South Pacific

Commission

Headquarters: Anse Vata Noumea, New Caledonia

Agenda For The Fourth

Session

HHE Fourth Session of the South L Pacific Commission will be con ened at the Headquarters in Noumea n October 22. In accordance with ic Agreement under which the ommission was established, the hairman for this session will be losen from the New Zealand Dele tion.

The agenda for the session in udes:— • The Annual Budget for 1950. • A review of the membership of le Research Council. • The preparations for the South acific Conference to be held in uva in 1950. • A report on the implementation : the Research Programme. • A Statement of the needs of the 3uth Pacific Area for technical >sistance.

Commission’s Sydney Office

Sydney Office of the Commission has been moved from Mosman and is now located in the offices of the

New Zealand Trade Commissioner, at 14 Martin Place, Sydney.

The office is operated in conjunction with the branch establishment of the Member for Social Development.

From September 20, 1949, all arrange ments for travel, accommodation and procurement, formerly carried out by the Sydney Office of the Commission, have been undertaken by the Commonwealth Department of External Territories’ Syd ney Office (Australia House, 52 Carrington Street, Sydney).

Projects For Economic

Development

Introduction Of Plants

IN connection with Project El, a suitable site has been found near Dombya, New Caledonia, for the establishment of an Introduction Garden, for the study and improvement of economic plants in troduced into the area and transferred from within the area.

Plant exchange has been started by the shipment of commercial bamboo plants from Burtenzogorg Botanical Gardens to Fiji; roselle-seed, from Batavia to New Caledonia; and teosinte plants from New Caledonia to Fiji.

Better Use Of Existing Plants

PROJECT E 2 involves a review and summary of information on cash crops, in order to make data avail

able concerning achievements in produc tion, cultural and processing techniques, and their place in the economy of the South Pacific area and assessment for the future of cacao, rice, the coconut and its principal products, and copra.

The Member for Economic Develop ment, Dr. L. G. MacMillan, is overseas collecting the extensive information de

(Continued on Page 19)

tianded by this Project, which can only ,e gathered by personal contact and in estigation. He has attended the icientific Conference on the Conserva ion and Utilisation of Natural Resources, Dnvened by the United Nations Organisa ion at Lake Success.

Crops On The Atolls

CHE Deputy Chairman of the Research Council, Dr. L. G. M. Baas Becking, has gathered a great deal of litera ire and has begun a study of the role of Igal cover in the soil formation of a oral island near Noumea. This work is eing undertaken in connection with Pro ;ct E 6, which is designed to improve ish and subsistence crops and handi rafts, and to widen the commercial oportunities of the peoples of the atolls ad low islands. It is proposed to employ soil scientist especially for this Project.

Other Investigations

i N inventory of some of the larger \ fishes will be made during 1950 in collaboration with specialists of the istitut Francais d’Oceanie.

It is proposed to publish a technical andbook on Insect Pests of the South acific area. A working list of the ;onomically-important insects of New aledonia and the New Hebrides has sen received from the Entomologist of le Institut Francais d’Oceanie, M. Cohic.

A list of timbers of the South Pacific :gion and their properties is being pre ired, together with a list of useful [Otics which can be introduced.

The lines of co-operation between the istitut Francais d’Oceanie and the ommission have been formally estab >hed, and considerable laboratory space ; the Institut has been placed at the sposal of the Research Council. The eputy Chairman and Dr. Massal intend i start laboratory work in October.

Projects For Better Health

Visit To South-East Islands

Research Council Member for Health, Dr. E. Massal; on June 10 commenced a tour of Fiji, Tahiti.

Dok Archipelago and Samoa. During iis tour, Dr. Massal discussed the Health •ojects approved by the Commission with ficers of the Administrations, scientists, id private individuals, in considerable stall, and assessed the needs of the rea with a view to the formulation of sw projects.

Project HI, for improving, extending id accelerating the collection and dis mination of epidemiological intelligence, r using temporarily the facilities of the )uth Pacific Health Service, in Suva, is been implemented. Agreement has ;en reached with the South Pacific ealth Service, and appropriate arrange ents are being made for the participa -3n of all South Pacific Territories.

The Member for Health has studied the larantine regulations in force in the irious territories in the Area, and action ssigned to achieve standardisation will i deferred, pending the issue in the near iture of the Sanitary Conventions by the r orld Health Organisation.

Utrition And Infant Welfare

'iHE Member for Health has discussed, . in all the territories visited, many aspects of the problems of infant and aternal welfare, and nutrition and diet, » affecting the indigenous peoples.

The information available on these roblems is qualitative and remains very idefinite. The South Pacific Health ervice intends to establish a “Nutrition Cap” in the territories within its scope, hich will be of considerable use.

To Fight Tuberculosis

THE Member for Health has studied various localities in the territories visited in order to ascertain where the special research team, as envisaged in Project H3 —Tuberculosis, could best operate.

The special team will commence its operations early in 1950, in order to com pare the different antigens and methods used in tuberculin tests, and the radio graphic appearances in different races at different ages, in order to produce simple techniques suitable for use under field conditions.

“Dr. Massal is visiting Australia to exa mine the availability and suitability of equipment, etc., for this project.

(Continued Next Page)

Technical Staff

THE problems relating to the training of technical staff in the field of Health have been studied by Dr.

Massal, and the requirements in this re gard will be incorporated in the Survey being conducted as Social Development Project SI of the facilities for professional and technical training in the Area, with a view to future development.

Secretary-General In Australian

and Dutch New Guinea

THE Secretary-General, Mr. W. D. For syth, returned to Noumea early in October after an official visit to

Australian and Dutch territories in New Guinea.

In a tour of two weeks, the Secretary- General conferred with the Administra tors of the territories on South Pacific Commission affairs, particularly in regard to the South Pacific Conference to be held at Suva in April next, and met the heads of Departments and the District Officers at their Conference in Port Moresby.

Mr. Forsyth visited several administra tive centres, including Hiratugu, Madang, Wewak, Hollandia and Mount Hagen, and made contact with field officers carrying out medical, educational and agricultural work. He was greatly impressed by the work being carried on for the advance ment of the peoples of the territories.

Social Development

Modern Aids In Islands Education

ALTHOUGH work has been done on all of his 10 Projects, Mr. H. E. Maude (Council Member for Social Develop ment) has given particular attention in recent weeks to those concerned with vocational training and the use of visual aids in education.

There is real need for vocational train ing facilities in all South Pacific groups, and plans are afoot for inter-territorial collaboration, in this respect.

Fiji will lend its Supervisor of Tech nical Services, Mr. R. A. Derrick, MBE, AMISE, and early next year he will exa mine the technical and professional training available in all Territories, with a view to developing a practical, compre hensive plan for the South Pacific. Pre liminary data now is being collected for him.

Mr. Maude reports that Australia has loaned Mr. A. L. Moore, MA, B. Ed., of the Office of Education, and he will forthwith visit the South Pacific main centres and demonstrate the use of the 16 mm. sound and silent projector, and the 35 mm. strip film projector, for use in education. These visual aids are being increasingly used in colonial administration —they are es pecially valuable in medical and agricul tural demonstrations. Mr. Moore, a highly qualified man, will report very fully to the Council on organisation, apparatus, techniques and supply of suitable film.

It is proposed to establish a suitable centre for research workers and others interested in South Pacific Social De velopment, where technical help can be given and data exchanged. Persons in terested are invited to make contact with Mr. Maude in Sydney—PO Box 5254, or Telephone BW 7606.