Spc Budget Up,

But No Action Yet

On Key Lae Move

By a Staff Writer

The South Pacific Commis sion, at its 28th session in Noumea in October, adopted a

budget of £5tg.333,862 for

1966, of which contributions by the member governments—Aus

tralia, Great Britain, NZ, the US,

France and Western Samoa— amount to £298,260.

THE contributions by the member A governments are about Hi per cent, higher than in 1965, when con tributions amounted to £267,071; and the total figure is £15,299 higher if a “special accounts” figure of £26,000 in last year’s budget is not included.

The difference between the total budget figure and the amount con tributed by member governments is made up of grants from international agencies, money revoted from the previous year, etc.

The adoption of the new budget followed criticism by delegates from some of the 17 Pacific territories at the Sixth South Pacific Conference in Lae in July that the SPC’s budget was too small to cope with all of their proposals for the SPC work programme.

However, the new budget covers all but three of the 21 work pro gramme resolutions passed at the Lae Conference. The resolutions it covers include the recruitment of a fisheries officer and an agricultural economist; research into local herbal remedies; preparatory work on health problems in coral atolls; occupational health; and assistance to territories wishing to expand family guidance activities.

"Fairly Satisfied"

Ratu K. K. T. Mara, of Fiji, who was the strongest critic in Lae of the SPC’s budget, and who attended the session in Noumea in October, told The Fiji Times on his return to Suva that he was “fairly well satis fied” that the Commission had done as much as it could to attend to the resolutions passed in Lae.

It was gratifying, he said, that of the 77 recommendations of the Lae conference, action had been decided on all but three. However, one of the pending recommendations was

one which he considered vital. Ii concerned contributions to the SPC budget from the South Pacific terri tories and their participation in the Commission.

Ratu Mara said that as this recom mendation touched on the SPCs constitution, it could only be altered by the member Governments and that he understood that action was being taken on this question between the member Governments.

However, PIM understands that the Commisisoners of the six member Governments were by no means agreed on what should be done about the “vital” recommendation after discussions on it in Noumea extending over nine days.

Views on the subject are under stood to have ranged virtually all the way from “the SPC is all right as it is” to “something must be done quickly to bring the Islanders into the SPC”.

It was felt in some quarters that although a majority of delegates sup ported the resolution in Lae, they supported it with varying degrees of enthusiasm, and that it would be as mistake to make changes in the SPC only to suit the “fastest runners”.

In short, it would appear that ai good deal more spade work remains; to be done before any agreement is; reached for a major revision of the; SPC’s constitution.

LEAVING EARLY: Mr. W. D. Forsyth, whe has been Secretary-General of the Soutl Pacific Commission since March, 1963, wil retire from that post at the end of 196[?] -about 15 months before his term ex pires. Mr. Forsyth, who is 56, was the SRC's first Secretary-General from 1948 te 1951. He is a career diplomat who ha[?] represented Australia in the Unitec Nations Trusteeship Council and a[?] Ambassador in Vietnam.