The Month In Moresby

From Our Own Correspondent

Port Moresby, Oct. 7.

IT seems certain now that Wau High School will not be built in time to open next year. Construction has not yet begun. No official reason has been given for the delay, except that “final ap proval is being awaited.”

It is understood, however, that the cost of the project is making Canberra think twice about it. The original estimate was £70,000 but the latest figure is around £150,000. The hold-up has caused a panic in the Administration which was so con fident the school would be built by next year that it invited parents to enrol their children. On September 4, the Adminis trator sent an urgent radio to the Ex ternal Territories Department asking for a decision on the school. No information was received in reply.

Local officials are disgusted with the last-minute delay. They do not like to break faith with parents who relied on the school opening next year. Now these parents will have to arrange to send their children to Australian schools.

The whole business has produced that same old feeling of frustration that we had under the Labour Government.

A QUICK improvement in the housing position will take place after the first shipment of 100 prefabricated houses arrives in Moresby from England in Nov ember.

Sixty houses will be erected in Moresby —4O by the Administration, 10 by Works and Housing and 10 by DCA. Part of the Administration quota will be erected on land now being opened up at the Four Mile.

Designed for semi-tropical conditions the houses are 42 ft. by 24 ft. and 38 ft by 24 ft., with two bedrooms. The walls are of aluminium with hardboard lining.

Prices landed Moresby will be £2,512 and £2,258. This does not include boy houses, concrete piles, wooden floors, or water, sewerage and electricity services. Works and Housing Director, Mr. D. J. Rooney, says that the houses can be erected in a week.

PUBLIC SERVANTS are still awaiting the promulgation of the Public Ser vice Regulations. Among other im portant matters, the regulations will deal with working hours.

Some time ago the Public Service Com missioner (Mr. A. Head) told the Public Service Association that working hours would probably be increased from 34 to 36s a week. The Association made strong protests but it will not be known whether

these were effective until the Regulations appear.

A recent meeting of the Association de cided to protest against discrimination against wives of Commonwealth and Ad ministration officers. It is proposed that when both husband and wife are employed by the Commonwealth or Administration, the wife will lose the Territorial Allowance.

In a letter to the Minister, the Associa tion urged that all female married offi cers doing the same work be given the same salary. If there must be a reduc tion, however, this should consist only of the £25 difference in the allowances paid to married male and single male officers.

THREATS of water rationing by the Works and Housing Department pro voked some sharp comments from members of the Advisory Council at the Council’s last meeting.

Chairman E, A. James said: “Works and Housing is not doing enough by blackguarding residents with threats of rationing. Before they start talking about what they are going to do to us, they should start mending some of the

-leaky taps which are wasting, gallons of water. It is about time that they realised that the present pumps are useless.”

Mr. S. E. Reilly said consumers should not be paying full water rates while they are getting a reduced supply. Mr. E. J.

Frame pointed out the danger from sep tic systems which were not working properly because of the water shortage.

Mr. N. F. Maloney said: “We will never be out of this mess until we have a 16 in.

main running from a hydro-electric scheme at Rouna.”

The Council decided to ask that the regulations controlling water wastage be better policed and that no more septic systems be installed until the water sup ply improves.

Regarding the new wharf, tenders for which are now being called, the Council decided to ask the Government Secretary for answers to these questions; (1) Does

the Government intend to call tenders for an extra 200 feet of wharf so that work on this can start as soon as the first 700 feet is constructed; (2) Have the Council’s recommendations for better cargo storage facilities been rejected; and (3) have Council’s suggested improvements to the general wharf layout been rejected?

A proposal that a memorial be erected to those who served in the last war was supported by the Council but it would like residents’ suggestions on the form ana location of the memorial.

A LADIES’ wear store and a barber’s shop are being built on Ela Beach opposite the Public Library. They should be open in a month or two. Mr, N. F. Maloney’s new store at the Three Mile is doing good business after a slow start. Three and Four Mile residents are now served by two small general stores.

POLICE now have little hope that cadet patrol officer Peter Robert Evans, aged 23, will be found alive. Evans disappeared from Port Moresby on Sep tember 22 after leaving a suicide note and his will at the Department of District Services.

Police have searched surrounding country by land, sea and air. Departing shins and planes have also been checked, Police say it would be almost impossible for Evans to leave Papua without theii knowledge. Evans, an English migrant arrived here in May and was posted tc Kainantu. A few days before he disap peared he came to Moresby and resigned Police say that they know no reason whj he should want to commit suicide.

Eileen luk poi wai, aged 7, daughter of Moresby’s Chinese tailor, was knocked down and killed by a three-ton truck at Hanuabada on September 21. The truck was driven by a native, Billi Veri. The Coroner (Mr.

B. Faithorn) gave a verdict of accidental death.

AFTER single officers in Moresby pro tested vigorously against their present accommodation, the Adminis tration quickly got moving on its plan to build new quarters. Work has begun on the foundations for 10 one-man houses and 25 two-men houses. The houses will overlook the Konedobu “industrial” area.

Mr. G. Newton, of the Government Seqre tary’s Department, is supervising the work.

MR. COLIN MARR and Mr. F. C. Hen derson, of the Agriculture Depart ment, left Sydney by air on October 4 for Pakistan where they will attend a course at the Asian Training Centre for Agricultural and Allied Development Pro jects. Mr. Marr is Chief of the Division of Agricultural Extension and Mr. Hen derson is the Economic Botanist at Kera vat. They will be away until the end of the year.

POLICE Commissioner Colonel Grim shaw has warned motorists that Papua’s registration ordinance will come into force within a few weeks. Sim ilar warnings have been given periodically for the past year but this time Colonel Grimshaw is positive that the ordinance is well on the way.

Police are anxious to have it behind them so that they can smarten up traffic generally. Under registration, vehicles not roadworthy will be ordered off the road. “Authorised testing stations will be named and local police will issue regis trations on their recommendations,” said Colonel Grimshaw.

A POSTER competition is being held by the Port Moresby Swimming Pool Committee to publicise the Swim ming Pool Appeal and the £l,OOO Art Union, which is now in progress. Posters will be judged by Mr. Justice Phillips, Mr.

E. A. James and Mr. W. Little.

First prize is £lO worth of Art Union tickets, second prize £5 worth and there will be prizes of two tickets for each entry. The posters will be displayed at the Library Institute.

Art Union tickets are being sold throughout the Territory. The prizes will be drawn on November 17 under Govern ment supervision.

REPEAT’ED requests by the Advisory Council for new dressing sheds on Ela Beach have met with encourag ing replies from the Administration, but still the sheds have not been built. The present sheds are full of holes and are practically falling down. New sheds with showers are urgently needed.

Also needed badly are more street lights, improvements to dangerously narrow sec tions of road (particularly on Upper Port Road), and outside letter boxes and stamp machines at the post office.

MR. JIM RITCHIE, SNR.*, of the Har bour Master’s Office, is in hospital recovering from injuries received in a motor accident on September 23. He suffered several broken ribs and a frac tured arm when the truck he was driving left the road on Paga Hill and rolled down a steep 80 ft. drop. The truck ended up behind the PCB shed on the water front. Both Mr. Ritchie and a passenger, Mr. Ernie Wilson, of Works & Housing, jumped out on the way down. Mr. Wil son escaped with minor injuries.

PORT MORESBY RSL is looking for another club manager. Mr. V. Snudden resigned as manager recently and left for Australia with Mrs. Snudden, on the last Bulolo. :: :: :: AFTER 21 years as a surveyor in Papua’s Lands Department Mr S. E. Reilly leaves on the next Bulolo for Brisbane, accompanied by Mrs. Reilly. Mr.

Reilly served in the first world war and was with the Australian Survey Corps in the last war. He was President of Port Moresby RSL from 1941 to 1950. He did not stand for office this year.

Mr. Reilly’s departure leaves the Administration with no surveyors in Papua and only one, Mr. Webb, in New Guinea.

Contract surveyors are doing most of the survey work in the Territory now.

Miss Dorothy Hamilton, of Moresby, and

Mr. Prank Low, of Morobe Transport, Lae, were married at St. John’s Church of England, Moresby, on September 26. They left that day for a honeymoon in Syd ney. Miss Joan Gilbert was bridesmaid and Mr. Ken Low, the bridegroom’s brother, was best man.

Miss Alma Youngblutt, formerly of Steamships Trading Co., married Mr Sidney Gibson, of APC, at St John’s Church of England, Moresby, on October 7. Miss Pam Geddes was bridesmaid and Mr. Gordon Wrightson was best man Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Malone leave Moresby next week for Sydney where they will catch the Himalaya to England Mr Malone, who is from the Anglo Iranian Oil Co., has been on loan to APC. Mrs o. de Coulon, of Moresby, will also travel to England on the Himalaya this month She is going to Switzerland.