[?]oes Western

Samoa Miss [?]ut On This?

From PlM’s Apia Correspondent Pineapple indust r y , inter

;ional airport, harbour de

opment, tourist industry and

:els, ice cream factory, desic ed coconut factory and other Dortunities have all been ised over by Western Samoa

;r the years. Now, according

Prince Tungi, Western Samoa

i missed out on participation a million dollar coconut pro

sing factory planned for Pago

50.

UNCE TUNGI, on a visit to Apia, said that plans for the ory are going ahead and final talks veen American promoter R. C. nbull and the Tongan Copra rd will be held shortly, rhe coconut factory was originally :eived as a three-sided affair with tern Samoa and Tonga each to 1 20 per cent, of the shares and 1 to supply 30 million nuts iially,” said Prince Tungi. e said the Western Samoa Trust tes Corporation was invited to e into the company but after 5 in Pago Pago between WSTEC esentative R. Burns and company ials, WSTEC declined to partici in either subscribing capital or •lying nuts. \s a result,” said Prince Tungi, Tonga Copra Board is now ig up 49 per cent, of the shares the Board also intends purchasing w vessel to ship our nuts to Pago, ince Tungi said that manufac rs of machinery are supplying pment for the factory in return shares in the company. He said American Samoa has specified the Board of Directors include permanent resident of American oa. le main products of the factory be refined oil from green coco , coconut syrup, and coconut . Other speciality products such hose with medicinal value will be produced. ie main purpose of Prince Tungi’s was to present to the two Heads Itate dispatch boxes which were ;rsonal gift from Queen Salote. presentation was originally in sd to have been made during the

Independence celebrations but the boxes did not arrive from England in me *.

Prince Tungi also had talks with e nl Mill iffi r - f nd Agricult “ re

I C Tf Dl %

Tongas £2, million banana deal with apan ’

REGIONAL Representative of South East Asia for the United Nations Technical Assistance Board and Special Fund, Mr. Harry Spence, returned to Apia for a 10 day visit at the end of April. Mr. Spence made a preliminary survey of Samoa’s needs in January of this year and his mission now was to assist the

Samoan Government in the mechanics involved in putting their request for assistance to the Technical Assistance Board.

Mr. Spence revealed that the target for assistance for Western Samoa was i 2 0,000 dollars. Working out at over a dollar per head of population, this was relatively generous assistance, Mr. Spence.

He said that the Samoan Govern ment is free to use this money in any of three ways, namely, providing for expert assistance from overseas, pro viding fellowships for training Samoans overseas, or in buying sup plies for any specific projects, The Samoan Government has al

ly asked for three agricultural nicians and an education expert. agricultural men needed com j one extension officer to set up ;rvice training on how to get rmation, etc., across to producers; ocessing and marketing officer to lop this side of Samoan agricul ; and a livestock and animal ise officer. The education expert ) make an overall study of edu >n problems and work out how can best be met within the means le Government. leaking on economic development, Spence said that Samoa has not ?ot a true economic development Tie Economic Development Com ;e did a very good job in pin ting problems and providing a ;-section of opinion, and their rt can serve as a guide in setting i development plan with priorities mined and specific targets and » decided.” this respect, Mr. Spence said the Government had asked for im of two or more experts in the of economics to take the mass nformation now available on era Samoa and put it into focus lat a plan can be drawn up. [elp will come to Samoa and the try will develop, but it will not en overnight,” he said, ftth major problems in Africa Asia it is difficult for 120,000 le isolated in Samoa, and with no problems on a world scale, to ecognition. he South Pacific is a very peace rea and if Western Samoa makes ccess of its independence, as I it will, it can become a tre lously stabilising influence and pie to the rest of this Pacific in the next decade or so, and much aid is needed now to ve and maintain this stability.” ointed out that it was better to id a little now to ensure stability, r than wait too long and have end millions to restore peace, as already been the case in some ’• Spence said he was pleased to that there was no loss of the isiasm displayed during the first of independence. ♦ * ♦ \GUED for years by the exodus af many of its best brains and ers in search of a better living ard and independence in New nd’s more advanced society, ;rn Samoa now faces the possi of losing many of its skilled srs to American Samoa, where ms of US dollars being poured •r development are creating an

unprecedented building boom and shortage of workers.

Wages in American Samoa are almost twice as much as those in Apia, where a Public Works labourer gets 12/8 a day and a carpentry foreman 22/6.

Governor Lee, of American Samoa, is anxious to maintain good relations with Western Samoa and has no desire to jeopardise Western Samoa’s wage structure, or hamper her development by attracting too many skilled workers which are in short enough supply already.

He had consultations in Apia towards the end of April with Prime Minister Mataafa and Cabinet. * ♦ ♦ 1 S any real progress possible in Samoa under the matai system?

Can a progressive economy be built up without the incentive arising out of individual ownership of land and the purely personal use of individual

profits? The experts seem to think it can be done gradually, provided there is sufficient flexibility within the matai system to allow for changes, One such expert who visited a great number of villages throughout Upolu and Savaii said, “In practically every village we visited, the first thing that was said to me was, ‘We don’t want to change the matai system’, “Why did people say this so con sistently?” the expert asked himself, His answer is at first surprising, but on second thoughts, could be right, “They said this,” he said, “as a part of a defence mechanism. Sub consciously they are aware that the matai system must change, so why else do they spring so readily to its defence? I think this awareness of change is a good sign and I believe there is sufficient flexibility and good sense in Samoa to allow for these changes to be successfully introduced and the many good points of the matai system to be retained.”