Dateline Pacific evening edition for 8 March 2019

The Solomon Islands' caretaker prime minister has defending his government's reaction to an unfolding environmental disaster, pinning the blame on the companies involved; West Papuan elected leaders who criticise military operations in Papua province risk prosecution, according to Indonesian security forces officials. However humanitarian concern is growing for villagers displaced by armed conflict in the Highlands between Indonesia's military and the West Papua Liberation Army; American think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies held a dialogue in Nadi this week to discuss issues affecting the Pacific; a new political party in Samoa wants to ban new Chinese migrants; parties begin lining up for New Caledonia's provincial elections in May; a Tuvaluan academic says separating his country from Kiribati in 1975 was the right move.