For Apia

New UN Office For Apia

Coinciding with Western Samoa’s first anniversary inde pendence celebrations in the first week of June were two UN de cisions that will have consider able economic and political effect on the country.

THE first was the decision to estab lish in Apia the headquarters of a new United Nations Regional Area for the South and West Pacific. The second was the decision to base the FAO/SPC $600,000 five-year coco nut rhinoceros beetle research cam paign in Western Samoa.

Head of the new UN regional office will be Harry Spence.

As Regional Adviser for South East Asia to the UN Technical Assistance Board, Mr. Spence has been intimately associated with Samoan plans for development since independence. After 13 years in Kuala Lumpur he was due to retire from there last December.

“The new Pacific area has been set up because of the difficulties in administrating UN Pacific pro grammes from the South East Asia headquarters,” said Mr. Spence.

A start on setting up the office will be made next year. Mr. Spence ex pects to get it properly established within 18 months to two years.

The all-out research programme against the coconut beetle will in volve the building of laboratories and the employment of four scientific technicians in the closest study of the beetle yet undertaken.

It is estimated that on various Pacific Islands the beetle causes an annual production loss of at least 15 per cent. This means losses of more than £lOO,OOO annually for Western Samoa alone.

Economic benefits are not the only ones that may accrue to Western Samoa through this programme.

“We hope that the laboratories might form the first unit of a tropical agriculture college for the whole of the Pacific,” said Mr. Spence.

He added that support was being sought from various overseas philan thropic organisations for the estab lishment of such a college.