Views, Features and Analysis
Keeping democracy alive: But what effects does party system have on good governance in Kiribati?
By Iaram Tabureka
WHEN politicians argue or talk about ethics and accountability issues and perceived levels of corruption in government or society, they are most often referring to a system of administration that is not functioning democratically and requires immediate “fixing up” to set it right.
That, according to political analysts, is a good way of keeping us informed of the activities of our elected leaders in the government, and maintaining the values of good governance in a small but developing economy like ours in Kiribati.
But how effective and successful have our MPs been in organizing and mobilizing campaigns against corruption, and to what extent have they gone through in curtailing the rising tide of concern felt and expressed by members of their own constituencies as a result of media publicity given by one newspaper against the government over such issues in the past?
Not much, I would say, if I may recall the past events in the Mwaneaba ni Maungatabu during which issues of ethics, accountability and transparency against the government, were often turned down or defeated as motions by members of the ruling BTK party which holds the majority of MPs in the House through what is known as party system consensus.
Party system consensus, whatever that term implies, certainly plays a crucial and decisive role on voting system in parliament.
But this system, according to political observers, does not constitute a true form of democracy or real meaning of the word in its true sense.
It tends to deprive MPs of their own individual and constitutional rights to vote for something which they think is in the best interest of their people and the nation, and robs people of their rights to have access to information which they need to know in order to make informed choices and decisions about their elected leaders.
In other words, it serves only to strengthen the power base and credibility of those in authority to seek yet another term in office, whether we like it or not.
If party system is not used properly to advance the goals of good governance in Kiribati, then it can be a dangerous and destructive tool of propaganda to mislead and misinform the people.
But as equal citizens under a democratic constitution, we have an important responsibility and duty to help protect the poor and hold the powerful to account.
And as NGO members under KANGO, the national umbrella association which also promotes good governance through practices of accountability and transparency among NGOs and Civil Society Organizations, we should be wary of how this system is being used and perhaps start creating awareness of rights based approaches to the people so they know where they stand.
In doing so, the people can be assured of their rights to stand up against those responsible and help fight the cause of injustice and thereby undermine the facade of respectability so created by the government to protect its reputation from being harmed.
Quite sadly, the four independent news media organizations in Kiribati, which should have helped create awareness of such issues, are so preoccupied with trying to make a good impression on the government they forgot to know where they should stand.
Features
Seasonal workers for Australia
But Pacific Non-Government Organisations have argued that the temporary labour mobility employment scheme should be developed as an element of migration and development assistance policy and not as a trading chip in the proposed negotiations for a free trade agreement:
Nic Maclellan
Posted Friday, August 29, 2008
The announcement of an Australian seasonal worker program has been warmly welcomed by employer groups and Pacific governments - but the devil's in the detail says Journalist and Researcher Nic Maclellan:
The announcement of a pilot study for a seasonal workers program in Australia - with 2500 workers coming to Australia over the next three years to work in horticulture - follows years of lobbying by Pacific governments.
The Australian government led by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced that the pilot will be evaluated after 18 months, to determine whether the scheme should be continued and expanded beyond the four countries chosen for the initial study: Vanuatu, Kiribati, Tonga and Papua New Guinea. The first three countries - one each from Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia - are already recruiting workers for New Zealand's Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme, while Papua New Guinea has historic links to Australia that are hard to ignore.
Other countries are already seeking to be involved: former Victorian Premier Steve Bracks has been actively lobbying for Timorese workers to be included in the scheme, while the Solomon Islands was disappointed that it was not included in the pilot (though Honiara has won the consolation prize of being formally added to New Zealand's RSE scheme).
The seasonal workers program hit the headlines in Australia after Brendan Nelson - leader of the opposition Coalition parties - came out in opposition to the scheme. In spite of the Coalition's criticism that little was known about the government's proposal, it has been on the table for some time. The Forum has discussed the issue for years, the benefits of temporary labour mobility were studied in a 2006 World Bank report, and the report of a 2006 inquiry by the Australian Senate openly noted that "domestic political considerations" precluded a scheme being introduced in the lead up to the 2007 Australian elections.
Legitimate concerns over the costs of temporary worker programs - family separation, potential breaches of labour rights and a lack of housing and welfare support for overseas workers - have been overshadowed by the Coalition's disarray over the proposal. Ironically, the sharpest criticism of the Opposition parties' last minute politicking has come from employer groups, with Denita Wawn of the National Farmer's Federation stating: "We're exceptionally disappointed with the Coalition. They are significantly out of touch with their position on the guest worker scheme."
Nelson's statements also drew howls of protest from National Party members in rural fruit-growing regions where farmers are eager to recruit overseas workers. The confusion was not helped when former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer admitted that the Howard Cabinet had rejected his proposal for a similar scheme 18 months ago, partly because of concerns about "the image of bringing in labour which is, essentially, of course to be frank about it, non-white labour, to do jobs that people in Australia simply didn't want to do." As Brendan Nelson called for criminal and health checks on Papua New Guineans coming to pick fruit in Australia, PNG's agriculture minister John Hickey in turn urged the Rudd Government to protect workers from exploitation by employers: "First we would like to see our workers belong to a trade union in Australia, because they would receive some protection from exploitation if they became trade unionists."
Seasonal worker schemes are attractive for horticulture farmers as they can guarantee a regular source of labour, in an industry reliant on backpackers and people working cash-in-hand in breach of their tourist or student visas. Pacific workers are attracted by Australian wage rates and there is much demand for employment opportunities from villagers who are skilled at farming or fishing, but lack the trade and professional qualifications needed for urban employment or the chance to migrate to Australia and New Zealand.
Pacific governments are eager to extend the Australian program to soak up unemployment and increase flows of remittances into rural communities, to be used for improved housing, payment of school fees or community programs. They also recognise that remittances are an increasing element of most Pacific economies - in its 2008 Pacific Economic Survey, the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) estimates that on current trends, remittances to the Pacific will overtake aid by 2009.
But there are significant social costs associated with temporary labour schemes, as detailed in our report "Workers for all seasons?" published by the Institute for Social Research (ISR) at Swinburne University in Melbourne. Seasonal workers are separated from family for months at a time, which can impact on children's welfare and education and put an extra burden on the elderly left in the village. The experience of the New Zealand RSE scheme shows that a lack of engagement with unions, the community sector and Pacific diaspora communities has led to significant problems. The first year of RSE has highlighted the need for increased effort on labour rights, welfare services and "pastoral care" for seasonal workers, and also the shortage of secure and affordable housing in rural and regional areas (The NZ Department of Labour is currently investigating reports that a group of over 20 RSE workers from Kiribati were accommodated in one house).
The protection of workers' entitlements and health and safety is a major concern in precarious industries like horticulture, agriculture and construction, which often operate in areas with low union coverage, limited government regulation and a highly casualised, mobile workforce.
For a long time, employer groups like the National Farmers Federation (NFF) in Australia have argued for a self-regulation model, relying on industry pressure to ensure that overseas workers are not ripped off.
With the announcement of the pilot, there are already farmers arguing that they should run the show. One NSW apple grower has already called on the Government to use Australian aid funds to help cover costs over and above the usual salaries, highlighting the attitude of some employers that they want to shift the costs of the scheme onto the must vulnerable communities in our region.
Ian Hay, president of the Cherry Growers Association of Australia, said this week he did not want unions to be overly involved in monitoring the scheme: "Farmers generally treat their workers well and shouldn't be expected to give the Pacific Islanders any special treatment at the whim of the unions." But the experience of seasonal workers schemes in New Zealand and Canada shows there is a need for regulation and monitoring of all aspects of the program. Trade unions and government agencies must be engaged in supporting the labour rights of workers, who are operating in a totally alien legal and political framework.
No member of the Pacific Islands Forum has signed or ratified key ILO conventions on the rights of migrant workers, and Pacific labour legislation is often outdated and inadequate to cope with an increasingly globalised work force (like the thousands of Fijians working in Iraq or Tuvaluan and i-Kiribati seafarers who already staff the global shipping trade).
Under the Howard government, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and key unions opposed seasonal work schemes, fearful that former government's industrial relations laws would lead to a two-tier labour system, with different wages and conditions for Australian and overseas workers. This fear was amplified by the exploitation of overseas workers under s457 visas for temporary skilled labour. Some major unions continue to oppose the seasonal workers scheme, although the Australian Workers Union (AWU) - which covers many rural workers - has given conditional support as long as it's well regulated.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith has announced that the management of the pilot program will come under the portfolio of Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard as Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Placing the scheme under her department rather than the Immigration Department is important in terms of regulating wages, conditions and occupational health and safety (there is a need for the Department to appoint extra inspectors to monitor implementation of the program, as New Zealand's Department of Labour has done for the RSE scheme). The results of Commissioner Barbara Deegan's current inquiry into the s457 skilled worker visa program will also provide valuable information on the regulation of unskilled labour mobility from the Pacific.
The management of the pilot by a domestic ministry, however, raises questions about the role of the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), and the need to amplify the development outcomes of an increased remittance flow to the Pacific.
There is great potential to link seasonal work programs to broader development assistance, to maximise the benefits of remittances into Pacific villages and rural communities. The pilot creates an opportunity for unions, NGOs and AusAID to integrate vocational training into the recruitment and after-care programs for seasonal workers, and to expand efforts to reduce the cost of transmitting remittances (which is higher in the Pacific than anywhere else in the world).
The early evidence from New Zealand also suggests potential for community links between horticulture regions and districts where workers are recruited. One significant outcome of the RSE program is that some communities in Tonga and Vanuatu have co-ordinated to send a number of workers at a time, encouraging them to commit a portion of their wages to community trust funds or projects like micro-credit schemes for women.
The initial announcement of the Australian scheme by Agriculture Minister Tony Burke has given little information about issues like recruitment and pre-departure briefing. Given evidence of alcohol abuse by Pacific workers in New Zealand, there is a need for greater pre-departure information on issues like substance abuse, HIV-AIDS and gambling, along with information on financial budgeting and the costs of transmitting remittances.
The debate about increased opportunities for temporary workers must be seen in a broader context of regional labour mobility, trade negotiations and economic integration.
In the 1880s, there was debate about whether New Zealand and New Guinea should be incorporated into the Australian Federation - a proposal scuttled by advocates of the White Australia Policy. Today, the announcement of the pilot seasonal worker program comes at a time when Australia and New Zealand are debating greater regional economic integration. In 1983, Australia and New Zealand joined together in Closer Economic Relations (CER), with two-way trade now worth $21.5 billion. Meeting Prime Minister Helen Clark in New Zealand en route to the Niue Forum, Kevin Rudd stated: "I want to see us working more closely together bilaterally, driving towards the single economic market."
The two major Pacific powers are now debating how to extend CER to the wider Pacific region. The Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER), signed by most Forum member countries in 2001, is now being extended into a regional free trade agreement, dubbed PACER-Plus. Australia and New Zealand have been pushing for a start to negotiations for the PACER-Plus agreement, in spite of resistance by some Pacific governments and community groups, who are wary of the social and economic impacts of full regional integration.
Pacific non-government organisations argue that the seasonal worker program in Australia should be developed as an element of migration and development assistance policy, rather than used as a trading chip in the proposed negotiations for a regional free trade agreement. A statement to Forum leaders by key regional NGOs - including the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC), the Pacific Islands Association of Non-Government Organisations (PIANGO), the South Pacific and Oceanic Council of Trade Unions (SPOCTU) and the Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG) - states that seasonal works schemes: "should not be used as bargaining chips in negotiations to create pressure for trade liberalisation in Pacific Island countries. Labour mobility schemes, such as NZ's pilot Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme (or any similar scheme in Australia), must be completely separated from PACER-Plus negotiations."
With Australia scheduled to host the Forum leaders meeting in 2009, the Rudd government has a significant opportunity for agenda setting over trade, aid and labour mobility. Australia will chair the Forum in 2009-10 as key decisions are taken over a timetable for a new regional agreement on trade liberalisation.
Nic Maclellan is a journalist and researcher working in the Pacific. He is author of "Workers for all seasons?" a study of the New Zealand seasonal labour program. An earlier version of this article was published on Australian Policy Online (www.apo.org.au).
KANGO profile heightens as it works to develop outer island communites
By Iaram Tabureka
WHEN KANGO was appointed as an intermediary between NGOs, the donor community and relevant government ministries in 2002, there was no consensus among stakeholders that it could assume a coordinating role as an umbrella association in the country.
No one, not even the government for that matter, believed that KANGO could take on that leadership role and guide the way for NGOs as they struggle to find solutions to their many problems in developing their community.
And as pointed out by the Minister of Internal and Social Affairs, Amberoti Nikora, during the last Non-State Actors forum in Tarawa to discuss amendments to the Incorporated Societies Act, “before nobody trusted KANGO.”
But those misconceptions appear to have been overstated and largely exaggerated as KANGO went through a process of transition to consolidate its memberships, develop and improve its office management systems, and secure projects that will allow it to demonstrate its worth as an intermediary.
By the beginning of 2004, KANGO has developed into a modest establishment and was by then ready to take on its initial responsibility but was still facing an uphill struggle as it moved to spearhead its support and plan of action for its members.
However with a moderate staff of 2 locals and 2 VSOs, and funding grant from the Pacific Skills Link Project and a small rented office in Abarao, the umbrella association set in place what was to become the early “foundation but credible framework”for KANGO’s future activities for NGOs and Civil Societies, according to a report prepared by Philip Cox for Voluntary Services Overseas.
Today, KANGO, with an increase in staff membership of 13 locals plus an expatriate health support volunteer from AVI, and core funding support continuing to be provided from NZAID, has grown into a fully-fledged umbrella organization with NGOs and CBOs gravitating toward it to take up full memberships.
And as of late, the total number of memberships under KANGO has doubled from a mere 33 in 2000 to more than 50 different organizations this year with that number expected to rise as the mother organization expands it outreach activities to the rest of the islands in the Gilberts Group.
But what are the main contributing factors that have been pivotal in making that dramatic turn of events a possibility?
According to some NGO members, the turn around was made possible through the high profile promotion that KANGO has been advocating on a range of important political and social issues for its members with the government and the donor community.
But equally important in this undertaking, was the recent high profile coverage from the local press, most notably its own news publication the Kango News, which has been instrumental in publicizing information of interest and concern for its members, stakeholders and civil society organizations in the country.
The role of staff members in also organizing and conducting successful awareness campaigns and carrying out capacity-building activities on Tarawa and some of the outer islands, was also another contributing factor that has raised KANGO’s profile as the best able entity to coordinate activities for the community at the national level.
These capacity-building exercises, according to KANGO Executive Director Roko Timeon, have not only highlighted KANGO’s position as the provider of useful services but have also heightened its visibility to government and the donor community as a respected and credible organization for NGOs.
Today KANGO is markedly stronger than it was 10 years ago and more resilient in its approach to working effectively with NGOs and CSOs.
But the association still has a long way to go in terms of developing and improving the livelihood needs of disadvantaged communities as it works to improve and facilitate the sector’s integration into the country’s development policy and programming.
With the continuing core funding support from NZAID, the association is poised to play an even greater role for NGOs but will need time to build up and consolidate its own resources and raise funds in order to be able to support its future activities in the event that overseas funding support ceases to be forthcoming from donors
As KANGO moves forward to continue its good work in the country, it will undoubtedly faces new challenges and difficulties but these will only help to streamline and strengthen its goals of reducing poverty and improving the livelihood needs of the poor and marginalized communities in the outer islands.
Sex trade, well organized illegal activity on Tarawa
By Iaram Tabureka
SEX TRADE or prostitution as it is better known internationally, is becoming a well organized illegal activity, if not a booming industry in Kiribati, especially in the urban and over-crowded centers on the main islands of South Tarawa and Betio.
And as the trend in population growth for uneducated and unemployed young people on South Tarawa rises, more girls as young as 13 to 18 years old are engaging themselves full time in the illegal business to either earn a living for themselves or to support their unemployed and poverty-stricken families in the face of acute food shortage and rising cost of living on the islands.
Although there are no known official or licensed brothels on the capital island, these girls numbering about 30-40, are known to be plying their illegal trade in groups or gangs of up to four or six people in bars and around public places in Betio and Bairiki.
Their aim is to lure older men into having quick sex with them or offer them what is known as “blow-jobs” in return for money, booze and sometimes food.
And according to public bar operators many men in their late 40s and 50s have fallen preys to this kind of unsafe and quick sex business, losing as much as $100 or more from their hard-earned fortnightly wages and having nothing left for their children and family to live on until the next fortnightly pay.
A 56-year-old married man in Betio who had lost about $250 in a single day after taking advantage of these girls, told Kango News he was tempted into doing it because the “girls were young and attractive” and he feared he may never get the chance to sleep again with them given his old age and the fact that he was a married man.
Despite the enforcement of existing and well-defined laws in Kiribati, forbidding girls under the age of 21 to consume alcohol in public places and engage in prostitution, police and local authorities appear to be turning a blind eye on this illegal activity.
While these girls randomly enters and leaves the bars in broad daylight and night times there appeared to be no apparent attempts on the part of on-duty or patrolling police officers to prevent or arrest these teen-agers for unlawfully entering the premises.
But KANGO, as a leading non-state actor which participates in promoting and campaigning against the spread of HIV/AIDS in the country, is concerned about the alarming growth rate of this unlawful trade and is now working in close collaboration with the Kiribati Police Service and members of the Safer Kiribati Steering Committee to highlight and address this issue in one of their road-show programs.
Assistant NGO Development and Project Officer Lolia Kamauti told Kango News the Secretariat is concerned because the trade may soon develop into a full blown enterprise and increasing the current infection rates of the pandemic.
“It is better to put an end to this illegal activity now rather than to turn a blind eye against it and pretend that it never existed,” warns the officer.
But the girls have hit back at the move saying they are totally dependent on the trade as a source of income to support themselves and their families and any effort to undermine their operations will inevitably put them “out of business.”
“Since we could not afford to get paid employment in the public service or the private sector due to our lack of literacy, we feel government should be supportive and sympathetic towards our cause and legalize our trade,” argues an 18 year-old Betio girl who has been in the business for the last 5 months now.
Six other girls, aged between 15 and 18 who were sitting besides her in the Gateway bar in Betio, nodded their heads in agreement as they were being interviewed by a staff member of KANGO.
One of the girls who called herself “Lucy” was sitting on the lap of a man in his late fifty, apparently drunk..
The man had in front of him on the bar’s concrete table four fifty dollar notes, 5 twenty dollar notes, four $10 bills and some coins, amounting to about $450.00 in all.
All eyes were apparently fixed on the money as the gentleman sternly announced that he will give each girl a $20 bill plus booze and food if they agreed to sleep with him at the Betio Seamen Hostle.
They all left the bar 10 minutes later, looking quite happy, contented and partly drunk.
South Tarawa faces water pollutant crises
Edited and compiled by Iaram Tabureka
KIRIBATI’S capital island of South Tarawa (and that includes Betio) may have a reticulated sewerage system but unfortunately this is not available to a growing number of informal settlements around the island and therefore has not solved the current problem of open defecation on the beach, advises international environmental experts.
And they have described the situation on South Tarawa as like “sitting on a time bomb” that one day will explode if nothing is done to quickly improve and address living standards and the adverse impact on the environment.
The frightening news comes as leading environment experts from Australia and Fiji reveal the result of their recent studies on the impact of solid waste being dumped into the lagoon and on the beaches on South Tarawa and the adverse impact of informal and illegal settlement of squatters around the island.
Head of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community Population Division, Dr. Gerald Herberkon based in Fiji, says in his recent report that nationwide, Kiribati has a population density of 127 people per kilometer but on South Tarawa alone, at least 40,311 people are living on 15.76 square kilometers of land, a density of 2558 per square kilometer.
However if we look closely at the figures for Betio alone, an over-crowded sandy islet of 1.2 square kilometers, the population density balloons to 10,400 per square kilometer.
But implications on waste management and the health risks they posed have already been sounded off by Donovan Storey of Massey University in New Zealand in a recent study he did for AusAID.
Donovan says most sewage and solid waste on the island continues to be disposed along the waterfront, making South Tarawa one of the dirtiest and unattractive places for tourists in the Pacific.
And a cover report in the June edition of Island Business has quoted one survey as saying that local residents in squatter settlements on South Tarawa were more likely to dump solid waste into the lagoon, use the beach as a toilet and use dirty water for drinking, as a result of being cut off from infrastructure and services.
The monthly news magazine went on to say that water and sanitation facilities on the island are only provided to those living in government housing but private households are required to pay for their own connections.
The rest or majority of those who could not afford to pay or choose not to pay for the service end up dependent on wells or rainwater and basic toilets or squatting on the beach.
The practice of using the beach as a squatting place for local residents and the dumping of accumulated garbage alongside the lagoon and roadsides on South Tarawa and Betio have already been condemned by many foreign visitors and also highlighted in media reports by a well known and respected AFP Pacific journalist, Michael Field.
That report had subsequently angered local authorities and prompted the then Teburoro Tito’s government to enforce a ban on the journalist from ever setting foot again in the country.
But for what reason? Was it because the journalist was simply telling the truth about waste pollutants in the country and trying to convince government about the need to clean up the islands?
Donovan Storey’s report meanwhile points out that the water quality is a significant problem, as is the de-foliation of the atolls to make way for housing. Much of the commercial and residential areas on South Tarawa, says Donovan, are still being plagued by garbage and the country still does not have proper legislation to deal with solid waste management or pollution of the lagoon.
And until the government can put in place “proper legislation” to tackle this environment setback, and have the resources and capacity to deal with solid waste management and illegal settlement “the problem will remain with us for a long time to come, ” says executive chairman of KANGO, Karawe Teroroko.
As an NGO umbrella association, KANGO plays a crucial role in encouraging NSAs and Civil Society Organizations in the country to actively take part in decision-making processes that aims to improve and resolve the problem.
“Lagoon pollution, in part exacerbated by the closing of the lagoon for causeways, is of increasing concern that threatens public health,” he said.
Analysis
Absolute freedom a must for the media in Kiribati
By Iaram Tabureka
THE MAINSTREAM media in Kiribati, whether we talk about print, radio and television, still have a long way to go in terms of providing specialized reporting, analytical and interpretative, as well as investigative journalism to the public.
And proofs to support this argument can be seen in the inability of the six independent news media outlets, including the state-owned Te Uekera and Radio Kiribati, to effectively and responsibly provide a balanced, analytical and interpretative reporting on the recent issues covering the controversial bank overdraft by the government, and the last general elections for MPs to the Mwaneaba ni Maungatabu.
All that we heard over the radio and read in the local newspapers were sketchy and brief news items apparently taken out and compiled from the high court and the court of appeal judgments without attempting to consult or interview the two political parties and persons concerned for their comments before and after the court hearings.
Similarly, press coverage on the results of the first and second round of elections, could have been, in my opinion, made much more interesting and informative had there been a follow-up action by reporters to interview some, if not all, of the successful leading candidates as well those who failed to make it back to the House, for their comments on why and how they had lost or won the elections.
I am sure their recorded statements would have provided an interesting and meaningful human-interest feature or hard news stories that many would have loved to hear on the radio or read about it in the papers.
The role of the media in any democratic society, if Kiribati can be categorized as such, is not just to investigate, report and inform the public about what is happening.
The media is there to also analyze and interpret the news as they unfold to the people so that members of the public are made fully aware of the positive consequence or otherwise of the issues at stake so that they are prepared well in advance to make informed choices and better decisions on what to do accordingly. That is what I call advancement to democracy.
But the outgoing Anote Tong administration, like previous governments before him, has always been very skeptical and fearful about giving the media absolute power and freedom as can be seen his stifling style of control to allow only minimum or zero freedom to the BPA.
This is in stark contrast with his party’s campaign promise in 2004 to make the government-owned statutory corporation an independent media body like “the BBC in London or ABC in Australia.”
Quite the reverse, the BPA and other media outlets in Kiribati are now seen more or less as government’s puppets with no clear mandate or freedom to carry out their work independently and effectively without any interference from outside.
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