Advisory Council

New Hebrides Advisory Council bigger and better

Prom a Vila correspondent Though it ended on a black day—Friday, December 13—the last session of the New Hebrides Advisory Council in Vila chalked up three notable motions.

Most important was the general approval for increasing the overall members of the council from 26 to 30 by adding four private members.

New composition will be govern ment members, six (unchanged) and private members 24 (increase of four) and the real significance of the change is that nearly 60 per cent, of the private members will be elected, whereas only 40 per cent, were previously elected.

Nominated New Hebridean mem bers will drop from six to four but elected New Hebridean members will double from four to eight; one extra French and British member will be added.

Thus the council will have six official members (including the RC’s), 10 nominated members (three British, three French and four New Hebridean) and 14 elected members (three British, three French and eight New Hebridean).

To provide for the elected New Hebridean members eight electoral districts will be set up and each will have a representative on the council.

The second approval motion was to pay more attention to the con dominium’s variable airstrips; both RC’s agreed to provide an extra $40,000 to upgrade the strips over the next five years.

This motion, which got much dis cussion, was probably enhanced by the recent news of a mishap to one of Air Melanesie’s planes at Lon gana. Something obviously needed to be done to upgrade local strips.

New Hebridean members supported a motion to “strictly control” over seas labour into the New Hebrides and this sounded a warning note to hopes in Tarawa that the numbers of Gilbertese and Ellice Islanders work ing on contract as plantation labourers in the New Hebrides could be in creased.

The motion went through, with the remark that more New Hebrideans now work overseas (in New Cale donia especially) than expatriates working in the Condominium!