Dateline Pacific morning edition for 31 January 2019

An economist says Papua New Guinea's economic statistics have been deliberately corrupted to paint a more positive picture of the economy; The MP for Lae in Papua New Guinea says coal looms as the best energy source for the city's immediate term future; A war of words has emerged between a Samoan MP and China's ambassador to Samoa over the flying of Chinese flags in the country; A repair vessel, the cable maintenance ship Reliance, has begun work on the severed Tonga undersea cable which had connected the country with the outside world via Fiji, and; the Commonwealth has launched a series of schemes to help countries deal with the challenges they face in their oceans.