The Pacific Media Centre’s weekly Southern Cross radio programme on 95bFM has featured the latest Pacific news brought to you by Pacific Media Watch contributing editor Sri Krishnamurthi.
He was joined by Auckland University of Technology communications masters student Laurens Ikinia from West Papua to discuss the threat of coronavirus for the Pacific, Papuan students in NZ, right-wing extremism groups and a scourge of crown of thorns starfish eating coral – and how an environmental group found a solution.
“This is a very worrying trend,” says Krishnamurthi in response to the three cases of Covid-19 in a French Polynesia outbreak – first in the Pacific. “And now three cases in Guam, two from the Philippines and one from Japan.
“So they brought it back into Guam. And there is a self-isolating case in American Samoa.
“It has had a very sobering effect in the Pacific – people are being very careful.”
Listen to the PMC’s Southern Cross radio programme.
Ikinia talked about the 160 Papuan students studying in New Zealand as part of a bold education strategy of the local Papuan provincial government of sending students to English-speaking countries.
Krishnamurthi and Ikinia talk about the Pacific issues with 95bFM’s The Wire presenter Sherry Zhang and producer James Tapp.
