SPC Geoscience Division

A recent outbreak of typhoid in Kiribati highlights how water borne diseases continue to be a major threat in the Pacific islands, especially in low-lying atolls. The capital island of Kiribati, Tarawa, has also received almost no rainfall over the last three months, putting additional stress on limited water supplies.

However, recent actions by Kiribati to put in place a National Sanitation Policy means it is showing the rest of the Pacific the way forward to address these problems.

Mr Riteti Maninraka, Secretary of the Ministry of Public Works and Utilities, said that having a National Sanitation Policy and Implementation Plan in place should provide direction on how the nation will work with the community and development partners to help solve its sanitation problems in Tarawa and the country’s outer islands.

A SOPAC-organised workshop, supported by technical partners and funded by AusAID, is taking place in Sydney to help Pacific Island countries develop their Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) submissions to the United Nations.

Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, an island country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) extends 200 nautical miles from its coastal baselines, which is calculated from the lowest tide levels. Article 76 of the Convention sets out criteria upon which an island country may establish an Extended Continental Shelf that extends beyond the 200 nautical mile limit.

We have recently completed the final SOPAC Governing Council meeting which was held from 16th – 21st October at the Tanoa International Hotel in Nadi.

The major outcome of the meeting in terms of SOPAC’s integration as the Applied Geoscience & Technology Division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) is that the Member Countries have decided that the SOPAC be suspended rather than dissolved.

This will allow for the reconstitution of SOPAC as an organisation in the future should Member Countries so decide. But, for the moment, we are all geared up to be a part of the SPC family and look forward to the challenges and opportunities that this will bring.

KOROR (Palau Horizon, Oct. 28, 2010) - President Johnson Toribiong has signed an Executive Order adopting the 2010 Palau National Disaster Risk Management Framework (PNDRMF) on Tuesday. Executive Order (EO) No. 287 repeals the existing EO 166-99 that was adopted on the Sept. 18, 1998 as the Republic of Palau National Disaster Management Plan.  It was issued on May 10, 1999.

That plan addressed a comprehensive response and recovery arrangement. It acts as the mechanism for incorporating disaster risk reduction and mitigation measures to achieve sustainable national development planning mandated in the 2020 Palau National Master Development Plan.