A kidnapped Australian pilot of a Hevilift helicopter and two Papua New Guinean subcontractors have been released without harm following a rapid deployment of security forces.

Security forces were mobilised and deployed in the Mt Sisa, a remote area near the border of Hela and Southern Highlands, in large numbers this afternoon in response to the hostage-for-ransom attack.

The kidnappers were warned through local leaders that the security forces would use lethal force to free the captives.

• READ MORE: Other PNG kidnapping reports

This latest daring attack for ransom took place a year on from the infamous kidnap and ransom demand at Mt Bosavi.

Tribal warriors from Mt Sisa, just north of Mt Bosavi, took control of a Hevilift helicopter and its expatriate crew at 9am yesterday morning.

The kidnappers demanded a substantial amount of money for the release of the Australian pilot and his crew.

In a statement tonight, Police Commissioner David Manning said the helicopter had been flown to Hides in the Southern Highlands with the pilot and sub-contractors onboard.

Security forces tracking kidnappers
Security forces were now tracking the kidnappers so they would face justice.

“If these criminals resist or show any hostility towards police, other security personnel or any member of the public, their fates will be sealed,” he said.

“Our country has had enough of these domestic terrorists who are undermining the safety and security of our communities, and they have no place walking free.

“These criminals will be caught, or they will be killed in the process.

The pilot and technicians had been taken captive at a remote site in the vicinity of Mt Sisa, Tari.

It was understood the issue motivating the group was over a compensation claim, and demands were being communicated by the group.

Released safely
The pilot with the two workers and the helicopter were released safely after the kidnappers heard that members of the PNG Defence Force and men from Mobile Squad 07,SMG HQ, and Mobile Squad 20 had been deployed in the Mt Sisa area.

“We have learned a lot from previous situations of a similar nature in this area, and landowners, leaders and village auxiliary police from the local area worked together with police command to resolve the situation,” Commissioner Manning said.

“I congratulate security forces personnel who worked together with local leaders and auxillary police to bring this situation to a successful and swift conclusion.

“As information comes to hand on the hunt for the abductors this will be released for public distribution,” the commissioner’s statement added.

Republished from the PNG Post-Courier with permission.

More than 400 workers from the Pacific evacuated to a Napier church during Cyclone Gabrielle should be able to return to more permanent accommodation in the next few days.

Workers from Samoa, Fiji, Tuvalu and Solomon Islands had stayed at the Samoan Assembly of God church in Napier after being displaced by floodwaters that swept through New Zealand’s North Island towns during the cyclone.

Many were part of the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme.

• READ MORE: Cyclone Gabrielle: Hipkins announces recovery taskforce, $50m support
• Other Cyclone Gabrielle reports

One of them, Taylor Crichton from Samoa, arrived on Thursday after he and 46 others living at Taylor Corporation accommodation in Puketapu ran up a hill on Tuesday morning to escape rising floodwaters.

“At 5am we woke to water pouring in under our beds. We were like, just grab whatever we can and just run.”

Forty-seven of them ran up the hill, where helicopters eventually flew them out five at a time. When the waters receded they were able to go back to their lodgings to get their belongings.

The group had been staying at the church since Thursday and Crichton said it was a relief to finally be able to call loved ones at home.

“We managed to contact our family back home and they were: ‘Where were you guys? And they all think that we lost our lives.”

Many of the workers had harrowing experiences, Samoan Assembly of God church volunteer Fuimaono Nathan Pulega said.

“A lot of them were stuck on roofs, rescued, and then others were stranded for two days and they haven’t eaten, or they were wet,” he said.

“Some were in a real bad bad frame of mind, so all we could do just as soon as they got off the army trucks or the vans was just hug and cry with them.”

Food and supplies had been donated by the workers’ employers, including T&G and Mr Apple, and some had come from further afield.

The Penina Trust in Auckland donated a car load of food and phones. Volunteer Catherine Ioane said supplies included comfort food such as corned beef, noodles and taro.

Most of the workers were to leave yesterday or today as their usual lodgings were cleaned up or more permanent accommodation was arranged.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

The manhunt for the Papua New Guinean cult group along the Rai coast near Madang has been halted because of a lack of logistical support to continue the operation in Nankina Valley.

According to police officers who are part of the operation, they were flown back to Saidor Station where they will stay there and wait for instructions on whether to continue the operation.

Team leader Inspector Steven Yalamu said that so far they had done well, having rescued a family that was held hostage in a cult house in Nankina Valley.

• READ MORE: Other PNG gang hunt reports
• Police rescue family from captivity in PNG

Inspector Yalamu said they had also rescued a man who had his hand chopped off by cult members. He was airlifted to Madang to for further medical assistance.

Police also rescued another man who was on his way to meet the cult group to pay them some money.

The exchange did not take place because the parties heard a helicopter approaching. The man later explained to police what had happened.

Inspector Yalamu wants the operation to continue because the cult group is still active in the area, and it needs to be stopped.

Northern Command Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Peter Guinness stated earlier that the operation would need a helicopter to airlift policemen from one location to another because of the geography around the villages.

He said that if the police officers wanted to move from one village to another it would take them more than five hours on foot. By then the cult group would have moved to another location.

The Northern Mobile Group police officers were flown, free of charge, by Manalos Aviation to Mibu Village to help the Madang-based officer in the manhunt for the cult group.

Madang provincial police commander acting Superintendent Mazuc Rubiang also said that they needed the support to carry on the operation. He said the gang would continue its crimes if police withdrew.

“The villagers were in fear when the police arrived. If police leave, we are expecting something worse to happen because some threats (have) been sent to villagers who were accommodating the police,” Superintendent Rubang said.

“The missionaries were also threatened because they posted on the social media, which prompted police to go there.”

Sylvester Wemuru is a Loop PNG journalist.

A 21-man Papua New Guinean police team deployed to Nankina Valley in Madang’s Rai coast district has requested a helicopter to go after the “Het Wara” gang which has been terrorising villages in the area for more than two years.

Detective Inspector Steve Yalamu, who commands the operation, told the PNG Post-Courier that they had identified three places where the gangs had been operating from.

He said the police team — 11 officers from Madang and 10 from Northern Mobile Group — are based in Mibu, while the gang is many kilometres away.

• READ MORE:  PNG church workers plead for more police help to end gang ‘reign of terror’
• Lack of resources delaying police work in Madang: Rubiang
• Other PNG crime reports

“The group is based at Dike and has support units at Turiknan and Kowan,” Detective Inspector Yalamu said.

He said the gang was continuing to attack villages far from Mibu, where the police are currently based.

“It would take us days to reach them due to the rugged terrain, but by the time we reach the place, they would be long gone,” Yalamu said.

“My men are ready to go in but it would be too risky, plus it would take us days to get there.

‘We need helicopter airlift’
“We need a helicopter to airlift us into these places so we can get them.

“So we are waiting for the helicopter to come so we can infiltrate their base and capture them.”

Detective Inspector Yalamu said the groups were armed and had the advantage of knowing the rugged terrain well so he had requested the helicopter.

“When we first landed in Mibu on Sunday, we were told the gang would attack at night but luckily for them, they had a change of heart and didn’t come as we were ready and waiting,” he said.

“The gang has been running around doing whatever they wanted in the last two years and they’ve become bold but the law will still catch up with them.”

Rebecca Kuku is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

Silas Papare Air Force base in Sentani, Jayapura, has reported that an Mi-17 helicopter belonging to the Indonesian Army lost contact after departing from Oksibil airport in Pegunungan Bintang regency, Papua, yesterday afternoon.

The helicopter took off from Oksibil, where it had stopped to refuel, at 11:44 a.m. local time and was scheduled to arrive at Sentani airport, Jayapura, at 1:11 p.m.

The Silas Papare tower officer reported that at 11:49 a.m., five minutes after it took off from Oksibil, the helicopter lost contact.

It had 12 members on board, with seven crew members and five members of the Infantry Battalion 725/Waroagi task force who were being transferred to another post.

Cendrawasih Military Command spokesperson Colonel Muhammad Aidi said a joint search and rescue team comprising military personnel and members of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) was deployed on Friday afternoon to search for the missing helicopter.

“At 9:00 p.m. we decided to stop the search because it was raining really hard in the area. We will continue the search tomorrow morning,” Aida said.

Aidi said the helicopter was in good condition when it departed from Oksibil. The weather that day was forecast as foggy but with clear visibility at around 6 to 7 km.

However, Aidi said, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) later informed that the weather at several points along the flight route was changing drastically.

“We still cannot say what really happened but, when it comes to mountains in Papua, we often see extreme and drastic weather changes,” he said.

The Mi-17 helicopter started its trip on Friday morning, bringing food and supplies from Sentani to the border security post at Okibab district in Pegunungan Bintang.

Aidi said the trip happened monthly because the post could only be reached by air.

Gemma Holliani Cahya is a reporter with the Jakarta Post.

• More Indonesian stories
• More West Papua stories

This week a disaster relief team operating out of Mougulu in Western Province demonstrated how key partnerships can lead directly to efficient outcomes.

As the largest earthquake in more than 100 years rocked the centre of New Guinea in the early hours of February 26, I lay petrified in my bed, listening as things fell all through the house.

As the shock waves subsided, I flipped on my phone and checked in with my friends in Mt Hagen, Goroka, Lae. They were shaken, but ok. But we were the fortunate ones.

Days passed and every day we learned more of what had befallen the people nearer the epicentre. I knew I had to do something to help the people most affected. I contacted Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) and my longtime friend Sally Lloyd, a woman who not only grew up in Mougulu where her parents have served the Biami people for 50 years, but who has devoted much of her adult life to continuing that legacy and selflessly serving her people in that area.

“I want to help. Is there anything you think I can help with?” I asked. “Yes!” was the reply.

Preparing for the journey to Mougulu
By the time March 4 came around, I was in Hagen coming up to speed on the information that was coming in on the HF radio network and through the MAF pilots who were working in the affected areas southwest of the earthquake.

Following meetings with MAF and the PNG Defence Force (PNGDF) and their Australian Defence Force(ADF) counterparts on March 5, a plan was formed that Sally and I would go to Mougulu in Western Province and form part of a forward operating base to help MAF and MAF’s partners facilitate the disaster relief work.

I bought some tinfish and rice and charged up my phone.

That night, Sally told me the good news that Ok Tedi Mining Ltd (OTML) was working with the office of the MP for North Fly, James Donald, and that a helicopter and pilot would be ready to assist our work the next morning.

On March 6, we were picked up by a helicopter in Hagen and taken to Huya and Dodomona, two of the worst affected places on this side of Mt Sisa. Sally wanted to stay overnight with the people at Huya so that she could get a good sense of what was happening there.

I reckoned I could do a night with the refugees at Dodomona; after all, what’s the worst that could happen?

Earthquake strikes
Our assessment process involved meeting with the ward councillors and pastors, the village recorders and the local leaders. We did earthquake education, listened, prayed with them and asked about health problems, displaced persons, damages to houses and gardens, injured and missing persons, deaths.

By the time midnight struck, I was fast asleep, but only just.

Just in time to be lifted out of bed by a 6.7M earthquake detonating under Dodomona like a nuclear bomb.

By the time I got out of the house, part of it had fallen. The aid post which had stood for 38 years had fallen to the ground. People had minor injuries and were standing in the dark, afraid to go near the houses that they’d been sleeping in moments before.

A pile of mumu stones that I’d stood on to take a photo six hours earlier had vibrated so fiercely that the stones were now spread out all over the village. But we had it easy.

Over at Huya, Sally and the refugees huddled on the airstrip as the cliffs in the distance gave way, weakened a week earlier by the 7.5M, and huge landslides now fell, one after the other, for hours. The noise of a rushing howling wind thundered down on them.

People cried out in fear. The slopes below the airstrip fell away into the river. Cracks opened in the airstrip as the shock waves went on and on.

At dawn we surveyed the damage. We cared for those we could and arranged for medevacs for those who needed more than first aid.

Later that day we met up in Mougulu with team volunteer Samson Suale, MP James Donald, North Fly Project Officer Larry Franklin and officers from the Western Province Disaster Office and the North Fly District Disaster Office.

As a matter of high priority, even before coffee, I related my findings from Dodomona to the group. People were missing and presumed dead. Others were believed to be trapped and dying on the other side of a treacherous, mud-choked river.

We looked at each other. “Let’s go!” several of us said at once.

The clean-up begins
That was nearly three weeks ago. Every day since has been that intense, that focused, that full-on.

We found the “dead” people. They weren’t dead. We found the missing people. We conducted our community assessments in 26 locations from Tinahae in the north to Fogomaiyu in the south, carefully identifying and communicating which locations which will need ongoing aid and which will not.

We learned which people were displaced, where they were moving, and what they were fleeing.

We moved patients who needed help to the health center at Mougulu. Nearly 20 of them. We rescued a woman with cerebral palsy who had been abandoned by her community as they fled. She was alone for nearly four days before I came in the helicopter to take her back to where her community had fled.

We’ve dismantled the fallen aid post at Dodomona and rebuilt it in three days. Take what is fallen, make something useful out of it, get on with life.

Two newly graduated community health workers volunteered to treat patients there with medicines that we got out of Hagen. They’re there now, treating yaws, grille, diarrhea and so many sores.

We’ve installed water tanks at Dodomona, Adumari and Huya. We’ve helped the Rural Airstrip Agency conduct a two-day technical assessment of the fractures in the airstrip at Huya which will allow a plan to be put in place for its repair and re-opening.

We’ve given people the tools they’ll need to rebuild houses, gardens, lives. Hundreds of tools, thousands of packets of nails.

And, of course, we’ve delivered aid. Food aid. Water. Tarpaulins, tents, pots and blankets. Family hygiene kits. All donated by individuals, churches, business houses, CARE International, the North Fly MP’s Office, OTML. All of it flown by Adventist Aviation Services, MAF, Summer Institute of Linguistics (SI), and the ADF Chinooks.

This natural disaster has highlighted what many of us have known all along, that there are people living on the outer edges of Papua New Guinea. People like you and me.

People, however, who do not have soap or salt, a school or an aid post. People whose lives have been shattered by the mountain collapsing beneath them and who must now survive long enough to rebuild.

For the people gathered now at Adumari, Dodomona, Huya and Walagu, perhaps their greatest need now is that their plight is not politicised nor impeded by infighting among the aid groups.

They have a long road ahead of them as they decide whether or not to permanently abandon their damaged homes and villages, and if so, how to build new lives that are full of meaning and possibility.

Our small team here at Mougulu has shown how cooperation and transparency can achieve significant outcomes and I, for one, am proud that I was part of that.

Anton Lutz is an American missionary living in Papua New Guinea. This article was first published on Scott Waide’s blog My Land, My Country and has been republished by Asia Pacific Report with permission.

• More PNG earthquake stories

Papua New Guinea’s Highlands earthquake disaster has brought to light some of the many things that need to be considered in assisting those affected by disaster and restoring vital infrastructures and communication links between relief agencies and the people.

The response to the 7.5 magnitude earthquake on February 26 took almost a week for the National Disaster Centre to find out statistics of people who were affected, casualties, homes and food gardens destroyed and how to deliver relief supplies to those affected.

While a small team of medical officers in Hela and Southern Highlands provinces have been hard at work trying to reach and assist the affected communities, more deaths and injuries were reported from areas unreachable by road and telecommunications.

READ MORE: PNG quake – an invisible disaster which could change life forever

These are some of the impediments to getting accurate statistic:

• Most communities do not have schools, clinics and ward offices that will keep the records of people in their wards or communities.
• No road links to almost all the areas affected. The rugged terrain also makes it difficult for roads to be constructed and maintained.
• No telecommunication reception, or television and radio signals by which the people can be advised and educated on the disasters and how to avoid destruction.

At Timu village in Komo-Magarima, Hela province, 11 people were were killed by landslips caused by the earthquake.

Four out of the 11 bodies were recovered while the other seven bodies are still buried under the debris.

Timu village is just a few tens of kilometres away from the provincial capital Tari but it is way back in terms of basic services available for the people.

No benefits from gas pipeline
The people knew that there is a gas pipeline running through their neighbouring villages from Hides to the Papuan coastline but they have not seen the benefits from the gas and petroleum extraction in the province.

Teams of researchers and volunteers from relief agencies were tasked to collect data, informations and statistics of people who have been affected, but they can only be flown by helicopter into the affected areas.

There are no medivac helicopters to transport relief supplies and doctors into the affected communities.

The PNG Defence Force, Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF) and Adventist Aviation Services were kind enough to do trips into these remote communities.

The cost of hiring a helicopter in PNG is quite expensive. Helicopter companies are charging around K5000 (about NZ2200) an hour. With most communities being isolated in the remote areas, it is costly and ineffective to attend to more than five villages in a day.

The Australian Defence Force Hercules aircraft transporting relief supplies from Port Moresby, Lae and Mt Hagen has been landing at Moro airport, then smaller aircraft bring the supplies back to Tari and offload onto helicopters to distribute.

Disaster response in PNG has been very slow and hasn’t improved from previous experiences.

Volcano displaced islanders
In February 2018, I was in Wewak when a volcanic island began releasing smoke after being dormant for more than two centuries. The Kadovar Island volcano has displaced more than 600 islanders who are now seeking refuge at a temporary care centre supported by aid agencies.

Again the experiences from the Manam volcano in Madang hasn’t helped the authorities to sort out a permanent resettlement area for the displaced islanders. Slow response from the National Disaster Centre has caused greater loss for the people in the last three years.

They’ve lost their culture and they have lost their way of life on Manam island while living at the care centre at Bogia.

The National Disaster team should be the first people on ground after the disaster strikes.

They must be the first to make contact with the affected people, not turning up a week later only to find out that people died while waiting to receive treatment.

I hope the present disaster will provide an insight into issues that need to be addressed by the Papua New Guinea government to ensure the National Disaster Centre is adequately and constantly funded to serve its purpose.

Sylvester Gawi is a National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) journalist who blogs independently at Graun Blong Mi – My Land.

• More PNG earthquake stories

Survivors in Papua New Guinea’s earthquake in the Highlands face tough challenges. And so do the relief agencies and government authorities trying to deliver support to them.

Many of the worst affected areas in Hela and the Southern Highlands provinces are in isolated spots.

The people don’t live in large villages that you see on the coast. They live in small hamlets of 5-10 houses spread out over a plateaus or valleys.

They have no road access.

Many have to walk for hours to get within line of site of a mobile telecommunications tower in order to send a text message. Data signals are too weak and problematic.

For other locations, it takes more than a day.

Some of the villages are relatively close to the LNG site. But it looks deceptively close on a map.

Difficult to reach
What you’re dealing with on the ground are terrains that are extremely difficult to reach – even within a day’s walk. That is precisely why helicopters are vital in this disaster.

In some villages, people have had to build helipads on mountainsides to allow for medical teams to land safely.

Chopper pilot Eric Aliawi, who took an EMTV crew to one of the locations, had to land on three logs that had been placed on a spot dug out on a mountain side because the helipad had not been completed.

Even after landing, the crew and the doctors had to walk for about half an hour to get to the village.

A few commentators have said that the people affected are subsistence farmers and that they still have food to eat because they plant crops.

The reality is that their gardens have been destroyed and it is dangerous for them to go into the foothills and the valleys, or mountainsides, because of the ongoing aftershocks.

Trauma of death
They are also dealing with the trauma of the death and destruction that happened in their villages. They will have to adjust to normal life as time goes by.

Their houses have been destroyed and they have moved from the locations of their hamlets to central locations like schools, airstrips and mission stations to seek help.

Congregating in large numbers in one location is unusual for them. Losing their independence and relying on someone to give them food is also not something they are accustomed to.

They need is help to get back on their feet and resume their way of life.

They need the following:
Good quality tarpaulins for shelter – They live in a high rainfall area. The temperature drops rapidly at night and without shelter, young children and older people will get sick.

Food – With limited access to their gardens, food is a priority for them.

Water – Their water sources have been polluted. They need large water containers, tanks and clean water (as an immediate need).

Cooking pots – This is important if they are to boil drinking water.

Warm clothes + blankets – Sweaters, hoodies and simple blankets will help a lot to ease their burden. It is not as important as the others mentioned, but it will help.

Children’s clothing – also not an immediate priority but it will help a lot.

6 to 15cm nails and tools – in order to rebuild their houses, they need nails and tools like bush knives, axes and hammers. It is very difficult to obtain items like this where they are.

Disposable delivery trays, disposable suture trays – during the earthquake, sterilisation equipment at the Tari Hospital was damaged. The doctors need this to send to aid posts so that health workers can handle deliveries and other treatment.

The government contacts are:

Thomas Eluh – PA for Southern Highlands

Joseph Bando – PA Hela Province

Dr Tana Kiak – Tari Hospital

Inbox Scott Waide on Facebook for contact details, or text him on +675 70300459. Or email scott.waide@gmail.com for information. This article was first posted on Scott Waide’s blog, My Land, My Country.

• More PNG earthquake reports

Tokelau’s controversial helicopter buy was part of at least one major Samoan airline deal, along with plans for the establishment of a luxury hotel on the remote New Zealand-administered territory.

In February, then Foreign Minister Murray McCully slammed Tokelau over the purchase of two helicopters that he described as “extravagances”, and later said they represented “a breakdown in Tokelau’s governance”.

David Nicholson, New Zealand’s​ Administrator for the territory, also imposed restrictions on Tokelau’s capital spending and has since carried out a review into the helicopters which found government officials behind the purchases did not have the authority to make them.

Documents obtained by Asia Pacific Report under the Official Information Act confirm earlier revelations that the helicopters, which will now be sold off, were part of an “interim air service”, with the end goal of establishing runways on Tokelau.

Last October, a Tokelau “senior public servant”, whose name was redacted, advised the NZ Civil Aviation Authority (NZCAA) that Tokelau was exploring a fixed-wing air service between Samoa and Tokelau.

According to the public servant, Polynesian Airlines, which is co-owned by the Samoan government, would be functioning as the service operator, made possible through a “partnership arrangement” with private Samoan tourism company, Grey Investment Group (GIG).

It is unclear whether the public servant is one of the two who were suspended pending an investigation by Tokelau’s government into their role in the helicopter purchases.

Commercial deal
A document from February last year, composed by a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) official, reveals Tokelau’s bilateral team advised MFAT of a proposal made by a hotelier, whose name was redacted, for a commercial deal involving “operating a helicopter service from Apia to Tokelau”.

Its purpose would be to deliver tourists “to a proposed high end hotel in Tokelau”.

The chairman of GIG is Alan Grey, son of famous proprietor Aggie Grey and who holds several senior government and corporate positions in Samoa, including a directorship of Polynesian Airlines.

GIG has an extensive portfolio of investments, including several high end hotels and resorts across the Pacific, and Alan Grey is also chairman of the Samoa Hotel Association.

Polynesian Airlines and GIG have not responded to requests for comment.

The arrangement with Polynesian Airlines was mentioned as early as September in email correspondence between NZCAA and MFAT officials.

It was also described in a January meeting between David Nicholson, several MFAT and NZCAA officials, and Tokelau’s Chief Technical Helicopter Adviser and Financial Adviser.  

‘Logistical support’
Polynesian Airlines was “providing logistical support” to Tokelau, “including hangar space and access to fuelling facilities”, according to notes from the meeting.

However, earlier documents reveal Polynesian Airlines was not the only Samoan company that expressed interest in a fixed-wing air service to Tokelau.

In a November email, which had its recipients redacted but includes a “minister”, then High Commissioner to Tuvalu Linda Te Puni said she had “heard about a number of proposals for helicopter services and a seaplane service involving Talofa airways with possibly a Japanese company”.

In another email later that month and this time addressed to multiple NZCAA officials, Te Puni confirmed Tokelau was in discussions with Talofa Airways.

In October, a representative for the airline advised NZCAA of the logistics of future flights to and landings on Tokelau, after NZCAA requested the information so that it could determine the relevant rules for aircraft operation in Tokelau.

Following earlier statements from Ulu-o-Tokelau Siopili Perez and former Foreign Minister Murray McCully that the helicopters would be sold off, a chain of emails starting from late February show those plans are now under way.

A number of discussions between CAA and MFAT officials detailed the logistics of selling or contracting out the two helicopters to recover their initial cost.

March correspondence between NZCAA and MFAT officials revealed Administrator David Nicholson had “been approached” by Hawker Pacific, an Auckland-based aviation provider, with the intention of it acting as a sales agent for the helicopters.

• Tokelau suspends two officials following helicopter row review
  

Tokelau has suspended two of its public servants in Samoa, after a review into the purchase of two helicopters found the pair went behind officials’ backs.

This follows restrictions on Tokelau’s spending placed by Administrator David Nicholson after Minister Murray McCully slammed the millions of dollars spent on the helicopters, which Tokelau will now sell off.

A summary of the review carried out by a New Zealand company on behalf of Administrator Nicholson found the Tokelau Public Service Commission, operating out of Apia, “did not have the authority to make the purchase”.

Aleki Silao, an adviser to the public service, told Asia Pacific Report in an email that “two senior officials have been suspended” with full pay by Commissioner Casimilo Perez, pending the outcome of the commissioner’s investigation into their actions.

Silao said the terms of reference for the investigation were still being considered by Tokelau’s government and lawyers.

The review revealed the helicopters came as “a surprise” to both Tokelau’s government and the administrator, who were not consulted by public service officials.

It said New Zealand also “offered technical assistance” which wasn’t accepted by Tokelau but the review did not clarify what this was for.

Although the governments of New Zealand and Tokelau approved bigger picture plans for an interim transport solution, this was still thought to be in a “preparation phase”. 

Also highlighted was the role the “disjoint” between public service officials in Apia and decision-makers in Tokelau had in the purchases.

At Tokelau’s General Fono in March, Ulu Siopili Perez announced the Apia public service offices would be relocated to Tokelau by the end of the year.

The review concluded by making a number of recommendations, including improving Tokelau’s governance and undertaking “a capacity building programme to support the planning and implementing of capital development”.

• ‘Heavy handed’ NZ clamps down on Tokelau spending
• New revelation in Tokelau chopper furore in air transport ‘big picture’

Tokelau’s purchase of helicopters included plans to travel via remote Swains Island, contradicting earlier reports claiming the aircraft were ill-suited for the job.

Documents also reveal New Zealand officials approved plans for air services to Tokelau in the lead-up to the heavily criticised investment.

In February, it was revealed that Tokelau had bought two helicopters to circumvent the 24-hour ferry voyage from Samoa, expenditure Foreign Minister Murray McCully described as “extravagances”.

At the time, NZ Helicopter Association chairperson Peter Turnbull raised doubts about  whether the aircraft would be able to make the almost 500km trip from Samoa to Tokelau.

The incident prompted New Zealand’s Administrator to the territory, David Nicholson, to propose veto powers on purchases more than NZ$500,000 by Tokelau’s local government.

However, inquiries have revealed plans to use the US-administered Swains Island (pop. 17) as a stopover point between Samoa and Tokelau, effectively splitting the direct flight in two.

In light of this, Turnbull said both legs of the journey were “quite achievable” by the Bell 212 “Huey” helicopter purchased by Tokelau.

Approached by officials
American Samoa Representative and owner of Swains, Su’a Alex Jennings, said he was approached in January by officials from Tokelau’s National Public Service based in Apia.

Su’a said he had later contacted the US Federal Aviation Administration and was told Swains could be used in emergencies and as a fuel stop for the helicopters.

He said he had also briefed local leaders from the American Samoa government and further progress was only “pending a formal commitment” from Tokelau.

Following public outrage from Minister McCully and Ulu o Tokelau Siopili Perez, that commitment seems unlikely, with the General Fono agreeing last month to sell the helicopters.

Both helicopters were sold separately by New Zealand businesses and licensed with the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand.

Under the National government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has pushed for air transport to Tokelau since 2010, when then-acting administrator Jonathan Kings said Minister McCully was “personally excited” about air services he viewed as a “sensible, workable and sustainable” solution.

A meeting in June last year between the previous Ulu, Afega Gaualofa and Minister McCully saw the prospect of a regular air service between Tokelau and Samoa raised further.

Earlier McCully support
Minister McCully said in a written statement at the time he supported the project and the use of Tokelau’s International Trust Fund towards paying for it.

Air services were put forward as part of Tokelau’s proposed development initiatives the following month at the General Fono in Fakaofo.

This included plans for an interim air service to be “up and running soonest” until village airstrips on Tokelau’s atolls could be constructed.

An independent review of the helicopter purchases, commissioned by David Nicholson, has been completed and found “issues of governance and process around capital purchases”, said Minister McCully in a written response to questions tabled by Labour’s Pacific Island Affairs spokesperson Aupito William Sio.

Aupito said it was time for Minister McCully to “come clean” and reveal what came out of the report in this review.

“We also know that there was a meeting that occurred on March 16th in Apia between the minister, the administrator and the Tokelau leadership and I think it’s in the public interest to know what was discussed at that meeting.”

Currently, the only means of transport to Tokelau is the Mataliki, a ship designed in London and built in Bangladesh at a cost of over NZ$12 million, paid for by the New Zealand government.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it would not respond to questions regarding the purchases due to an “ongoing inquiry taking place in Tokelau”.

Minister McCully declined to comment, while David Nicholson and Siopili Perez could not be reached for comment.

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