NZ strike causes shipping

havoc in the Islands

Losses to exporters and shortages for importers in Fiji, both

Samoas, Tonga and Niue

h . / u 5 mounted in October and

November as regular fortnightly

schedules of the Union Steam Ship’s vessels and rrV „ , , * . 1 ofua were disrupted by union disputes in New Zealand.

Scheduled to leave Auckland on October 23 for her regular Islands trip. Tofua didn’t leave until November 14. Taveuni arrived in Auckland on October 31 from her Islands run and in late November she remained in Auckland, wharf-tied by the disputes.

USS services to five Islands territories were in trouble from mid- October following disputes between engineer and seamen’s unions concerning the appointment of a motorman to the Waimd, on the Far East run.

Normally, Union ships leave Auckland every two weeks for Suva, Niue, Pago Pago, Apia, Vavau, Nukualofa, Suva, Lautoka, and return.

In Western Samoa, big shipments of bananas for export were stockpiled and supplies of food and equipment were seriously delayed, Apia shops almost ran out of refri-

gerated goods and NZ’s Fruit Dis tributors Ltd., buyer of Islands bana^ a ?; chartered the Holni Line vessel Pagansand to pick up the ter ritory’s biggest single banana export shipment for four years—l3,33s cas T es - XT , Taveuni *£ s , upphe , s fl of £ood ' stuffs, butter, meats and flour ran down. Bakers hoped for flour from Australia.

The Pagansand called at Tonga as well -. but f e was , unable lo S d Tongan-bound general cargo. Nuku „f th °tT " and sang of tbe ° nl y U,OOO cases of bananas could be taken from Tonga on the Pagansand. Growers in Tongatapu alone could have filled the quota.

No other produce could be ac commodated on the ship apparently, 80 * ba * there w as a glut of water melons, tomatoes and capsicum on tbe oca * market. Over 8,000 water melons and 250 cases of capsicum could not be loaded on the Pagan sand• Th is was equivalent to about ST 17,000.

But what was a bitter pill for growers was a godsend for con sumers. In Nukualofa, watermelon was selling at around 2c a pound, often cheaper. One of the bigger watermelon exporters even had to give away dozens of watermelons

and asked only for a “small dona tion”.

In Fiji, farmers and produce ex porters really felt the pinch.

Thousand of dollars slipped through their fingers as they failed to find other ships to carry hundreds of cases of dalo, eggplant, yams, melons and other tropical produce to Auckland.

Other companies with ships going to NZ from Fiji refused to carry produce, normally carried by Union, because they feared their ships might be declared “black” by New Zealand waterfront unions.

The Straat Johore and Shansi refused to carry Fiji goods.

Fiji shortages

Also, a shortage in some lines of foodstuffs, building and manufac turing goods was felt. Local butchers reported that stocks of NZ lamb and mutton were exhausted, or nearly so.

Building jobs were delayed and a paint factory was not able to fulfil orders for paint because manufac turing ingredients were delayed in Auckland.

At Suva, 500 tons of transit cargo that should have gone to Tonga and Samoa by the Tofua was taken instead by the Ai Sokula.

Banana growers’ losses were partly offset by a generous gesture by staffs of the ANZ, New Zealand and New South Wales banks, who bought 64 bunches of bananas from Vagadra planters. It looked as though there’d be banana on the menu for some time to come, for bank officers.

Even when the Tofua did arrive, four weeks late, on November 18, torrential rain delayed the unloading of 1,086 tons of cargo by several hours. The cargo included dairy foods and meat; perishable produce like potatoes and onions were limited. Tofua left Suva originally with 265 tons of cargo for Nuku alofa, 85 tons for Vavau, 190 for Niue, 307 for Pago Pago and 635 for Apia.

Work is going well on this $F450,000 Travelodge hotel due for completion in Savusavu, Fiji, early next year. Three other Travelodge hotels in Fiji are also in the news —the Suva Travelodge is the city's most popular so far, work is due to begin on the $1,250,000 Nadi project late this month and the Taveuni Travelodge is due for com pletion by November next year.