To Nauruan

Abrupt End

Football Pools

Nauru’s football pools ended abruptly in July, after less than two months’ active operation. Australian workers on Nauru, including depen dants were repatriated by air to Australia, and arrived with some bitter comments for the Press.

The Nauruan Government had ar ranged for their air charter, and paid for it, after Pacific Sporting Pools Ltd., made a formal request for this assistance. The government intends to recover the costs.

The failure of the pools left Nauru with a partly-finished hotel, built by PSP to house workers on the pools.

In a Press statement the republic said it had “no immediate plans” either to offer to purchase the hotel or to arrange to finance its completion.

But later in the month, two of PSP’s directors, Bill Mayberry and Alan Newbury, flew to negotiate with Nauru on the hotel, and to clean up after the failure. The whereabouts of another prominent director of the group, and its spokesman, Mr.

George Pearce, was a mystery. He had in fact resigned. Mr. Newbury told PIM he had no comment, and Mr. Mayberry, like his former partner, also could not be reached for a comment.

How much capital?

By the end of July it was difficult to discover just what state the affairs of PSP were in, and what was left of its $500,000-plus capital.

The Republic of Nauru had no financial investment in the pools scheme—merely having granted the promoters a licence.

PI M’s Nauru correspondent said construction of the hotel had long provided locals with a talking point.

During the second week of July, however, work stopped and people could “only hazard guesses” as to why the project had ceased.

Since the arrival in October, 1968, of a pioneering team of nine men, work had been hampered by various factors. Firstly, the Anibare Bay site had to be cleared of massive coral pinnacles by blasting—a slow job. Then the wet season came. Also, Nauru’s isolation meant delays in materials from Australia and huge transport costs.

Total PSP staff eventually num bered 70, of which 17 were Nauruans.

When the pools operations started in early June, because of unexpectedlypoor numbers of entries from Australia, the 25 European women residents who had been trained for coupons work were “laid-off”.

“It was hoped that the Naoero Hotel and the PSP would succeed, as the Nauruan people had much to gain by their success and little to lose,” the correspondent said.

The planeload of retrenched Australian workers from Nauru’s pools arrived in Australia bitter over the whole affair. They petitioned the Nauruan Government to help them

get satisfactory settlements from the company.

Why did the pools fold? There were many contributing factors, but lack of promotion was the big thing, Experienced pools investors agree the promotion of Nauru’s pools was scanty. Background detail on football teams wasn’t there and results would have been hard to predict, top prizes weren’t announced and even Nauru’s position on the map, or its status, were not publicised enough for the 300,000-odd Australians who found Nauruan football coupons in their letter-boxes.