Bureaucracy’S Failure In

The Cook Islands

The Spread of Disease Troubles of the Citrus Industry Lack of Adequate Water Supply and Shipping

By W. H. Watson

Although a member of the Raro tongan Island Council for eight years, Mr. W. H. Watson was re cently defeated in the election for \he European member. He has lived \n the Cook Islands for many years and is a widely respected member :of the community.

He has been an unsparing critic of the Administration and it is suggested that the bureaucrats of the Cook Islands “ganged up” on Mr. Watson and openly advocated he candidatures of his two rivals, is 72 of the 134 voters on the Euro pean roll are officials or their wives, Mr. Watson evidently was at a dis tdvantage.

Some European residents of the look Islands advocate that no Euro pean have the right to vote in Council elections until he or she has ived there for 3 years (12 months s the qualifying period at present).

Uso that the Euronesian wives of European residents have the right o vote for European members of he Council. They believe that NZ mblic servants and their wives, in

the Cook Islands for a short 3-year term, have an overwhelming voice in Cook Is. local affairs under the present voting arrangements.

THERE Is much evidence of New Zealand’s desire to do a good administrative job in the Cook Islands, but unfortunately this de sire is not producing many results.

The Cook Island Annual Report for the year ended March 31, 1952 (the latest available), makes fair reading but an inquiring mind will see much to arouse scepticism. For instance, on the subject of leprosy the report says; “Although endemic in the Group, there are not a great many cases, but these are detected

by periodic survey and transferred to Makogai for treatment.”

Yet, in the medical report pre sented to the 1952 session of the Cook Islands’ Legislative Council, it is stated that 45 new cases of leprosy had recently been found in a survey at Aitutaki Island. These figures speak for themselves: In 1948 : 8 cases sent to Makogai.

In 1950; 20 cases sent to Makogai.

In 1952: 62 cases now in Aitu taki.

The Chief Medical Officer refer ring to the 1952 figures stated: “This immediately poses a consid erable problem as to their segrega tion, treatment and transport. Dr.

Austin, superintendent at Makogai (the central Pacific leprosarium) has expressed alarm at the figures so far reported, and has stated that he cannot accommodate such a number, particularly the children. (41 of the 62 cases were children).

Under the heading of “Tuber culosis” the report states that dur ing the period under review con siderable advances had been made, including the extension to the sanitarium buildings. Dr. T. A. R. H.

Davies, Chief Medical Officer, who attends the Legislative Council as an adviser, said in 1951 that eight per cent, of the peoples of the Cook Islands were suffering from TB— that is 1,200 out of 15,000 population.

Compare those figures with those of New Zealand: 10,048 TB sufferers in a population of 1,914,120. If NZ had the same percentage as the

Cook Islands there would be over 135,000 cases, and the public would want to know what was wrong.

Although the extensions to the Sanitarium allow for an increase of its beds from 36 to 64, the beds are without patients—many of us ask ourselves whether this is be cause there is no money available ‘° P ri ay J he salaries ol th « extra stafl needed.

Citrus Industry

yN 1936 Parliamentarv delesa- I a r-aruamentary aeiega - the Islands and re “ commenaea. (a) The establishment of a central packing shed and cool store in Avarau, Rarotonga, and (b) Provision of adequate suit aWe shipping services between the Island and New Zealand.

The New Zealand Government of that day put £30,000 in the Cook Island Estimates for the packing shed and cool store. The growers are still waiting for the shed, the store and the adequate shipping.

Meanwhile what has happened to the £30,000? (PIM, for June, reported that the NZ Government had approved allo cation of £ll,OOO for a cool store, to hold fruit brought from the local orchards and from the Outer Islands.) The 1952 report states that “work is proceeding rapidly in clearing the sites for the shed and store so that building can commence as soon i as plans are completed and arrange ments made for a construction team to build it.” The italics are ours.

Rarotongans may well wonder if it will take another 17 years for plans to be finalised, and a further lengthy period for the building to be com pleted.

It was not until 1947 that any real attempt was made by the Gov ernment to encourage the growers to replant citrus trees. Some 300 acres have now been planted. When this acreage comes into bearing, plus private planting, there will be over 200,000 cases of citrus fruit annually for the NZ market.

However, this represents just a small part of the land suitable for citrus growing; 4,000 acres are lying idle. If vigorous planting could be undertaken now, this additional acreage could provide a further 1,800,000 cases per annum making a total of over two million cases of oranges, mandarines and tangerines available to the NZ market.

Mr. D. M. Rae, MP, of Auckland, who recently visited the Islands, praised the efforts being made to reorganise the citrus industry, but said a reliable shipping service was essential if wastage of fruit was to be avoided, and shipping is a bigger headache than any other Cook Islands’ problem.

Water Supply Systems

The 1952 Cook Islands’ Report states that “in Rarotonga is a re ticulated water system fed from five intakes, all of doubtful purity and volume. Considerable investigation work has been carried out, and after analyses of water intakes at pre sent in use and projected, the pro gramme of further reticulation and provision of purification facilities will be put into effect.”

Dr. Irwin, Chief Medical Officer in 1948, had this to say about the Takuvaine intake: “The intake there is an old 44 gallon drum in the creek bed. The valley about the in take is intensively cultivated and is subject to intense pollution. For Avarua, I wish to recommend that the Takuvaine Valley intake be closed up. I consider this is medic ally urgent as the area above the intake is subject to gross infection and pollution.”

It was recently reported that Rarotonga Public Works concen

trated on improvements in the Takuvaine intake during a dry spell last February—that is just on five years after Dr. Irwin made his re port.

At the 1948 session of the Legis lative Council a petition signed by 1,803 people of Rarotonga was pre sented, asking the Government of NZ to put into operation in Raro tonga a scheme to ensure that all the inhabitants might obtain an adequate supply of clean, pure water.

An engineer was sent down to make an inspection. The 1952 Cook Islands Public Works report says that the question of the overall water supply for Rarotonga still re mains with the Ministry of Works

in NZ. All gauges and tests re quired have been completed by this department and the final report and recommendation are awaited.

On the island of Atiu lack of proper drinking and domestic water has resulted in a serious outbreak of Yaws, the figures being over 800 cases out of a population of 1,270.

Shipping

“When citjrus production from the Eewly replanted areas is at its Eeight, the need will arise for jirther shipping space to cope with jicreased exports.” That sentence capears identically in both 1951 and i)52 Reports, which is strikingly 3gnificant in itself. 1 The Islands have relied for many ears on the NZ Government motor essel Maui Pomare. In February, )52, the new Tofua, built for the inion Steam Ship Co. Ltd., came i to the general Pacific run and had been thought that the Matua ould become available to assist in .oving the increased exports of the ook Islands. This has not tran oired and the 1952 report vaguely ates that “it is hoped that the ivent of the new vessel (the ofua) will tend to make additional nipping available.”

There is no doubt that shipping rvices were greatly hampered last ;ar by the shipping strike in NZ, id it should be possible to improve ie service this year, although •ospects are far from bright with ie withdrawal from service of the ixiliary ketch Ranui.

Every year thousands of boxes of matoes are lost because of the ck of shipping. To many Islanders matoes are their main crop. An her flourishing industry the tnana trade —was killed by the ir. Attempts have been made to vive it but the Maui Pomare has )t the space to carry the fruit,

so growers refuse to plant any more and a valuable trade is lost.

Economic Survey

Is it not time to consider whether the present bureaucratic remote control of the Islands by the De partment of Island Territories in Wellington has had its day? An economic survey of the Islands should be made and an Executive Council appointed to rationalise ex penditure.

Islanders are hoping that the re cent appointment of Mr. J. B.

Wright as Secretary of the Island Territories Department will result in an improvement as this is the first appointment of an officer with wide experience in the Cook Islands, Western Samoa and Niue.