PINA President to miss Honiara conference as he prefers to attend to his business commitments in the US

The president of the Pacific Island News Association (PINA), Ken Clark (pictured) says he will not attend the very important association's biannual conference in Honiara next week due to business commitments in the United States.

The Managing Director of the Papua New Guinea's EM-TV, Ken Clark was appointed as president of PINA at its last conference in Tonga in 2005.

A Canadian by birth, Mr Clark was the first expatriate to be elected to the office. But critics says the association has floundered in the past two years. Mr Clark has business commitments in the United States, which mean he won't be in Honiara to attend the conference next week.

However, it is not clear whether Clark's decision to miss the Honiara conference has anything to do with earlier statements that he voiced out on February 15 with regards to the Media Association of Solomon Islands' (MASI) decision to accept financial support from Taiwan without consulting PINA, its board of directors or its members.

"MASI did not consult PINA, its board of directors or its members on its decision to accept financial support from Taiwan for the PINA conference in Honiara in May," said Mr Clark.

“It came as no surprise that the People’s Republic of China expressed concern about Taiwan’s involvement in the conference,” Mr Clark said.

Source: Pacific Beat