conflict of interest claim: no comment : 無料・フリー素材/写真
conflict of interest claim: no comment / jasonbrown1965
| ライセンス | クリエイティブ・コモンズ 表示-継承 2.1 |
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| 説明 | //NEWS photo: is tourism a disaster zone? visitors from canada pose with souvenirs from rarotonga - sun dried, sea damaged stationary during cyclone meena. a few short weeks later, attention is again focused on industry leadership.Consultant Helen Wong is declining comment on criticism that companies associated with her husband and herself allegedly made nominations to the Tourism Corporation board."Thanks . but no thanks," she said this afternoon in a written response to email questions sent after 4pm.Wong's husband Chris is chief executive of the country's statutory Tourism Corporation.An industry source told avaiki nius agency that two nominations were put forward by companies associated with the Wongs.This may have been a potential conflict of interest in that the board will soon decide on applicants for the chief executive position, currently held by Chris Wong, said the source."LET HER"As it is, neither Wong nomination made it to the top five positions at a meeting one week ago, Monday 4th April 2005.Criticism of the Wongs comes after Helen Wong was identified by Chamber of Commerce president Theresa Manarangi Trott as the writer of a letter criticising procedure at that meeting.Trott declined an avaiki nius agency request to release a copy of Wong's letter of complaint."You go and ask Helen Wong, that's her letter, not mine. Let her release it to the media if she thinks it's important enough."Wong did not respond to a request for a copy of the letter or other questions other than to decline comment.An anonymous source criticised Trott's handling of the Monday meeting, saying nominations were left out, and that the meeting was not fully transparent.As president of the Chamber of Commerce, Trott emphasised last Monday's meeting was "not a chamber meeting."Monday's meeting was called by the corporation chief executive under the requirements of the Tourism Corporation Act, she said, stressing the chamber was only there as a "facilitator."She rejected suggestions that forwarding the names of only the top five nominations to the minister for a final decision was less than transparent."Most important is the fact that we are being seen as allowing the minister to see the votes."Trott said all voting figures were noted in minutes taken by chamber executive secretary, Donye Numa, again in a facilitatory role."We did suggest that the minister receive the number of votes."HIS, NOT OURSAll minutes and other documents from the meeting had been given to the tourism corporation chief executive because "it was his meeting and his information to give to the minister, not ours."Nominations to the board were bound to be controversial in an industry that has learnt to cooperate but, like others, still differs passionately on the details.Many industry operators hailed Chris Wong as a saviour of tourism after being wooed back from overseas following the economic crisis of 1996.Arrival figures climbed from below 50,000 to over 80,000 during his time at the helm, a 60% increase.Wong had earlier held the same sort of position under the former Cook Islands Tourism Authority in the eighties and nineties before leaving to head the South Pacific Tourism Office. This followed political interference in CITA from former tourism minister, Dr Joe Williams, widely seen by the industry as a disaster zone.Today's state owned corporation structure is partly a reaction to Williams' time, set up as an independent body with private sector representation on the board. Under the act, the industry nominates, with the minister making the final decision.Some seven years after returning, industry praise for Wong has turned to private criticism that occasionally simmers over into public controversy.Like today.Supporters say conflict-of-interest claims are routine against anyone holding a senior position in a tiny society like Rarotonga.Critics say the conflicts are avoidable.They point to a vote held last year for board members of the tourism corporation via email.An industry source at the meeting compared Monday's vote by secret ballot with a vote last year."How do we know how many people voted in that?" asks the source. "They could have been anyone."Tourism Corporation officials should have known better than to try and run a vote themselves, said the source.Questions have also been sent to Chris Wong for comment.BACKGROUNDStanding back from the week's controversy, industry sources say the main problem with Wong's tenure as chief executive is that high arrival numbers have not equalled high industry returns.Ad campaigns based on sun, sand, sea with slogans about the Cook Islands being a "true recipe for paradise" have instead been another recipe for disaster, say some. Critics include those who formerly supported the high volume approach to developing tourism.Some now claim the high-volume turnover of tourists is responsible for hurting rather than helping the industry, with damage to the environment from low cost operations lacking the resources to fix their problems.Others say environmental damage is one of many problems that need industry cooperation, not conflict. |
| 撮影日 | 2005-04-11 23:15:00 |
| 撮影者 | jasonbrown1965 , Auckland, Aotearoa |
| 撮影地 | |
| カメラ | SP-2000 , FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD. |