*** Checkpoint FOR THURS 1 OCT 2009
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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In Samoa the full extent of the devastation from yesterdays catastrophic tsunami is becoming clearer as the relief workers find more bodies and clear huge piles of debris. 110 people are confirmed dead but the search continues today for victims which include many children. It's estimated up to 10,000 people are homeless and 32 thousand have been affected in some way by the disaster. The overall death toll for Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga is more than 150. New Zealand has just announced its making an immediate aid donation to Samoa and Tonga of one million dollars. But much more is desperately needed - Samoa's Prime Minister says it'll take almost 100 million dollars just to repair the damaged roads. Meanwhile Indonesia has been hit by two massive earthquakes - but more than a thousand are feared dead - we'll have the latest shortly but first to Samoa. LEADALL
Shaun Mauiliu (MAO-ele-ew) is a doctor working at an emergency hospital in Lalomanu - one of the worst hit areas on Samoa's south east coast. He says people started arriving at the hospital straight after the tsunami and the number of casualties meant another ward was opened only a few hours ago. CLIP He says staff have been working tirelessly throughout the night. CLIP And Goretti Wulf from the Red Cross has also been helping families in Lalomanu. PREREC
The Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele (Tui- la -eppa sa-e-lay-lee) has spent today inspecting the damage to his country.
I spoke to him just before coming to air, while he was on a boat travelling to one of the affected islands. PREREC
Listening to that is the acting Prime Minister Bill English - he joins us now LIVE
A second earthquake has hit Indonesia’s Sumatra Island, southeast of the site of an earlier powerful tremor, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake. Officials say 1000 people may have been killed by last night's 7-point-6 quake near the city of Padang.
Stewart Wine-Steen of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii says todays shake will make life even more difficult for people there CLIP In Pandang at least 200 people have been killed. These locals are devastated CLIP But with communications cut off , roads blocked and power lines down, getting a clear picture of the situation is proving difficult. And it's feared the final death toll could be much higher. We're now joined by Rebbeca Henschke from Radio 68H Jakarta LIVE
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1720 TRAILS AND BUSINESS WITH
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Our reporter Leilani Momoisea is at one of the worst hit parts of Samoa - Lalomanu, on the south east coast of Upolu Island. She joins us now: LIVE
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17.30 HEADLINES
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In Tonga, nine people are now confirmed dead and four critically injured after three waves of up to six metres high slammed the island of Niuatoputapu (nua-topu-tapu) yesterday morning. The island has a population of about 16-hundred. Alfred Soakai, from the national emergency management office says with phone lines down, it has been difficult to assess the full extent of the damage.
He has flown over the biggest village - Hihifo (pron: he-he-foh).
PREREC That boat is expected to arrive at 6 o'clock.
Alfred Soakai says the fate of those in a number of the outer islands is still not known.
Many Samoans in New Zealand are preparing to flying back to their villages to look for loved ones and support survivors. While some have been able to contact family in Samoa many are returning to help look for those still unaccounted for. Belinda McCammon has been at Auckland International Airport speaking to those preparing to fly home: PKG
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17.45 TRAILS
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TE MANU KORIHI - Rosemary Rangitauira
The Environment Court has received an application opposing consent for a new refuse transfer station in Rotorua.
In early September an independent commissioner granted the Transpacific Industries Group permission to build a station in the suburb of Ngāpuna.
Heugh Chappell reports.
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IN.......A NGAPUNA RESIDENT
OUT...IS HEUGH CHAPPELL
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Te Papa museum plans to provide on-going support for a Horowhenua iwi, to help maintain its treasures which are now on display at the new cultural and community centre in Levin.
Museum staff and members of Muaūpoko iwi travelled to Levin late last week to install 18 taonga at Te Ta-kere-tanga o Kurahaupō to help tell the tribe's long history in the area.
Te Papa's Senior Māori Curator, Rhonda Paku, says the museum was fortunate to get some in house guidance from a descendant of the tribe, which has helped build a stronger relationship with the iwi.
She says his advice has been invaluable, especially in helping select which artefacts should be loaned to Muaūpoko that will help build stories around the taonga on show.
Ms Paku says working with the Horowhenua iwi is a key part of an on-going relationship.
She says the taonga have been loaned to Muaūpoko for five years.
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The chair of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, says 14 years on from the iwi's Treaty settlement, its assets are valued at almost one billion dollars. [809million]
On October the first 1998 a settlement with the Government provided compensation valued at $170 million.
It also confirmed Ngāi Tahu's ownership of pounamu and granted it certain rights to sites of tribal significance.
The iwi has just posted a six-fold increase in net profit of nearly one hundred million dollars for the past year, and that fishing, tourism and property divisions all performed well.
The Chairman, Mark Solomon, says there is no room for complacency and the iwi's Holding Corporation wants to broaden its investment interests.
TAHU SOL TP
IN TOURISM, FISHING AND PROPERTY
OUT TIME GOES ON
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The Ngāi Tahu chair, Mark Solomon.
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The Transport Minister agrees it seems crazy that the Civil Aviation Authority cannot force small airports to improve safety even if there are clear risks but says he's still taking advice on what changes are needed. An investigation into a fatal mid-air collision at Paraparaumu airport last year has criticised CAA for not doing more to prevent aircraft flying on crossed paths, having identified the danger in 1996. The family of one of the victims, 30 year old helicopter pilot Dave Fielding, says the authority should have pursued the matter but CAA says its powers over small airfields catering for planes with fewer than 30 passengers are limited. A bigger airport with CAA certification is regularly audited and monitored. Here's Transport Minister Steven Joyce. PREREC
Thousands of anglers around the country have dusted off their rods and headed for their favourite fishing spots today at the start of the new fishing season. Fish and Game, the organisation which issues licences to anglers, expects more than one hundred thousand men, women and children, to go fishing for a trout or a salmon between now and next April. Our Nelson reporter, Geoff Moffett was one of those who headed out for a fish today. PKG
Few would dispute that dance and dancing is an important part of many different cultures around the world. But does it deserve official recognition? Well one form of dance - the Tango- has been given just that. It's been declared part of the world's cultural heritage by the UN. It means it - and its music - have protected status, something both Argentina and Uruguay have campaigned for many years. From Buenos Aires, here's Candace Piette (Peart) PKG