Shipping Causes

W. Samoan Round-Up

Ap. Banana Upset

From our Apia Correspondent Shipments of Samoan bananas • Japan under the new long term mdling contract with the sole

rents —Tojirushi Tokyo Seika

o. —have not got away to a very ippy start. Three changes in ipping arrangements created

•nfusion and disappointment

long growers. f was announced early in October that 6,000 cases and 12,000 bunches uld be shipped in the Turakina vards the end of that month. Later s was reduced to 6,000 bunches, 1 agriculture field workers in :cted and marked most of the iches ready for shipment. Then : week before the Turakina was ; it was announced that because lack of shipping space the Tura a would have room for only 2,500 es. dr. F. Hirai, director of foreign le for the Japanese company, was Apia at the time and he made a die announcement regretting the c of space and promising better igs for the future, tananas continue to be one of loa’s biggest businesses. In the five rs since the Agriculture Depart it took over the marketing of ba as, Samoa has shipped 3,608,000 ;s, said Director of Agriculture, E. V. Parham. Mr. Parham has i the driving force behind the lational progress of the banana ness. hipments this year will be over ,000 cases, worth over £870,000. » compares with shipments of ,156 cases worth £644,133 last . Record shipment was in 1958 n 884,000 cases were exported to fhis tremendous output has only i possible through the co-opera spirit of all involved,” said Mr. lam recently. tiere are now 6.000 banana grow and the Agriculture Department 5 personally with each one. lipping companies with an in it in Samoa were taken aback ntly by the announcement that a oan group was considering get a vessel built in Japan especially

for the carriage of Samoan bananas to New Zealand and Japan.

Harbour Master Captain Harry Moors said that it was hoped to find sufficient local capital to finance the scheme. Already plans for two ves sels had been received from Japanese shipyards.

“Japanese shipyards require only 15 per cent, down payment and the balance over seven years,” said Cap tain Moors. He said that this would mean about £lOO,OOO would be needed for the initial payment on a vessel of the type needed. * * * Samoan Members of Parliament want more pay. A motion recom mending “that the Government give immediate consideration to the setting up of a Commission of Enquiry to enquire into the possibility of paying a fixed salary of £6OO per annum to each Member of Parliament, other than the Honorable Ministers and Mr. Speaker, in lieu of the salary and allowances now paid to them” was passed on a vote by 26-15 recently.

This has not been a very popular motion among the public in view of the austerity conditions now pre vailing in Samoa.

Working on last year’s figures, £6OO a year would give members an extra £5O, but because so little legis lation has been dealt with this year, the increase would be much greater

over the present year.

Significantly the Prime Minister and his whole Cabinet voted against the motion—another good example of the difficulties of government with no party system and no majority for the Government. * * * Acording to NZ agricultural scien tist Charles Wright, the Samoan far mer has come a long way in the last five years in the understanding of his importance to the economy and the purpose of agricultural improvement efforts.

Mr. Wright, who made a soil and land use survey of Samoa five years ago, called at Samoa for a week during October on his way to NZ from Chile where he is working with

Fao.

“P e °pl e are feeling more respon sibility and getting an intelligent ap preciation of the problems facing Samoa to an extent I wouldn’t have thought possible five years ago,” said Mr. Wright, who renewed old aquain tances among Samoan agriculturalists in both Savaii and Upolu during his brief return visit.

“The agricultural extension pro gramme has been amazingly success ful in reaching the imagination of farmers, and many farmers are now showing real integrity of purpose honestly doing their best by the soil and for their crop,” said Mr. Wright.

GIFT TO PRESIDENT: Richly woven American Samoan ceremonial mats—at one time the currency of the area—were presented recently in Washington, DC, to President Kennedy and other Administration officers and politicians who are considered "friends of the Samoan people". President Kennedy's mat was presented to an aide on the White House lawns by Mr. and Mrs.

Salofi Sotoa (third and fourth from left). Also in the picture are (from left) Senator Oren Long, of Hawaii; Congressman Wayne Aspinall; Mr. Claude J.

DeSautels, Assistant to the President; and Mr. John A. Carver, Jr., Assistant Secretary, Department of the Interior.

He attributed much of the in eased understanding to improved dio and Press services.

Commented one field officer; “Mr. r right is correct to some extent, but 5 strikes me as a bit over enthusias ; and optimistic.” * * * After one of the closest competi >ns for years Hospital won Western moa Inter-Club tennis champion ips in a play-off with Anglican and Dia only one point behind. The team was G. Keil (Cap ri), M. Fepuleai, T. Faaiuaso, R. hren (ladies), M. Lam, J. Pryor, . Karene and N. Rasmussen. * * * More developmental land has been ened up as a result of completion the Salani-Sapunaoa road at the d of October. The 4i mile link was tried two years ago and completes 80 mile circuit around the main and of Upolu. With two bridges Sapunaoa and Salani it cost about 1,500.

The road has wide sweeping curves 1 spectacular cuttings approaching ; bridges, one of which is 80 feef Dve water level and has a drop o' ft a few yards further on. ■‘Construction would not have been

ssible without the D 8 caterpillar

ich eliminated the need for de ius approaches,” said Assistant En eer K. M. Owen who supervised istruction of the road and bridges. ‘Besides opening up new land, the ite around the island will most tainly be a real tourist attraction,” d Director of Works A. Ferry, who Limed to New Zealand on expiry his term a few days before the cial opening. * * * completing a two-week sur . Principal of Lincoln Agricultural lege in New Zealand and Chair n of the Council of Scientific and ustrial Research, Dr. M. M. ns, was enthusiastic about the sibilities of up-grading Avele icultural College into a post mdary tropical agricultural college a regional training and research tre for the whole of the South ific. )r. Burns’ visit came about as a fit of a request by Prime Minister taafa to the New Zealand Gov ment for a qualified person to re t on the desirability, possibility costs of such up-grading. He un ook a similar survey in Malaya years ago.

The provision of advanced agri

cultural training and research facili ties in Western Samoa is a matter of urgency,” he said. “I am hopeful that the establishment of such a centre would serve not only Samoa but also other Pacific islands already asso ciated with Avele.”

Dr. Burns said that the level of agriculture in Samoa was in general quite good, but that there were some extremely important problems to which solutions had to be obtained in the very near future.

He said that the major problem lay in finding the most efficient use of fertiliser in relation to different levels of soil fertility and soil types so that a continuing production of foodstuffs

and export crops can be maintained in the limited area of lowland soils.

“The Samoan farmer simply can not carry on breaking in new land, cropping it briefly, then leaving it to break in more new land,” he said.

Dr. Burns said that the facilities at Avele were no longer sufficient to provide for a group of young gradu ates to take responsible positions.

“The policy of the Government in acquiring Nafanua and Avele in close proximity promotes an opportunity to build up an agricultural centre which could serve as headquarters not only for teaching at an advanced level of tropical agriculture, but also for agri cultural research,” said Dr. Burns.