By Talaia Mika, Cook Islands News
Taio Shipping’s co-director, Mona Taio, clarified that since January last year, they have been regularly servicing the Pa Enua, ensuring a minimum of one trip per month for every Southern Group Island, totalling to 12 confirmed trips per year and occasionally two trips per month “when possible”. Photo: Cook Islands News
The residents of a Southern Group Island continue to endure ongoing hardships due to inconsistent shipping, driving up costs and forcing reliance on subsistence living, while awaiting government-promised shipping improvements.
Mangaia's executive officer Mia Teaurima says the island's ongoing struggles with delayed shipping and high living costs are a reality that residents have become accustomed to, despite the challenges it brings.
Shipping delays are nothing new for the Pa Enua, with residents often seeing empty shelves in shops for weeks, sometimes months, due to inconsistent supply deliveries.
The difficult circumstances have encouraged Mangaia residents to turn to the land and sea to sustain themselves, demonstrating the resilience of the community.
"In other words, it encourages people to resort to land and sea and that's what's happening," Teaurima said.
"We get two times for shipping, through Taio Shipping. Otherwise, to me, there's always about two times of these domestic services coming around Mangaia every month and I think that's normal for our island."
According to Teaurima, shipping to Mangaia has been delayed due to vessel repair issues.
Taio Shipping's co-director, Mona Taio, clarified that since January last year, they have been regularly servicing the Pa Enua, ensuring a minimum of one trip per month for every Southern Group Island, totalling to 12 confirmed trips per year and occasionally two trips per month "when possible".
However, extra trips to the Pa Enua were not possible because the private shipping service had not received a government subsidy since January of last year, which impacted their ability to service the Northern Group Islands.
This has forced Taio Shipping to resort to self-sufficient financing operations to prioritise consistent and reliable trips to the Southern Group Islands only.
"Previously, when servicing both North and South, trips were longer and more delayed due to the extensive haul to the Northern Group," Taio said.
"By shifting our focus to the South, we have successfully maintained a regular and reliable monthly shipping schedule minimising delays and ensuring better service for the Southern Group islands.
"With this regular shipping schedule in place, we believe there should be no major supply issues in the last 12 months. Taio Shipping remains committed to serving the Pa Enua to the best of our ability."
The Cook Islands government has confirmed its plans to operate a domestic shipping service, a move intended to bring greater regularity and affordability to the Pa Enua's supply chain.
This was recently confirmed by Prime Minister Mark Brown who provided an update on government's plans to bring two cargo and passenger vessels from China and Japan to assist with such challenges.
The China vessel will be co-funded by the Cook Islands and China government. The Cook Islands government allocated $3 million for its procurement in the supplementary budget passed last week. The other vessel is a donation from the Japanese government.
In Parliament last week, PM Brown, while responding to a question from the Cook Islands United Party leader, Teariki Heather, said: "Firstly, on the ship from China, I am not sure when this vessel will arrive. I will however ask the Ministry of Finance and Economic Management on the arrangements."
"Secondly, on the ship from Japan, what I know about this boat is that it is less than 10 years old, it is double propelled and it is ideal to service the needs of the Pa Enua. Right now, the boat is undergoing modifications to expand the cargo holds. The cost of these modifications has been generously covered by the Government of Japan."
Mangaia executive officer Teaurima noted that the government's shipping fleet plan is still a work in progress.
"With the Government's plans to nationalise the shipping service, if that's going to improve the current situation, then definitely," he said.
"It's the government's plan/strategy but it's been an ongoing discussion and we're hoping that it will materialise sooner than later."
The lack of regular shipping not only affects access to goods but also drives up the already high cost of living on the island.
"The cost of living is very high, very, very high," Teaurima said. "And of course, the Pa Enua I suppose, is getting used to getting those costs at the end of the day but the government is doing their best to help out people in the Pa Enua."
Teaurima acknowledged government initiatives such as tax relief measures aimed at providing extra income for residents. Since April 2023, residents of the Pa Enua have not had to pay income tax unless they earn over $60,000 a year.
However, Teaurima said the community still faces numerous challenges, from labour shortages and depopulation to a lack of heavy machinery and resources.
"It's hard life, but it's not that it can't be done," he said.
The island's administration is doing what it can to help, making government machinery available to support community projects and alleviate some of the burdens caused by resource shortages.
"So we're making our machinery available to the communities to help out as much as we can."
While the government's plans to nationalise shipping could offer a glimmer of hope, Teaurima remains realistic about the current situation.
"I think the people in the Pa Enua are used to this life. I'm not saying that that's good, but I'm saying that this is not new. It's ongoing."
-This article was first published by Cook Islands News
