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The Month In Noresby

Prom our own correspondent

Port Moresby, Nov. 5.

TERRITORY Public Servants were pre sented with a new topic of con versation when the Public Service Commissioner, Mr. E. A. F. Head, an nounced early this month that working hours were to be increased from 34 to 36J a week.

Another bone of contention which has troubled the uneasy Public Servants also came into the spotlight when Mr. Head further announced that married women employed by the Administration would no longer receive the Territorial allowance.

This applies to all married women whose husbands are in the Territory. The general effect of this move will probably work out to the advantage of private en terprise, and the exodus of married women from Administration to private jobs has already begun.

AT last the shilly-shallying over the Secondary School at Wau has been settled by a temporary compromise.

The decision as to whether or not the school will be built at all has been shelved until Mr. Spender gets back to ponder the problem.

Meanwhile, for the year 1951 only, the government will grant an allowance of £125 for approved students who have reached a scholastic standard warranting secondary education. Each student will receive one return air passage to Aus tralia. Assuming that there are at least 50 students—47 had already registered for the mythical Wau school—requiring se condary education, this piece of political muddling will cost the External Terri tories Department a minimum of £B,OOO.

It has also caused a spate of worry and bother to parents who are now forced to get their children into whatever Aus tralian schools can accept them at this late date.

Territory people felt months ago that there was just no hope of getting the school built in the short time available, but this apparently could not be grasped by the red-tape experts in far-away Can berra.

BORNEO business interests have re ported favourably on the prospects of setting up a mangrove bark in dustry in the coastal swampland area of south-western Papua, The Chairman and Managing Director of the Island Trading Company of Borneo and London, Mr. Dolbey, returned from a survey of the Kikori area early in Nov ember with the good news that the man grove stand was excellent. Now, if he can get the approval of the External Ter ritories Department, he is prepared to put in a plant which ultimately will be able to develop a valuable dollar trade for the Territory.

He commented that the Papuan pos sibilities were excellent and output, when the plant was fully developed, could equal that of the Company’s factories in Borneo.

During the last two years these shipped II million dollars’ worth of mangrove bark extract to America. This extract, known as cutch, is used throughout the world for tanning leather and dyeing-fish nets and other fibres. Mr. Dolbey re marked that all the “red sails in the sun set” throughout the Eastern and Western world are dyed with cutch.

Some legal formalities have to be nego tiated in Canberra but, as far as the com

pany itself is concerned, it could have the plant and factory erection under way in a few months.

This appears to be a first-rate industry for over-socialised Papua, since the 8,000 natives needed for gathering the bark would not be employees. The company, as in Borneo, would be merely buying bark from them, and the ramifications of native labour regulations would not enter into the deal. There would be no

ramis and rice> cash and coddling for the natives who feel too tired to gather bark, no free plane or ship voyages at the com pany’s expense for a few months’ work.

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enjoy the luxury of getting by on what ever they could scratch from the swamp villages.

An interesting sidelight on the labour value of the Borneo Dyak tribesmen was given by the manager of the Borneo fac tory, Mr. W. H. Doughty. He said that although they were excellent workers, their belief in dreams detracted from their value, for if they had a bad dream

this was always an omen signifying that they should leave their jobs. It’s to be hoped that this dream-complex is never added to the Territory natives’ well stocked store of excuses for dodging work.

ANOTHER recent visitor to the Terri tory, Dr. Andrew Ungar, from Sydney, has a nlan to make rubber trees work harder. He claims that this can be done by giving each tree a dose of hormones which will increase the growth and the rubber flow. Apparently, the use of hor cnat of the Company’s factories in Borneo, ful development of olive groves in South Australia, and for increased rubber output in Brazil.

Simultaneously, Dr. Ungar outlined a plan to planters for producing liquid latex which is used for making rubber surgical supplies. If his plan works out—and he claims that production of liquid latex is more profitable than sheet rubber planters will be operating on much the same basis as dairy farmers. The scheme is to establish a liquid latex processing centre in various rubber-producing areas, and the planters will make regular de liveries to the plant.

These two projects, however, were not the sole reason for Dr. Ungar’s visit to the Territory, for he concentrated a part of his attention on the possibility of locat ing plants for the extract of medical drugs.

PUBLICITY has many guises, and the latest so far as the Territory is con cerned is the comic or adventure strip.

Eric Jolliffe, Australian cartoonist, who has concentrated on the Australian out back, is now switching his attention on to Papua and New Guinea. With a well established adventure strip running in serial form in one of the Australian met ropolitan papers, he plans to turn his strip hero loose in the Territory. Jolliffe voted the Islands an ideal source of ad venture strip material, and he is now get ting ready to launch his hero into the wilds of New Guinea. At the same time, a series of Territory cartoons will be ap pearing in various Australian magazines under Jolliffe’s well-known signature.

THE era of hit-and-miss building in Port Moresby ended last month with the gazetting of building regulations.

This is better late than never for the town has been swamned with fourth-rate build ings which, because of the housing short age, have sold at ridiculously high sums.

Four “permissive occupancy” huts along the road to the aerodrome are a particu lar eyesore, and in normal times would only just pass muster as native quarters.

Now, if the Administration really intends to enforce the building regulations, there is some chance of salvaging a little natural beauty and dignity for this much bedevilled centre.

The town boundaries have also been ex tended to Jackson’s airstrip and beyond Hanuabada Village. It will be interesting to see whether the Hanuabada villagers, who have always been adept at extracting more than their quota of privileges under the law, will now be compelled to comply with their legal obligations. So far the stench and filth around the “model” vil lage appears to offer great scope for the exercise of a sanitary inspector’s authority. This likewise applies to Koki which had previously been outside the town boundaries, and to the native quarters at Murray Barracks where un employed and apparently unemployable natives crowd the rubbish-litter of quar ters of the native servants.

MR. S. REILLY has given the Territory away, and is now going to settle per manently in Australia. With years of

service as a Lands Department surveyor he had an invaluable knowledge of the Territory, and the fact that the release of the much-discussed new classification co incides with his departure, may give the key for his decision not to remain in the Territory.

Perhaps the External Territories De partment would be well advised to check its costs on the engagement of contract surveyors against the salaries paid to its own professional men in the Lands De partment, if there are any left.

Mr. Reilly was president of the Port Moresby RSSAILA for many years. On his retirement from this position a few months ago he was given Honorary Life

Membership.

Another Administration officer who re

cently said goodbye to the Territory is Mr. J. O. Lyons, formerly Works Secre tary. A browse around Australia on leave apparently convinced him that he had had enough of the Territory, and he returned only to pack up his goods and chattels for the exodus of himself and his family to a job in Canberra. In ad dition to his official duties. Mr. Lyons was a staunch worker for numerous com munity organisations, and the none-too vigorous community spirit of the town loses out badly on his departure.

Both men, with Mr. J. Ainsley, RSL Treasurer, were given a joint send-off at a RSL function on October 31. Mr.

Lyons, who was a Vice-president, is to be granted Honorary Life Membership by the Port Moresby Branch.