

Trade & Business services

Cutting & Drilling ServiCeS

ARE YOU READY FOR THE CYCLONE SEASON?

SUMMER GAS & CYCLONE SPECIAL

Get your Gas BBQ in shape for summer now!!!

Call Prolink Plumbing & Gasfitting toService your Gas BBQ and we’ll

inspect your roof, Free of Charge.

Call Shannon on 7742844.

Is Your Work Place Suffering from “Sick Building SYNDROME”?

Some of the signs are:Tiredness, headaches, frequent colds & flu, sore throats.

Ground Force hire plant service can helpPlants in the workplace clean the air and decrease stress,

enhancing productivity by more than 15 %.And your workplace will look better too.

Call us on 7744255 or 7747417

garDening ServiCeS

SeCurity SyStermS

14/1/13

Lobster Tails now available We take bulk orders

Get your New Years Lobsters today !

Best Quality and Best Price .Call: 5546933

lobSter

31/1/13

vet CliniC

31/12/11

Maintenance, Drainage, Sanitati on, Water Filtrati on & Soft ening Specialist

SOUTH PACIFIC PLUMBING

Call Smiling Steve

7107575

Plumbers

p r e v e n t

polluti on

Plumbing SPeCialiSt

VANUATU DAILY POST Tuesday 15th January, 2013 [21]

PeSt eraDiCation

Contact the Sales Department on 22150 Ext 404 for more details.

HIRING & CATERING SERVICES

Conference? Meeting? Workshop? We are now offering a special package rate.

Our outside catering service is also available at your preferred venue.

Cocktail Party, Birthdays, Staff Functions…. The Melanesian Port Vila caters to your needs with our professional service.

Dinning menu SPeCialSSolar WholeSalerS

Free Power

FROM Stand Alone Battery Storage Solar Systems 3 to 300kw. Wholesale direct to you

SOLARMENPh: 7772966P.O Box 3125 Port Vila Email: [email protected] Vanuatu a division of -Solarmen Pty Ltd Australia with offices NSW & Queensland+61439421335 +61419999123 [email protected]

www.solarmen.com.au

New , Suitable for ships Anchor Chain or for Moorings

Stock of 13, 16mm and 20 mm

Many sizes available for order.

Contact: Ahra Marine, Port Vila.

Phone 22560 or 7741348 for further information

Chain AvailableWill be closed

until January 28th for renovations.

Seasons greeting and we look forward to seeing you

in 2013.

reStaurant

31/1/13

Chain For Sale

JCB FOR HIRE

NEW YEAR’s Early Bird

@ VT 5,500 per hour

Call: Tatangis Kenneth 77-82441

or Lily Tarosa 77-40699

LONG TERM HIRE: Contractor companies get the

opportunity to lease JCB at a further 10% off the early bird special if they

sign up today. Conditions Apply

Income shared to 2 “Not-for-Profit” Organizations in Port Vila

JCb Fore hire

Vanuatu Visa Requirements, Contact

Rebecca

Pacific Migration Consultants

S.I.P Building (Ex. Australian High Commission Building

opposite Ministry of Lands)PO Box 2707

Port Vila Vanuatu

Tel: (678) 5625247Email:

[email protected] 15/2/13

ConSultantS

[ 22 ] VANUATU DAILY POST | Tuesday, January 15, 2013...

S p o r t s N e w sS p o r t s N e w s

Football

Cricket

ICC East asIa-PaCIfIC captain Chris Amini claims man of the match in his sides victory over Western Aus-tralia Country taking 3-16 and making 35 runs.

ICC East Asia-Pacific has recorded its third win of the 2013 Australian Coun-try Championships in a close fought match against Western Australia Country. The team remains in fourth place on the ladder and has the opportunity to register its best ever result from a 10-year involvement in the carnival if it is able to beat

Northern Territory in the final one-day match tomor-row.

EAP vice-captain, Vanu-atu’s Andrew Mansale, was full of praise for his skipper following the round six limit-ed overs clash. “Chris Amini was excellent today and led from the front with the bat and ball. The boys are feel-ing the effects of nearly two weeks of competition but our captain was able to find an extra gear and bring the team with him.”

The umpires agreed with Mansale, awarding Amini

the man of the match tro-phy. His 3-16 from 10 overs with the ball, backed up by impressive figures of 4-35 from PNG’s Norman Vanua, helped dismiss the WA side inside 50 overs for 163. WA was reeling at 6-89 until some strong hitting from the tail allowed them to reach a competitive total.

Amini then followed up his bowling effort with a solid 35 but when he was the sixth wicket to fall with the score at 114 there were some nerves in the camp. Only 25 runs came from a

15-over period in the middle of the innings as WA’s spin bowlers reduced the run-chase to a crawl. It needed the injection of some confi-dent strokeplay from young-ster Lega Siaka (38*) and Jason Kila (14) to shift the momentum. Their seventh wicket partnership of 45 sealed the match and when Kila departed just four runs shy of victory, incoming bats-man Charles Amini quickly wrapped up the game with a lusty pull shot over the mid-wicket boundary.

The carnival comes to a

close tomorrow with the last round of one-day games. NSW and Victoria will square off in what is effectively a final whilst down the road EAP will be searching for a victory against Northern Territory which, depending upon the results of other matches, could launch them into a third place finish.

Short Scoreboard:Round 6 (13 January):

Western Australia Country 163 (N Vanua 4-35; C Amini 3-16) lost to East Asia-Pacific 7/168 (L Siaka 39*, C Amini 35) by three wickets.

Standings:1 . N S W C o u n t r y

55.742 . V i c t o r i a C o u n t r y

47.503. Queensland Country

37.854 . E a s t A s i a - P a c i f i c

34.745. Northern Territory

29.876. Western Austra l ia

Country 8.277. South Australia Country

26.418. Australian Capital Ter-

ritory 26.13 ICC

PrEmIEr LEaguE LEadErs Manchester United and second-placed champions Manchester City put former English heavyweights Liv-erpool and Arsenal firmly in their place with United’s Robin van Persie again on song.

United sealed a needlessly nervy 2-1 home win over eighth-placed Liverpool to maintain their seven-point lead after Van Persie with a goal and Patrice Evra with two assists put rival Luis Suarez in the shade.

In contrast, the game in London was never in doubt with City winning 2-0 for their first league win at Arse-nal in 38 years.

City were given a helping hand by the 10th-minute dis-missal of Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny for wrestling Edin Dzeko to the ground before James Milner and Dzeko net-ted before the break.

Liverpool have had to watch with horror over the last two decades as big rivals United undisputedly crowned themselves kings of the Eng-lish game, trampling over the Anfield side’s legacy after they had shone the brightest in the 1970s and 80s.

The first half at Old Traf-ford, which followed United’s 2-1 win at Liverpool in Sep-tember, suggested talk of the balance of power should be replaced by whisperings of the huge gulf in class such was the ineptitude of Brendan Rodgers’ side.

Dutchman Van Persie, English football’s in-form striker along with Liverpool’s Suarez, grabbed a 19th min-ute opener when he swept in Evra’s cross in inimitable style.

“Robin van Persie is dif-ferent class. He produces moments in the game others can’t do and we are glad he is on our side,” man of the match Danny Welbeck told Sky.

“We had our gameplan and it worked really well in the first half. They came into it more in the second half but we got the three points and showed our character.”

Forward Welbeck, pre-ferred to the in-form Javier Hernandez in the absence of the injured Wayne Rooney, justified his start with some good play although he should have done better twice in the first half when almost clean through.

Van Persie, who now has 17 goals as the league top

scorer, had another chance just before the break as Unit-ed overran their toothless north west neighbours but he oddly chose a cheeky flick which Martin Skrtel cleared just before the line.

Forgettable Performance Uruguay’s Suarez, with 15

league goals this term, was often jeered by the home crowd in a forgettable perfor-mance where nothing went right but he took the sting out of any more vocal taunts by shaking Evra’s hand before kick off.

Suarez failed to do so last season at Old Trafford after serving an eight-game ban for racially abusing the Frenchman.

The arrival of the lively Daniel Sturridge at halftime

for his Premier League debut after joining from Chelsea and the fact they somehow went into the break just 1-0 down boosted Liverpool’s confidence in the second half.

It was soon dampened when Van Persie’s free kick was headed goalwards by Evra, prolific for a left back with four goals this term, and the ball deflected off team mate Vidic before bulging the net. No Liverpool play-ers appealed for offside but replays showed the Serbian was just ahead of their back-line.

Liverpool’s defence and especially Johnson had been found wanting for the goal but Sturridge dug them half out of a hole when he struck after 57 minutes when Ger-

rard’s piledriver could only be palmed into his path by goalkeeper David De Gea.

England’s Sturridge then missed three decent chances as United boss Alex Ferguson fretted in the dugout and vis-iting Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho, scouting United ahead of their Cham-pions League clash, raised an eyebrow beneath the hood he used to shield himself from the cold and the cameras.

As it was, United closed out the win without further alarm.

City were hardly ever in danger at sixth-placed Arse-nal and despite the angry response from the famously placid home fans, referee Mike Dean had little choice but to dismiss defender

Koscielny for the offending bear hug and award a pen-alty.

Dzeko’s spot kick hit keeper Wojciech Szczesny, rebounded off the post and ran along the line into the Pole’s grateful arms.

Arsenal fans, held up com-ing into the ground because of a suspect package, could have been forgiven for think-ing it might be their day after all but it soon turned into another painful game for a team who have not won a trophy since 2005.

City have usurped Arsenal as continual title challeng-ers and their class against 10 men soon told when Milner rifled in a smart effort in the 21st minute after a good Car-los Tevez pass following a quick free kick.

Arsenal supporters also outraged by the free kick award sang “1-0 to the ref-eree” but that was disingenu-ous given the foothold of Roberto Mancini’s side and it was soon 2-0.

England midfielder Mil-ner whipped in a cross and though the keeper stopped Tevez’s close range effort, Dzeko could not miss.

Arsene Wenger’s team barely threatened with the inconsistent Theo Walcott isolated up front and proving again that he is not the fin-ished article by blasting one good chance woefully wide.

City’s Vincent Kompany was harshly sent off for a robust challenge with 15 minutes to go but the second half was largely a non-event in the cold, somewhere Liver-pool and Arsenal could be for quite some time given United and City’s dominance.

Reuters

Cool heads prevail as EAP defeat Western Australia Country

United weather fightback, Man City top Arsenal

Manchester United’s Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic (L) and Manchester United’s French defender Patrice Evra (R) celebrate United’s second goal during the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford in Manchester, northwest England, on January 13, 2013. AFP PHOTO/ANDREW YATES

S p o r t s N e w sVANUATU DAILY POST | Tuesday, January 15 2013 [ 23 ]

SPORTS INBRIEFFOOTBALL

Capello to attend FA celebrationsFormer England manager Fabio Capello will attend the Football Association’s 150th year celebration launch in London on Wednesday. The event, which is expected to be attended by every living England manager, will take place at the Connaught Rooms in Holborn. Capello, now the manager of Russia, has informed the FA he will be in attendance. Capello resigned from his role as England boss under a cloud in February 2012 after a disagreement about the decision to strip John Terry of the captaincy for a second time and has not had any contact with the FA since. As part of the celebrations two friendlies against Brazil have been arranged as well as meetings with Scotland and the Republic of Ireland. Matches with Germany and Argentina are expected to be scheduled later in the year.

ESPN

TENNIS

Rust no problem for a well-oiled SharapovaIt’s rare that Maria Sharapova has ever flown under the radar, but that’s how it is for the world No.2 going into the Australian Open. With Serena Williams the hottest of favourites for a sixth Open crown, world No.1 Victoria Azarenka seen as the obvious challenger and local hope Sam Stosur’s form worries the big topic, Sharapova goes into her first-round match against fellow Russian Olga Puchkova barely discussed. A beaten finalist by Azarenka at Rod Laver Arena last year, Sharapova is a past winner, a three-time finalist and has made the last four in Melbourne five times. But the only lead-up the 25-year-old has entering the tournament is the launch of her personally branded line of lollies, Sugarpova, after a collarbone injury forced her out of the Brisbane International. Now fully recovered, Sharapova said she would use experience to overcome any fear factor at her lack of match practice. ‘’I might be a little bit rusty, but I’ll work my way through it,’’ she said. ‘’Just because you’re rusty, doesn’t mean you’re not going to play well. ‘’I’m too experienced to feel that way. It’s just experience, maybe giving yourself that extra slack in case you do make a few more errors.’’

AAP

FOOTBALL

Nene confirms PSG departureNene has confirmed he will leave Paris Saint-Germain to sign for Qatari-club Al Gharafa. The Brazilian forward has been out of favour at the Parc des Princes following the club’s lavish spending, which has included the addition of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Nene’s countryman Lucas Moura. He has been discussing his options with a number of clubs, and confirmed he had been close to a return to Brazil with Santos before being offered a reportedly lucrative deal by Al Gharafa. Speaking on French television programme Telefoot, Nene said: “I have reached an agreement with Al Gharafa. It was difficult. I always had this dream of going to Brazil and the team of my family. It was almost completed with Santos, but it has not happened. “These are things that happen once in a lifetime. I do not know if people will understand. I’ll be 32 in July, the time passes quickly. I thought about my future, my family. That’s why I’m going.’’

ESPN

CYCLING

Armstrong ready to open up in Oprah interview Lance Armstrong says he is “ready to speak candidly” as he prepares to discuss doping allegations against him in his upcoming interview with Oprah Winfrey. Armstrong was out for a morning run Sunday when he spoke briefly with The Associated Press. The man who once ruled cycling was wearing a red jersey with black shorts, sunglasses and a white hat pulled down low over his eyes. He would not divulge what he will tell Winfrey in the interview that is scheduled to air Thursday (Friday NZ Time). He said from the side of the road: “I’m calm, I’m at ease and ready to speak candidly. I hope we’ll talk for a couple of hours.” International TV crews are arriving in the hilly neighborhood in West Austin. A person with knowledge of the situation has said Armstrong will give a limited confession and apologise. It will be his first public response to a US Anti-Doping Agency report accusing him of using banned drugs to win the Tour de France. Armstrong has spent more than a decade denying that he doped to win the Tour de France seven times. A confession would be a stunning reversal after years of public statements, interviews and court battles from Austin to Europe in which he zealously protected his reputation.

Reuters

Rowing

Hockey

After fAntAstic performAnces from the mens and womens national teams in the Oceania Pacific Cup in December, The Vanuatu Hockey Federation has decided to enter a Boys team into the Junior World Cup Qualifiers this coming February.

The two national teams have recently returned from Suva Fiji, in which they com-peted in the Oceania Pacific Cup/ World League Round 1 Series. Both teams performed exceptionally, with the mens team coming home with the bronze, and the womens just narrowly missing out in the bronze medal match.

The amount of improve-ment shown throughout the week was an indicator of how much potential indi-vidual players, and the team as a whole hold. Tournament officials and fellow teams were impressed by the talent, speed and skill of the Vanua-tu Mens and Womens teams – seeing a huge improvement from the year before for the boys. The girls, who were competing for the first time

ever in an international tour-nament progressed in leaps and bounds within the week timeframe of the tournament.

After witnessing how competitive the teams were, especially against fellow island nations Papua New Guinea, and Samoa, the VHF has decided to enter a ud.21 boys team into the Junior World Cup Qualifier to be held in Gold Coast, Australia this coming February.

National Mens coach Peter Robinson is excited by the possible team list that could be put forward by Vanua-

tu. ¨Our National team is extremely young – with 10 of the 15 players of our national squad qualifying for the ud. 21 tournament´´ say coach Robinson. ´´Teams such as Fiji and PNG have only one or two players in their open national teams who will be able to compete – meaning almost a completely different line up. For us we are almost most the same team, which is very exciting.´´

The tournament will be a fantastic experience for the boys, with a training camp to be organised prior to the

event, working with national Australian players and Inter-national coaches. Players will be put up in home stays with Australian hockey families, but will still need to work with the VHF to raise enough money for their flights and visas.

The team selection will be held this Monday 14th Janu-ary at Wansmolbag Sports Centre. Any boys who were born in the year 1992 or after are able to trial. Birth Certifi-cate, passport or proof of age must be brought by any boy trialing.

the younger members of the Vanuatu Rowing’s elite squad head down to Australia this week to compete in the Australian Youth Olympics Festival (AYOF). This event is a mini-Olympics hosted by Australia every four years.

This year over 1,700 young athletes from 30 nations will be involved in a number of sports held at various loca-tions across Sydney. Row-ing is the only sport from Vanuatu to be included in AYOF 2013 which illustrates the impact this small rowing

nation has had already in this major international sport. Vanuatu Rowing was given a special invitation to compete alongside the Rowing power-house countries of Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and Italy.

The Vanuatu Rowing squad of Kevin Hivird, Luigi Teilemb, Joel Vira and Josh-ua Matariki with coach Jane Spear and Manager Allan Kalfabun leave for Sydney today, in time for the open-ing ceremony for the AYOF on Wednesday.

The rowing competition starts later in the week with competition between each of the Australian States, New Zealand, Great Britain, Italy and Vanuatu. There will a couple of days for the squad to get their boats set up cor-rectly and have a few shake down rows before competi-tion commences.

Vanuatu will compete in the Mens’ Lightweight (under 70 kgs) doubles with Kevin and Luigi making up the no. 1 crew and the Joel and Joshua the no. 2 crew.

There will be fierce competi-tion not just with the other nations but also between the two Vanuatu crews.

They know that a light-weight mens’ double is likely to be selected to compete for Vanuatu at the World Row-ing Championships in South Korea in August 2013 and a good performance in Sydney cannot harm their prospects for selection. The two crews then combine to row an open quad scull which will be against heavier crews which will present a real challenge.

Rowing off to Australian Youth Olympics Festival

Vanuatu Hockey strives for the future

[24] VANUATU DAILY POST, Tuesday 15th January 2013