A major upgrade of the port at Penrhyn, Tongareva, the northernmost island of the Cook Islands will proceed in partnership with the United States and New Zealand, the Prime Minister, Hon. Mark Brown, announced today in Koror, Palau, on the margins of the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting.
The project responds directly to a priority the people of Penrhyn and successive Cook Islands governments have identified over many years: a safe and reliable port for Tongareva.
The United States, through its Department of State and working with Congress, intends to contribute US$50 million (approximately NZ$84 million), and New Zealand intends to contribute NZ$17.5 million (approximately US$10 million). The commitment was announced by Prime Minister Brown alongside United States Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters.
“This port is a lifeline for Tongareva,” Prime Minister Brown said. “It provides safe passage and landing for fuel, food and building materials; it allows our people in the Pa Enua to travel, to return, and to remain on their islands with dignity and opportunity. Improving connectivity across our outer islands is a priority of our national development vision, and this project speaks directly to it.”
The moment carries deep history. The United States built the original port and airfield on Penrhyn more than eighty years ago, infrastructure that has served the people of Tongareva ever since.
“It means something to us that the United States now returns, alongside New Zealand, to build for Penrhyn’s next generation,” the Prime Minister said. “This is a friendship with deep roots, renewed for a new era.”
Prime Minister Brown was clear that the project must belong to Cook Islanders in practice as well as in name, and said the Cook Islands would not come to it empty-handed.
“A project of this significance must belong to Cook Islanders, our people must be part of its delivery, from design and procurement through to construction and the long life of the port that follows,” the Prime Minister said. “We expect the Cook Islands to be deeply involved at every stage, and we intend to put our own skin in the game, so that this port is anchored in a wider system that works for Penrhyn, for our norther group islands, and for the nation.”
Today’s announcement marks the shared intention of the three partners, and the commitment of the United States and New Zealand to fund the project. Its scope and implementation plan will be determined through a feasibility study and further technical engagement between Cook Islands, New Zealand and United States officials.
Penrhyn, also known as Tongareva, is the northernmost island of the Cook Islands, with its port at the village of Omoka. Upgraded facilities are expected to deliver safer landings, improved access to services, and stronger transport links and economic opportunities for the northern Pa Enua. The Prime Minister said he hoped the partnership could, in time, extend to renewing Penrhyn’s airport, so that the people of Tongareva are connected by both sea and sky.
“For many years our people have spoken of the need for a safe, reliable port. Today, that long conversation becomes action,” Prime Minister Brown said. “To our partners, the United States and New Zealand, thank you for your friendship, and for the confidence in the Cook Islands that this investment represents. Meitaki poria.”
