(PINA/IFEX) – On 18 August 2000, the main news web site of Niue, one of the world’s smallest island states, reported that a teacher has been suspended for appearing on the island’s TV station. The “Niue Economic Review” web site said the teacher, Epsy Puheke, had gone on Niue Television as a spokesperson for teachers […]
(PINA/IFEX) – On 18 August 2000, the main news web site of Niue, one of the world’s smallest island states, reported that a teacher has been suspended for appearing on the island’s TV station. The “Niue Economic Review” web site said the teacher, Epsy Puheke, had gone on Niue Television as a spokesperson for teachers at Niue’s only high school. The teachers are engaged in a pay dispute with the Niue government and Puheke was asked to be their spokesperson on TV. The web site reported that she was then suspended for two weeks by the Niue Public Service Commission for allegedly breaching government regulations on speaking to the news media. The “Niue Economic Review” said that these regulations deny public servants the right to talk to the news media unless they have permission from Niue’s secretary to government.
Niue has a population of about 2000 and is a self-governing Commonwealth country in free association with New Zealand. Niueans hold New Zealand citizenship. The island is an uplifted coral atoll of 258 square kilometres and lies in the South Pacific, 480 kilometres east of Tonga.
