Pacific Commerce and Produce

Quick Response To

Western Samoan

Incentives Scheme

Pacific Commerce and Produce

The Enterprises Incentives Act passed last year with the

hope of attracting new industry

to Western Samoa has already borne fruit.

EARLY in March it was announced that incentives had been ap proved for three new industries that will eventually employ about 100 people and save £90,000 annually in Foreign exchange.

The three new enterprises are Percival’s Garment Manufacturing Factory, Supreme Ice Cream Com pany, and the Apia Bottling Com pany, which manufactures and bottles soft drinks under a Coca-Cola ’ranchise. The shareholders of all he new enterprises are mainly well cnown local businessmen and their amilies.

Under the Enterprises Incentives \ct approved industries may import luilding materials, machinery, vehicles md raw materials duty free. They nay also qualify for remission of axes for the first five years of jperation, and longer if approved.

The Government is still seeking najor investment from overseas lotel companies and is still negotiat ng on a proposal from the US firm if Potlatch Forests Inc. to invest p to $10,000,000 in the Savaii imber industry. {PIM, Feb., p. 133).

Since Potlatch made the offer, the Jew Zealand firm of Fletchers has Iso approached the Government on imber development, but according 3 informed sources, they left their un too late and are considered too mall compared with Potlatch, ’abinet is expected to approve the otlatch proposal.

"Jew Guineans Take

)ver Factory

4 COMPANY owned wholly by New Guineans in March took ver a Rabaul furniture factory at a ost of more than $44,000. The com any is Palnamadaka Company, 'hich has made the purchase from i. G. Nunn and J. A. Casey, fumi ire manufacturers, of Malaguna :oad.

Palnamadaka Company shareholders ave contributed almost $22,000 early half of the purchase price. The

remaining amount has been made available from a bank loan.

Former part-owner of the factory, Mr. Nunn, has signed a contract with the new owners to stay as factory manager for one year to train a New Guinean manager.

P-NG Copra Board's

View "Short-sighted"

SOME Bougainville planters are on the warpath over the need for an official copra depot for Buka Passage to serve the developing copra industry in the north. They pointed out their need to the Minister for Territories, Mr. C. E. Barnes, when he visited the area in February.

Bougainville has no copra depot at the moment, but one will be established at Kieta, on the east coast, when the overseas wharf is completed there.

Mr. Jock Lee, owner of Madehas Plantation, Buka Passage, who is a member of the Bougainville District Advisory Council and a former pre sident of the Bougainville branch of the Planters’ Association of New Guinea, told PIM editor Stuart Inder during a recent visit: “After the establishment of Kieta with all its port facilities, a commerce area, including the whole of Buka and neighbouring islands, and from Baniu on the east to Torokina on the West Coast of Bougainville, will centre on Buka Passage.

“In the last few years vast new plantings of coconuts have been estab lished and this area is progressing ex tremely well. Native plantations well planned from 2,000 to 6,000 palms are not uncommon—in fact the road from Chinatown to Kessa will soon resemble one huge plantation, 55 miles long.

“On the west coast of Bougainville, an area previously neglected and under - developed, planting, mainly under Mission encouragement, has gone on at a fantastic rate and the sum now planted exceeds 490,000 palms.

“Because of poor anchorages on this coast, a centre to bring their copra to when the weather and seas are favourable will be essential. Large amounts of copra will feed down the road system of Buka and the Selau area behind Bonis, and small boats and powered canoes will service the islands.

“After all this development the

native planter, like any other primary producer, wants to have the privilege of shipping his produce to where he gets the highest price—i.e., to a Copra Marketing Board depot—and the only way he can do this regularly is for a depot to be established in Buka Passage. He is quite prepared to accept a price differential owing to the fact that Buka Passage is not an overseas port.

“The amount of copra per annum which would pass through a depot established there would exceed 5,000 tons by 1967 and top 9,000 by 1970.

“However, all approaches to the Copra Marketing Board have been re jected on the ground of costs in volved. You could imagine the fury of wheat farmers in Australia on be ing told that no new silos would be made available for their extra pro duction. No similar board would get away with such a policy in Australia.

“This shortsighted view taken by the board could stop many benefits to and hinder the further development of the area. If the policy was changed and depots were established in Buka, and other deserving areas, the political goodwill gained for Australia as the UN administrating power would be incalculable.”

PIM referred Mr. Lee’s comments to Mr. lan McDonald, chairman of the P-NG Copra Marketing Board, who replied: “Considerable pressure has been exerted on the board over the past year or so for the establishment of a copra depot at Buka Passage. Each special request, through the Bougain ville District Advisory Council, through the Planters’ Association of New Guinea, or through approaches made by individual copra producers, has been given full consideration by the board at its periodic meetings, and the answer has been that the policy of the board is not to open receival depots at centres where it would be necessary to tranship copra to a main port in order to effect export or sale of the copra.”

Open Door For

Lautoka Chamber

CHANNELLING Fiji’s various racial communities along a homo genous path has been very much in the Fiji Governor’s mind since he took office in January, 1964, and the latest mingling of races through the Lautoka Chamber of Commerce,

announced in March, will no doubt have made him nod his head in satisfaction.

Despite strong objections from ane of its members, and others who tried to stall the move by picking holes in the wording, the pre dominantly European body rammed iome a revised constitution at a special general meeting that opened he doors of membership to all busi icssmen, irrespective of race.

The town of some 12,000 people las three chambers of commerce, fhe others are the Indian Chamber md the Western Chamber, both of vhose membership lists show Indians )nly and both of which have been drtually inactive for some time.

Formed several years ago, the -autoka Chamber of Commerce has epresented European business houses n the community, meeting monthly o discuss affairs of commerce and natters affecting them. But the lumbers attending have been small md ever dimishing, not truly re presentative of the majority of busi iess people.

Its move in opening wide its doors o all races (the brain-child of one f the town’s bankers who with nother member, a representative of le Fiji Times, has for the past two ears been quietly oiling the hinges) seks to remedy its numerical short omings and give a more powerful oice.

Under its new constitution current lembers are classed as original lembers of the chamber with future □largement being by invitation, ac spted by a simple majority in a allot.

Membership has been categorised ith a maximum, and varying, umber in each category, and allows ar a total membership of 33.

Of this number it is expected that t least a dozen will be from non uropean sections of the community.

Macer-Bulofo

Merger

CHE directors of Placer Develop ment, Ltd., and Bulolo Gold wedging Ltd. have announced firm lans to merge following favourable gal opinion on tax liability in the ise of amalgamation.

The terms of the offer to share alders are virtually the same as lose mooted last year when the )mpanies were investigating their tax asition as a united organisation. [ln May, 1965, Placer made an fer worth $3.2 million for the out anding capital of Bulolo. At the ne Placer owned 32 per cent, of ulolo and Bulolo owned 5.6 per nt. of Placer. The terms of the

offer were two Placer shares for five Bulolo shares Placer did not already own.] A new company, Placer Development Ltd—with no comma after “Development”—has been formed as a vehicle for an exchange of two Placer shares for every five Bulolo shares.

At the time of the announcement of plans to merge in March, the market value of Bulolo shares was 5A9.80 each, compared with their last sale of SAB.BO.

J S IntPKpcf In

v/.j. mrereii m Mew

Caledonian Mines

rwtwr\ x tc* , US mining companies have re- A cently shown interest in New Caledonia’s mining possibilities. The Patino organisation, which began as a tm-mming company in Bolivia, has sent one of its geologists to prospect m northern New Caledonia, where some gold and copper were mined early this century, mainly by Austrahan companies. The “Hanna” minmg company also plans to send experts to New Caledonia to see what is offering m the mining line.

Bright Outlook For

i

Mangaia Pineapples

JHE pineapple industry on Man- .1 l l ala ’ tbe second-largest island in rol ?u’ 1S no T on , a sol , id island B ’in a thi rvJ , m^ r ? be J £ or . tbe .• and A m tb< r Cook Islands Legislae Assembly has predicted that it will be producing between 200,000

and 300,000 cases annually in the foreseeable future. This compares with exports of only 31,000 cases in 1964—4,058 to New Zealand and 26,730 cases to the fruit juice factory on Rarotonga.

“A decade ago,” W. H. Percival says in a report from Rarotonga, “the Mangaians were as proverty-ridden as most other outer islanders in the Group. Their copra industry was underdeveloped, and too often their pineapples rotted on the ground for lack of shipping to uplift them.

“Today the picture is much brighter because they have a better brand of pineapple) better shipping services, and the help of a hard working pineapple expert from Queensland.

“It was ' found that the smooth Cayenne pineapple was better suited to Mangaian conditions than the Ripley Queen with which the island was planted, and a change-over is being made as quickly as possible, The smooth Cayenne is also more suitable for canning, “Recent visitors to Mangaia have been astounded at the area of land now planted in pineapples, “Naturally, problems still remain.

Mangaia’s harbour needs extra work an( * nan(^ e to prevent it from silting U P> and i m P r °ved packaging is re quired to prevent damage to the fruit ‘survey’ of prospects of other crops in the Cook Islands, Mr.

Percival makes these comments: Copra: In the past, the copra in dustry, which could have put the impoverished atoll-dwellers on their financial feet and helped their

countrymen of the southern group, was neglected.

Today, copra is receiving more attention and the Islanders are show ing interest in copra driers.

Bananas: Bananas from Rarotonga and Aitutaki could be a major ex port, but the growers are dissatisfied with the present marketing arrange ments with Fruit Distributors Ltd., a non-profit organisation in New Zea land.

In 1964, 7,419 cases of bananas were exported—the largest total for some years, but only a fraction of the potential figure.

In 1910, the Cook Islands exported 110,000 cases and, even at current prices, the income from this quantity would do much to assist the limited economy.

Other Crops: Experimental crops of peanuts, coffee, pepper, ginger and tobacco have been planted and have flourished on some of the southern islands, but for various reasons it seems unlikely that they will develop into major exports.

Highlands Cattle

Industry Growing

THE number of cattle owned by villagers in the Western High lands District of Papua-New Guinea has grown spectacularly in the last two years.

At the end of 1965, there were 598 head compared with only 14 in 1963.

New Moves In

Papuan Oil Search

OIL Search Limited, incorporated in Papua, will offer a special issue of shares to shareholders before June. The new capital will be used for further oil exploration in the Territory.

If the new issue is completely taken up, capital will be increased by $2l million. To the end of March, the new issue had not been under written.

The new share issue will be offered to present shareholders on the basis of one new 50c (5/-) share for each fully paid 5/- share held on a prescribed date.

In March, Oil Search was awaiting the interpretation of seismic surveys made around the Iviri well in the Papuan Gulf area and north-west of Wana. If the results indicate a drillable structure, operations will be resumed in these areas. Alter natively new sites will be selected for testing and drilling.

Oil Search surrendered its permit for the Oriomo-Fly River area last year after the three wells drilled indicated that oil did not exist in commercially marketable quantities.

The only real oil strike in Papua to date was at the Australian Petroleum Company’s Puri well, not very far from the New Guinea border, in November, 1958. At this time oil flowed at the rate of over 1,000 barrels a day, but for only

two days, then it was replaced by a water flow.

At this time Oil Search was a junior partner in APC, holding over 10 per cent, of the shares. However, when no fresh strike was made by the end of 1960, the senior partners.

Vacuum Oil and BP, virtually pulled out, retaining only a 20 per cent, interest. Oil Search, with an 80 per cent, interest, has since been going it alone on a much reduced scale. (Over)

Four Oil Search wells have been declared gas discovery wells. These are at Kuru, Bwata, Barikewa and lehi. The gas accumulations are known to be extensive, but they have not been exploited although negotia tions have been held with many companies.

Until now, Oil Search has been prospecting in the most accessible areas of Papua—areas which are near the coast or relatively easy to get to by making use of the extensive river networks. In an address to shareholders late last year, the chairman of directors said that the company was considering extending exploration to the more inaccessible, and costly, inland areas.

An interesting recent development is a separate application for a petroleum prospecting and mining permit in Papua by British Petroleum Development. The application is for a 6,000 square mile area, with Mendi as its centre. The area is between the present area held by Oil Search as Permit 27, and the border with Trusteeship New Guinea. This move by BP presumably has something to do with the fact that the agreement made between Vacuum, BP and Oil Search in 1961 expires this year.

The new application and Oil

Search’s new share issue seem to indicate that renewed effort may be put into Papuan oil exploration, which has been in the doldrums for the past six years,

Drouahts Hit

rlackSnClllS

„ TT , , „ THE group profit of Hackshalls Ltd. for the half-year to December 31 was affected by drought in Australia and Fiji, and dropped by 18 per cent, when compared with the profit for the six months to December 31, 1964.

Hackshalls Ltd, owns the Pacific Biscuit Co. and Union Soaps Pty.

Ltd., Suva, and is one of the “big four” among Sydney bread manu facturers. It is also a big Sydney miller, and has a substantial invest ment portfolio.

The directors, in spite of the fall in profit, recommend an interim dividend, unchanged at per cent, The company’s oil mill in Suva was idle for long periods because of the copra shortage which fol lowed the drought. Copra production was earlier affected by a hurricane, Flourmilling activities were affected by the NSW drought, and much running time was lost.

Suva Electrical Firm

Changes Hands

CAMELEC LTD., Australian manu facturer of electrical cables, etc., has acquired all the issued capital of Islands Electric Pty. Ltd., Suva electrical engineers and dis tributors.

Mr. Kon Maesepp, who went to Fiji more than half a century ago to work for the CSR Co., was the majority shareholder in Islands Electric.

He gave up active direction of the company about 10 years ago, and went to Sydney to live.

He returned to Fiji about two years ago, after the company had fallen on fairly lean times, and soon had it on a sound commercial basis.

Consideration for the Camelec purchase was the issue of $A9,000 of 8 per cent, debenture stock, plus about $A22,000 in cash.

The Camelec directors said that Islands Electric provided an assured outlet for the company’s products and assisted in the development of export trade.

Islands Electric was expected to trade profitably and thus contribute to Camelec’s earnings.

New Printers

For Port Moresby

ANEW Port Moresby printing firm, the Papua-New Guinea Printing Company, was officially launched with a cocktail party on March 3.

There was special local interest in the fact that two of the company’s principals, Mr. Hal Byrne, and Mr.

Ray Thurecht, were until recently both with the South Pacific Post organisation and saw the opportunity to establish an independent printing organisation.

The new company is fully owned and controlled in the Territory. In addition to Mr. Byrne, who is pro duction manager, and Mr, Thurecht, factory manager, there is a staff of five Europeans and seven New Guineans. It is fully equipped with new machinery.

Tongan Quest For

Abalones

Mr. Jack Riechelmann And

divers from the Tonga Copra Board, using aqualungs, are to make a survey of the reefs at the island of Tofua to see whether abalones

(a type of shell fish) exist there in commercial quantities.

The idea of the survey follows a recent trip to Tofua by King Taufa’ahau, who was presented with a plate of abalones, a rare delicacy in Tonga, by the Tofuans. Although only 2 to 4 in. in length, they proved particularly succulent.

The people of Tofua explained that they were gathered on the reefs just below water level. The con tinuous rough seas experienced off Tofua made it impossible to dive deeper, but they thought larger abalones would probably be found there.

They would make a welcome ad dition to the menu of the Dateline Hotel which is soon to be opened at Nukualofa.

Erromanga Timber

Possibilities

Mr. J. C. Rouleau, Of Vila,

New Hebrides, who has long been interested in exploiting Erro manga’s timber resources, believes that 670,000 super feet of timber could be produced at Erromanga each month.

This is stated in the February issue of World Wood, an inter national journal for loggers, foresters and manufacturers of wood products.

The article is based on an extensive survey made by Mr. Rouleau him self, and a later one by Mr. Robert Barets.

It says that Erromanga has ex tensive stands of kauri and tamanu, and that Mr. Rouleau believes the production figure of 670,000 super feet a month could be achieved with a crew of five Europeans, 12 skilled workmen, 23 to 30 unskilled labourers, chain saws, two bulldozers and three self-loading trucks. The cut could be obtained by working about 100 acres a month.

Four levels of vegetation are found in the forest. The highest level consists of 25 to 30-metre kauris.

Next is tamanu (Calophyllum), blue wood and beech 12 to 20 metres high. Various species of no value and the younger trees of the first two groups are found in an inter mediate level which is 10 metres high.

The lowest level consists of under growth of many varieties in which ferns are sometimes abundant.

The largest stands of valuable timber are on the southern faces of a chain of mountains which cuts the island in an east-west direction.

These stands total about 40,000 acres.

Polonia Bay, on the east of the

island, offers a suitable sheltered anchorage but road construction over the rough interior will pose some problems. About 15 miles of road would be necessary before logging operations could begin.

One of the most remarkable aspects of the Erromanga forest is the com bination of the high volume per acre and the small number of species. In certain areas even pure stands of one species are found.

Kauris are found mainly on the upper two-thirds of the slopes and along the ridges of the foothills going up to the chain of mountains.

They are seldom found alone, but in groups of four to 12.