Papua Planters

Support

Copra Board Plan

MEMBERS of the Planters’ Asso ciation of Papua have ex pressed a unanimous desire for the retention after 1957 of a semi- Governmental marketing organisa tion. such as the existing Copra Marketing Board, controlled by the Territories Minister, advised by a board on which growers are reason ably represented.

The president of the Planters’

Association (Mr. B. E. Fairfax-Ross) announced this at Port Moresby on July 30.

He said that the members sub scribing to the vote covered 37 copra plantations, with a total. of 20.506 acres of coconuts in Papua, and expressed the views of all individual growers and plantation owning com panies in the association.

The result of the plebiscite would be forwarded to the Minister.

The president said that the executive committee considered the plebiscite of great importance not only to members of the association in Papua, but to all non-indigenous and native copra growers alike in the Territory of Papua and New Guinea.

He said that the association would again emphasise to the Min ister for Territories the paramount importance of reaching a decision as to the future marketing of copra not later than the end of 1956, a full year before the expiration of the United Kingdom Agreement.

If a decision in favour of retain ing the Copra Marketing Board were reached by the end of 1956, there would be adequate time during 1957 to arrange forward sales and shipping for 1958 copra production, and the board could carry on its most satisfactory service to grow ers with little or no change in pro cedure.

Mr. P- A. Snow, formerly an Ad ministrative Officer in Fiji and now Bursar of Rugby School, Warwick shire, has written a book on Fiji which will be published shortly. His Cricket in the Fiji Islands, written

after he had captained the popular 1948 Fijian team in New Zealand, was very successful in Fiji and elsewhere. ; The New Caledonian Assembly has allocated 150,000 francs (£AI 000) as its contribution towards the ex penses of the Scout contingent to attend the next Jamboree in Aus tralia.