An ' Uncomforta '

Year For Fiji

“An uncomfortable period of adjustment” is how the vemor of Fiji, Sir Kenneth Maddocks, referred to Fiji’s mcial situation of the last 12 months, when addressing the (islative Council at the opening of the budget session in /ember.

said that three years of icits had almost exhausted ian reserves, with the result i the first half of the 1958 39 financial years (times when iture always exceeds revenue) overnment had difficulty in g its cash commitments. year, however, he said, ■es taken had borne fruit and

all surplus was expected,

jh he feared it fell far short it was necessary if reserves a be restored to an adequate He said Fiji would be in grave ty in the event of another hurricane or earthquake.

Fiscal Review Committee had nended that reserves be built least to the equivalent of months’ revenue that is ,000. budget can best be de-

scribed as a “holding” budget, mark ing time,, waiting for the Burns Commission’s report.

Sir Kenneth said that while the Government’s finances had re mained difficult, the Colony as a whole had had a prosperous year.

It had been an “embarrassingly good year” for the sugar industry.

There was now an over supply of sugar in the world, and whereas some other countries had been re stricted by their quota for some years, this was the first time that Fiji had exceeded hers.

Effects Of Drought

Copra prices had again risen to higher levels, but the trees had so far failed to recover from two years of drought and hurricane and the crop would again be small.

Sir Kenneth again stressed the urgent need for a really large-scale programme of replanting.

He said bananas, too, were only now beginning to recover from the hurricane of last December and ex ports were much below average.

The tourist industry was develop ing with “remarkable rapidity” and was likely next year to bring more than £FI million. The limiting factor had so far been the shortage of hotels, and new moves along those lines were welcome.

He said Fiji was one of the few Colonies where the Colonial De velopment Corporation had not yet found scope for its activities, but he hoped that 1960 would see Its entry into the Territory.

The Financial Secretary, Mr. E. R.

Bevington, in presenting the 1960 budget, said it would pass the £7 million mark for the first time and expected to show a surplus of £38,000.

Unlike the 1959 budget, which raised income tax, port and custom service tax, and other charges, there are relatively few changes for the new year.

Local telephone calls, postage and telegrams will all go up from to 3d (the telegrams increase applies to words), the import duty on timber rises a fraction, and insur ance companies will have to pay company tax.

Several small concessions apply to depreciation, films and tax de ductions for new copra, cocoa and ether crops.

Mr. Bevington estimated that ex penditure next year would be £7,138,622, with which sum, he claimed, the Government would barely be able to maintain public services and capital assets, such as roads, bridges, wharves, etc.

The Education Department will get more than £1,000,000 for the second year in succession, and with Fiji’s teaching services already overstrained it seems likely that this figure will rise as the population in creases.

Work For Private People

The Public Works Department will get about £1,300,000 altogether, but the PWD vote will progressively decrease under a new policy in w r hich the department will hand over much of its work to private enterprise. , Medical Services also take a big sum —more than £870,000 and an item “Miscellaneous” gets more than £680,000. , . , , .

Mr. Bevington, in his budget speech, warned of the dangers of inflation, and threw out a very strong hint to private firms to cut their profit margins (See “Pacific Report”, page ISS)

—And Another

her travelling Miss from Noumea 2-year-old Lisette Kauriane, who re ed from Sydney in November after [?]ergoing a delicate heart operation, [?] a "blue baby", and still to be under observation in Noumea, with lar reports going to Sydney, Lisette nevertheless been brimming over [?] stories of her trip and the wonder treatment she received in Sydney.

Photo: Fred Dunn.