Independence

In the free dive single heaviest event, Grego Stephen took first place with his barracuda weighing 12.4kg.

Nauru Media News – NTV reports second prize went to Marvin Canon with his wahoo catch of 11.2kg and third place was Snuka Adire with a barracuda weighing 9.8kg.

In the outboard total heaviest fishing competition, Robbie Deireragea was first with a total of 95.4kg, second was Dori Deireragea with 91.6kg, and Leekum was third with 83kg.

The poll commissioned by French television found that 66 percent of eligible voters plan to vote against independence in the referendum on 4 November.

The poll, which was carried out by Harris Interactive, involved just over 1,000 phone interviews over ten days in September and has a margin of error between 1.4 to 3.1 points.

After a 20-year phase of decolonisation under the Noumea Accord, voters will be asked whether New Caledonia should assume full sovereignty, which means taking full control over defence, justice, policing, monetary policy and foreign affairs.

The surveys were carried out by the agencies Kantar TNS and I-Scope, just over six months before the territory's referendum on independence.

The first poll found that 58 percent were firmly against independence while 12 percent were for.

With 15 percent of respondents undecided and 12 percent declining to answer, the pollsters suggest between 66 and 73 percent oppose independence.

The I-Scope poll, which was commissioned by the Caledonia TV station, found 60 percent were against independence and 23 for, with the rest still undecided.

The group, the International Parliamentarians for West Papua, were meeting at the Houses of Parliament to discuss the future of the region which is administered by Indonesia.

According to the group Free West Papua, the British opposition leader, Jeremy Corbyn, reiterated his support for the struggle for freedom in the region and said he would like this to be written into Labour Party policy.

The slogan for the event is ‘Nauru Bwiema. A host of events have been held over the week to commemorate Independence Day as well as the 70th anniversary of the return from Chuuk. The steering committee has released the official programme for celebrations

PROGRAM OF EVENTS

25th – 29th Jan (Mon-Fri)–Tribal Sports Events

(Organised by Secretary Sports)

25th Jan – 1st Feb (Mon-Mon) 4:00pm – Fishing Competition

(Organised by NFMRA)

29th Jan (Fri) – Bingo Bonanza

(Organised by Virgita Roland)

In a congratulatory message to the President of Nauru, Baron Waqa, Bainimarama spoke of the strong relations shared between Fiji and Nauru.

He says the two countries have over the years built a solid and steady relationship which he is confident will continue to mutually enhance this year.