Minister for Forest Douglas Tomuriesa has presented a K4 million cheque to Member for Bulolo Sam Basil towards the maintenance of the Bulolo Township Road at a press conference today at the PNG Forest Authority Headquarter.

Mr. Tomuriesa says the K4.7 million cheque will go towards the Kaia Works Civil Construction Company to build roads in Bulolo, Morobe Province.

He says the presentation of the K4.7 million cheque was the first of its kind in the history of PNG Forest since Forest came to be an Authority in the country.

He also says it is a program that has never been done with forest and he is happy to have the Minister Sam Basil presented at the conference today.

Also present at the Press Conference today was Central Governor Robert Agarobe and the Acting Managing Director for PNG Forest Authority Mrs. Magdalene Maihuwa.

Samoa's Minister of Education, Loau Keneti Sio, has poured cold water on a call for the introduction of se.x education in secondary schools.

Loau told the Samoa Observer the idea was absurd and se.x education should be an issue addressed in families not in the classroom.

Earlier the president of the Samoa Aids Foundation, Leniu Asaua Fa'asino said there was a need for Samoa to incorporate sex education into its schools to help raise awareness about how to protect against HIV/AIDS.

The foundation had been working with other health organisations to put together a proposal for the Ministry of Education, Leniu said.

But Loau is adamant that as long as he is minister, he will not entertain the idea.

He said it was not the ministry's responsibility to educate children about se.x and that it was the sole responsibility of parents. ..RNZ

The Tongan prime minister has hosted a delegation from Nauru Airlines to discuss the possibility of a service between Tonga and Brisbane.Akilisi Pohiva met with the Nauru Airlines chairman Trevor Jensen and the managing director of Real Tonga, Tevita Palu, about a potential partnership.

Mr Pohiva said representatives of the Tongan community in Brisbane had informed him that none of the regional carriers were interested in providing a direct service but that Nauru Airlines had indicated they could partner with Real Tonga and the government.

Mr Jensen said after a number of meetings in Tonga, the airline liked what it had seen and was keen to pursue the matter further.

Mr Palu said there were still a lot of areas to be discussed and numbers to be crunched but he was in total support of the joint venture.

Nauru Airlines is wholly owned by the Government of Nauru and currently flies to Brisbane, Nadi, Tarawa, Majuro, Pohnpei and Guam.

It owns a five Boeing 737-300 aircraft.

There are approximately 6000 Tongans living in Brisbane and up to 600 Tongans travel annually to agricultural areas in Queensland under the Seasonal Workers Program.  RNZI