Kiritimati Island News – Page 3 – Kaongora Newsletter

TAK Kiritimati Celebrates 1st Anniversary

June 30, 2020 by Taare Rikiai

TAK Kiritimati celebrated its first Anniversary as an authority on the 10th of June 2020 at the Ministry of Lines and Phoenix island common area.

In his opening remarks, Deputy Secretary assured everyone, the full support of the Ministry to sustainable tourism development and that plans had already been in place to address issues and challenges relating to tourism development. He added that littering is one major issue in Kiribati, and this plan or policy was also developed to address this issue.

Officer in Charge for TAK Kiritimati, Mr. Tekonaba Teburea, in his closing remarks, on behalf of the Board, CEO and all TAK staff thanked the government for its continuous support and assistance for the last 12 months. Mr. Teburea also had the opportunity to share with everyone, an overview on what TAK had achieved for this part 12 months.

New Maneaba Cultural Tourism in Kiritimati

June 30, 2020 by Taare Rikiai

The Tourism Authority of Kiribati (TAK) joined the Kiritimati community at the opening ceremony of the “Tokanikai II” Kiribati Uniting Church Maneaba, in Poland, Christmas Island on 13^th June 2020.

A Maneaba is a traditional Kiribati meeting house and is central to the island’s way of life. Its size reflects its importance to the community and are characterized with low extended roofs that require guests to bow when entering the Maneaba, as a sign of respect.

At the ceremony, TAK OIC, Tekonaba Teburea, acknowledged the importance of the Maneaba in Kiribati culture and encouraged the community to maintain and preserve it.

Mr Teburea also had the opportunity to create awareness on the importance of tourism in a community and its contribution to our socio-economic development.

The opening of ‘Tokanikai II’ was one of the biggest functions held in Poland, and was attended by officials from the Ministry of Line and the Phoenix Islands.

KIRITIMATI TOURISM AWARENESS PROGRAM

May 29, 2020 by Taare Rikiai

TAK Kiritimati through support from the Ministry of Line & Phoenix Islands Development conducted its Annual Tourism Awareness Program to all primary schools and Junior Secondary school between 29 April to 15 May 2020.

The main purpose of the awareness was to educate students on the importance and benefits of tourism in Kiritimati. The program targeted year 6 and year 9 students in the 3 primary schools and 1 Junior Secondary School.

The school awareness program coincides with the inclusion of tourism in the year 9 curriculum from 2020 and TAK will continue to look at other creative ways to engage students into thinking more seriously about tourism as a contributor to economic development and social well-being.

TAK will undertake more awareness programs during the upcoming Independence Day celebration and World Tourism Day.

NEW INTEGRATED LAND USE PLAN FOR KIRITIMATI

May 28, 2020 by Taare Rikiai

The Ministry of Line & Phoenix Islands hosted a launching ceremony on Friday 1^st May 2020, to mark the official completion of the New Integrated Land Use Plan for Kiritimati Island. Minister for the Line & Phoenix Hon. Mikarite Temari officiate this launching ceremony declaring the completion of this very important plan on behalf of the Government.

The Honourable Minister stressed the importance of this plan as a guideline for land use management to control, prevent and legislate such developments to refrain Kiritimati Island from confronting issues that is now currently been experienced by South Tarawa due to overpopulation and unplanned developments.

He added that the implementation of the plan would also help in achieving the Government vision for 20 years (KV20) on tourism developments.

With the plan confirming potential tourism sites, TAK Kiritimati will work with the Lands Division, Wildlife and Conservation Division, Fisheries and MLPID to regulate and manage these sites.

The event was also attended by the Mayor to Kiritimati Urban Council, Church leaders and communities on the island, Parliament representatives from Kiritimati and Teraina Islands and government officials. The program ended with a tour of the ILUP maps displayed on the notice board. END

KIRITIMATI CLEANING AND GARDENING CAMPAIGN

May 28, 2020 by Taare Rikiai

26^th May 2020: The Kiritimati Cleaning and Gardening Campaign is a new program developed by Senior officials of the Ministry of Line & Phoenix Islands Development, Government Agency Office’s (GAOs) and State Own Enterprises (SOEs) on Kiritimati island.

Supported by the Hon. Minister, this initiative encourages employees and the people of Kiritimati to learn and understand the purpose and significance of cleaning and gardening in the society.

The Kiritimati Cleaning and Gardening Campaign is led by 8 offices from different sectors in Kiritimati and SOEs. These include Tourism Authority of Kiribati, Immigration Office, Kiribati Insurance Corporation, Education Office, Kiribati Post Office, Tax Office, Customs Office and ANZ Bank of Kiribati at MLPID building complex block.

The program was established with the objective to help each other to maintain the front and back yard of the building complex block to be clean and green.

TAK Kiritimati also used this opportunity to clean and maintain visitor sites in London.

The program was implemented in early 2020 and is scheduled every Friday.

Hospitality Training for Ronton and Tabwakea Village in Kiritimati Island

February 27, 2020 by Taare Rikiai

Two villages in Kiritimati Island, Ronton and Tabwakea received training on Hospitality Services from the Tourism Authority of Kiribati on the 29th to 31st of January and 19th to 21st of February 2020.

Ronton was the first village to receive the training which was conducted on the 29th to 31st of January with 13 participants attending the training while 29 participants from Tabwakea Village attended the training that was conducted on the 19th to 21st of February 2020.

The main purpose of the training was to provide basic skills and knowledge on hospitality services to those who are interested to work at any tourism and hospitality sectors in the future. Three areas of hospitality services that were carried out during the training which were; customer service, basic front office skills and basic housekeeping skills.

Simplified IALA risk assessment workshop.

January 25, 2020 by Taare Rikiai

A team from the Marine Division of the Ministry of Information, Communication, Transport and Tourism Development and Secretariat of the Pacific Community conducted a one-day workshop on Simplified IALA (International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities) Risk Assessment on 28^th November 2019, in Kiritimati Island. The workshop was attended by Fisherman Association, Wildlife and Conservation Division, Customs, Marine Guard, CPPL (Central Pacific Producers Ltd.) and the Tourism Authority of Kiribati (TAK).

The main purpose of the workshop is to meet with concern stakeholders to assist in providing and assessing possible risks that would contribute to the safety of Navigation in the future.

The outcome of the workshop provides information that are vital for the safety management of our marine. This includes, the renewal of the Navigational/Hydrographic charts, installation of AtoNs (Aids to Navigations) and providing training on the rules of marine navigation.

Installation of new AtoNs at the main channel in London and providing new and updated Navigational charts would support cruise tourism development in Kiritimati and would also provide safety of tourists travelling in the sea for fishing, diving and surfing.

Kiribati Team participating in the World Fly Fishing Championship in Tasmania

January 25, 2020 by Taare Rikiai

Kiribati was amongst the 23 countries who participated in the World Fly Fishing Championship held in Tasmania from 30^th November 2019 till 8^th December 2019.

Despite the weather condition which they have never encountered before, they did perform well during the competition.

At the end of the competition, Kiribati finished 19^th followed by Japan 20^th, Mongolia 21^st and Wales 22^nd. Individually for the competition, the finishing order for the I-Kiribati team members were Eketi 86th, Beia 87th, TK 89th, Menty 93rd and Taatoa 99th out of 114 fishing.

This was a spectacular effort considering they have never fished for trout before and in such weather condition.

The team returns to Kiritimati on the 11^th December 2019

WASH Workshop in Kiritimati

December 5, 2019December 1, 2019 by Taare Rikiai

A WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) workshop in Kiritimati island coordinated by UNICEF was conducted at the Village hotel for two days on 11 & 12 November 2019.

The workshop emphasized on the importance of accessing safe drinking water, good and safe sanitation and hygiene. The workshop is part of UNICEF’s training awareness program for the Water and Sanitation project to be implemented on the island and will be funded by the European Union

Participation of TAK Kiritimati in the workshop gave us the opportunity to get a broad understanding of the program and to include it in Tourism awareness and training programs to both schools and accommodation providers in the future.

Kiritimati is a world-class fly-fishing destination and this workshop, and the project will also support tourism development through access to safe fresh water and good sanitation by tourism operators, schools and local communities.

Tourism Product Research identifies 7 sites to visit in Kiritimati island

December 5, 2019December 1, 2019 by Taare Rikiai

The Tourism Authority of Kiribati in Kiritimati Island conducted a tourism product research to identify key activities that a visitor can do while on the island.

Part of the preparation, involved, meeting with a representative from Wildlife & Conservation Unit, Agriculture division and Fisheries division to discuss and identify each individual’s resources that could be highlighted as one of the tourism activities that a visitor can engage or involve in.

An on-site visit to the 7 target proposed tourism sites on the island was carried out on Friday 1^st of November 2019. The idea of a site visit was to get familiarized with the area, get good photos and GPS plotting to develop a tourist map of the island.

The seven propose sites includes

Agriculture plantation land – an opportunity for a visitor to plants his/her own coconut tree
Artemia Corner – to see turtle’s footprint and nesting ground.
Joe’s Hill – highlighted as the highest sand hill on the island.
The Isles lagoon – ideal for Kayaking and bird feeding and bird watching
Huff Dam – ideal for GT fishing, kayaking, bird feeding and bird watching
Te Nei Rababa – an opportunity for a visitor to see a unique coconut tree that has 9 trunks
Long Beach – ideal for a visitor to suntan on a very wide and long white beach and swimming.

Tourism Authority Kiribati