These Were The Answers:

DURING the November session of the Papua-New Guinea Legislative Council in Port Moresby, official members supplied some revealing answers in reply to questions put by non-official members. Here are some of the gleanings from official replies which are of general interest to Territories residents:

A Million Acres Of Land On

Offer

Replying to a series of questions

put by Mr. D. Barrett, elected

member for the New Guinea Islands, and Missionary Member Father J. Dwyer, Secretary for Lands Mclnnes said that there were 1.150.000 acres of Crown or Admin istration land of varying quality in Papua and New Guinea for which no applications had been received.

Location of the land was:

Central District, Papua: 184,000

acres in the Mekeo area; 326,000 in the Brown River; 23,000 at Subitana and Jawarere; 100,000 acres from Marshall’s Lagoon to Abau, and 34,000 in other localities of the Central District.

MILNE BAY DISTRICT: 71,000 acres on W’oodlark Island; 4,000 on Goodenough Island; 26,000 acres scattered along the coast.

NORTHERN DISTRICT: 93,000 acres in the Kokoda-Yodda Valley; 27,000 at San gara; 34,000 in the Wanigela area, and an additional 7,000 acres located through out the district.

GULF DISTRICT: Kerema, 6,000 acres; Kikori, 2,000; Upoia, 2,500; miscellaneous, 1,500 acres.

WESTERN DISTRICT: Oriomo River, 23.000 acres; Islands between the Fly River and Daru, 15,000 acres; miscellane ous, 1,000 acres.

NEW GUINEA: Angoram, 62,500 acres at present covered by timber permits; Lae, 5.000 acres; Morobe district, 50,000 acres, most of this being very mountainous, and proclaimed under the Mining Ordinance; Eastern, Western and Central Highlands, 3,300 acres—about 1,500 acres agricultural and 1,800 acres pastoral land which will be put up for tender shortly.

No Administration land is available in Bougainville or New Ireland, but in the Madang District the Administration owns land between Bogadjim and Madang, and a check is being made to ascertain its area. There are about 50,000 acres of land in the New Britain district held

mainly for reforestation; there are some other smaller areas on which a check is now being made.

In addition, to above there are 24,000 acres in the Markham Valley and 25,000 at Gusap (the meeting place of the pro posed Highlands-Lae and Highlands- Madang roads), and applications for this land will be heard by the Land Board at Lae on December 7. Land designed for tender in the Eastern Highlands will be made available by end of 1953.

Negotiations are under way for the purchase of land from the Custodian of Expropriated Property—some of it a large area in the Gogol Valley in the Madang District.

Warangoi Valley Land

Replying to a question by Father Dwyer as to the ownership of land in the Warangoi Valley in the Gazelle Peninsula, Mr. Mclnnes said the particular area re ferred to by Father Dwyer totalled about 37.000 acres which was native-owned.

Timber rights had already been let on this land, and investigation was now be ing made by the District Commissioner to ascertain whether any of it was surplus to native requirements.

Mr. Mclnnes said there had been a speed-up in the handling of applications for land, and in most cases a decision could now be given on applications within a month.

43 New Companies In 1953

IN 1953 there were 199 local companies operating in Papua-New Guinea, with a total nominal capital of about £19,750,000. This is an increase over 1952 of 30 companies and £4,000,000 of capital.

In 1953 there were 99 foreign companies with nominal capital of £179,000,000, and §6,000,000 (there were 86 foreign com panies in 1952). (Question by Father Dwyer; answered by Treasurer Reeves).

Build A House—Anywhere

THE maximum amount which a prospec tive home builder in the Territory will be able to obtain under the new Housing Loans ordinance will probably be

£2,000. The ordinance does not limit the home-building scheme to town-areas —applications for a loan will be considered on individual merits although some em phasis must be given to providing assist ance where the need is greatest. To date, 21 Europeans have made application for housing loan. Five people of mixed blood had made verbal applications. (Question by Mr. Barrett; answered by Treasurer Reeve).

37 Ds Officers “Permanently”

Away From P-Ng.

AT the end of 1953 there are 37 Dis trict Services officers attending the School of Pacific Administration in Sydney; 26 will complete their course this year and return to the Territory, The remainder will complete their course at the end of 1954 ; 26 new officers will at tend the ASOPA next year, (Question by Mr. Barrett to Director of District Services Roberts).

Native Standard Of Education

THERE are at least 150 native students in Administration and Mission Schools in P-NG who have reached Standard 8 level of education. So far 102 native students have applied for secondary education in Australia. (Director of Education Groves in reply to Mrs. Doris Booth, nominated member for NG).

Native scholarship winners will cost the Administration about £250 each when they are sent to school in Australia next year. The Administration does not pro pose to make similar scholarships avail able for European, Asian or half-caste children.

(Mr. Groves in answer to Mr. Fairfax- Ross, nominated member for Papua).

Graduates And Non-Graduates

From Suva

/'VUT of the seven or P-NG natives sent to the Suva Medical School some years ago, three have graduated and one has finished the course but failed to satisfy the examiners. One graduate is

now Assistant Medical Practitioner at Tabar Island (off New Ireland); another * s s * ma s> > the third is AMP in charge of the Hansen’s Disease colony near Samarai. The native who had failed to graduate I ; now a Senior Medical Orderly at the Hansen’s Disease centre at Wabag, in the NG Highlands, (Question asked by Mr. Barrett; an swered by Director of Health Gunther).