Some N. Guinea

Oil And Labours

Some N. Guinea Possibilities

ON what they now are gett plus what they know they get, the oil interests operal in the western end of Dutch I Guinea expect to be producing shipping oil soon at the rate 750,000 tons per annum.

The oil interests and the Di Administration are spending least £12,000,000 Australian on velopment within two or tl years; and the Dutch New Gui natives being employed, or abou be employed around the oil indus number from 5,000 to 8,000.

Having spent £10,000,000 up 1953 in the search for oil in Pa] the oil companies now are spe ing at the rate of from £3,000,00' £4,000,000 per annum. They em] 1,000 Europeans and 2,000 nati There is everywhere in Papua an of confidence —the people there not say “if oil is found” —they “when oil is found.” So—it is culated that when oil is found, other 10,000 workers will be nee generally in P-NG. One car imagine where they will come f —it does not appear that the digenous population can pro' them.

Incidentally, there now 17,500 non-indigenous people P-NG, and the enumerated nat are not less than 1,530,000 there are many scores of thousa still to be enumerated. To an creasing degree, the natives are gaging in agricultural indust through their co-operative sock —especially marked in New Bri and New Ireland —and there correspondingly fewer na labourers available.