Business and Development

Manganese Leaves

Forari Again

On July 2 the Palau Mam called at Forari on Efate in the New Hebrides to pick up some 5,000 tons of manganese, the first shipment to be loaded since the mines were closed down in December, 1968, when the Com

pagnie Francaise des Phosphates

de I’Oceanie found manganese prices so competitive that it could no longer continue extrac tion.

The CFPO prospected the deposit in 1957; by 1960, elaborate and ex pensive installations had been built at Forari—a village of cement houses for some 30 European and Vietna mese families to live in considerable luxury and labour lines for several hundred Tahitian, Wallis Island and New Hebridean families.

Several acres are now covered with black dust instead of dense green jungle. The iron scaffolding of wash ing and sintering plant is set against the vivid blue skies of the South Pacific instead of the pale grey of the industrial North. The whole installation is highly mechanised with hundreds of feet of conveyor belt, mechanical loading over a wharf in the bay.

The village is set on a cliff with a magnificent view over the sea to the little mountainous islands of Mao and the dim shapes of the islands in the Shepherd Group on the horizon.

When the mine was bought by Mr.

LeComte (a millionaire from Noumea with other mining interests) and a few others, it was thought by many people that when the mine installa tion had been dismantled, the houses could be used for a tourist resort.

However fresh deposits were found to be richer than had been thought and other mining interests were attracted. Soon LeComte and his friends sold out to Mr. Galliot, another rich man with mining interests in New Caledonia. Mr.

Galliot and some other shareholders formed Le Manganese de Vate.

South Land Mining Company of Sydney bought a half-share.

Mr. LeComte and his friends found themselves a great deal richer than they had been (Vila’s dentist, Claude Van Nerum, was one of the shareholders in the original purchase and is now reputed to be very rich indeed).

Le Manganese de Vate found in Mr. Deruin, who had been with the Compagnie Francaise des Phosphates de I’Oceanie for 14 years in Makitea and 11 years in the New Hebrides, a man not only charming but a mechanical engineer who knew every thing there was to know about the plant, and who was prepared to take on the jobs that had formerly been considered sufficient employment for some 14 engineers and managers.

Since April, 1969, the mine at Forari has been worked—but the overall intention has been to avoid the expenditure which CFPO thought necessary. Instead of its lavish at titude, economy has been exaggerated to the point where there’s virtually no money to spend at all. So today, Forari is a ghost town which is just beginning to wake up.

On 20 bare desks in 20 offices, desk diaries are still open to December, 1968. Tattered maps of the geology of the area sway in the wind in the quiet office block. In the laboratory there is dust on lines of neat glass tubes. In the village, ants are in the woodwork and rust in the roof panels. Grass grows so high over some of the labour lines that they are hidden —to be discovered perhaps only by posterity.

Instead of hundreds of people in the washing and sintering plant, only 65 are working in the washing plant alone, while the other installations are abandoned. One eight hour shift replaces continuous operation; speed is slow and stop, since the number of personnel is so small that if repairs have to be made on any installation, all other operations have to be halted.

Despite this slow operation, 20,000 tons, one year’s production, are

awaiting shipment and the Palau Maru was only the first of three large ships due to vist Forari. When the manganese has been sold, Forari will come to life and will again produce nearly 60,000 tons of manga nese a year. But without operating on the scale that the CFPO con sidered necessary. The production will be washed but not sintered ore.

Noumea's most

famous bakery sold

Man has been told that he may not live by bread alone, but for the French at least this commodity forms a very important part of one’s existence.

So much so, that a Frenchman will drive all through Noumea in order to reach his preferred bakery—even twice a day—to be assured of a fresh loaf.

The recent sale of Noumea’s best known bakery has thus not passed without evoking a certain interest, as well as reviving a crop of memories back to the beginning of the century.

The Mercier bakery, operated by that family since the year 1900, is now among the list of Noumea enter prises recently acquired by Mr.

Ferdinand Goyetche. A businessman of Mt. Coffyn, Noumea, and of Double Bay, Sydney, Mr. Goyetche’s name first became prominent in inter national business when he figured among the list of directors of South land Mining Ltd., of Sydney.

Since that date he has been de clared the buyer of several Noumea businesses, particularly in the general import and retail field.

The Mercier bakery alone was sold for $A225,000. The most recent members of the family to operate the business had been Auguste and Paul, brothers of famed humorist Emile Mercier, whose cartoons in the Sydney Press have delighted Aus tralians for some 30 years.

New Solomons boat

building company

A new company commencing operations in the Solomons is the Honiara Marine and Shipyard Com pany Limited, directors being John Melville, Rex McCormack, Dennis Bradshaw and Murray Armstrong.

The company intends establishing a shipyard at Honiara and will be the first concern locally to build ferro-cement boats. It already has one 38 ft and two 50 ft boats under way and intends starting soon on another 38 ft and a 70 ft boat. At the moment a New Zealander will be engaged on building the hulls,

but the company has made arrange ments with a New Zealand company to train two Solomon Islanders on ferro-cement boat building. It is also making small ply boats and is now decking out a 27 ft boat.

The company is also negotiating for a site for a marina which will operate as a retail outlet and servicing centre. A ship chandlery will be operated, and a full range of spares will be carried, small fibreglass craft stocks, and refuelling facilities pro vided. From the marina, it hopes to operate armour glass-bottomed boats on sightseeing trips and deep sea fishing expeditions.

The directors think that there is a good future for ferro-cement boats in the Solomons because of the non maintenance aspect.

A South Pacific

trade policy?

The recent Fiji trade mission to Tonga and Western Samoa may have taken the area a step closer to the formation of a South Pacific Islands policy on trade.

The leader of the mission’s busi ness members, Mr. Mark Israel, pointed out on his return that very close co-operation would be needed between the Islands governments— but the idea of formulating a trade policy had been well received by gov ernment officials in Tonga and Western Samoa.

He felt the trip had resulted in a clearer understanding of the trading potential of the three countries.

He suggested that a small committee—perhaps comprising the Islands’ ministers of finance—should be established to work out a joint

policy on trade.

The committee might also define the roles each country should have in relation to each other.

For example, Tonga might remain the primary-producing partner in a trading community, while Fiji dev eloped as a source of manufactured goods.

Although the Fiji mission didn’t return home with large orders, members felt the trip had been worthwhile in achieving its basic purpose of encouraging mutual trade.

Several firms represented in the mission were thinking of buying raw materials and produce from Tonga or Western Samoa. One company has already ordered a trial shipment of desiccated coconut from Tonga and another company is considering buying Tongan strawberries for ice cream making.

Fiji's beef industry

shows results

Fiji’s beef industry is showing en couraging results. Last year, produc tion was more than eight million pounds, an increase of 68 per cent, on the production figures for 1963.

Opening a beef field day organised by the Department of Agriculture in July, Fiji’s Assistant Minister for Natural Resources, Mr. Jone Naisara, pointed out that in the past three years alone, the increase had been almost 20 per cent, a year.

Imports of beef, he said, including canned beef, now represented only a little over 1 per cent, of Fiji’s total consumption. Pork production had been doubled over the same period.

The Assistant Minister said that if

it was possible to replace some imports by local production, it must be possible to replace other imports which could be grown locally. b He pointed to rice as being one crop which would show big improvements in production in the near future. He said much thought and effort had gone into planning more than 100 new beef farms, set up in various parts of Fiji during the past seven years. . . , . A . x .

An organised marketing system for buying and selling livestock had been established and there was now no reason for any farmer to complain he had no outlet for his cattle. Beef farmers were receiving very favour-

able returns for their efforts and the best of them owned three times as much as they owed. ~, f A . , , Many preferred to put money back into developing their farms, rather than pay off their loans immediately, suggested that Fiji could be come a much bl g§ er meat exporter than at present. The establishment °f a modern abattoir near Suva might enable local beef to achieve high export standards.

"We have only to produce the beef and market it in a presentable fashion and we will have no dif- Acuities in finding buyers at very good prices,” he said. “We have had

inquiries already from one British importer.

“We have thousands and thousands of acres of land at present unused that could make good grazing land in future. Some of the land is steep hilly country difficult to fence and difficult to get to —but many farmers have shown that they can tame this land and farm it, given guidance, help and encouragement,”

Australia does well

on Bougainville

Has Australia missed out on Bougainville? That’s a question that was in these pages in June, when it was pointed out that a lot of the rich contracts for supplies for the big Bougainville Copper Pty. Ltd. development in Bougainville had not been going to Australian and NZ firms.

But the latest figures give a brighter picture.

Of more than S5O million dollars so far allocated for equipment for Bougainville, something like $l7 mil lion, or about 33 per cent., has gone to Australian suppliers.

Japan comes next, having supplied so far about one quarter the total cost of the equipment, followed by the US, with only a little less. Reason for these comparatively high figures for Japan and the US is due to the fact that some of the large and specialised equipment is not available in Australia.

But the really interesting change is that Papua and New Guinea has now supplied about 14 per cent, of the total spent on equipment.

The overall figures, including New Guinea’s share, look even better when one takes into account money spent on services as well as equip ment for Bougainville. Naturally, most of the services have to come from Australia and New Guinea but the fact seems to be that Aus tralia’s share of equipment plus services now amounts to about three quarters of the total.

Looked at from this direction, Japan’s total supply figure (equipment and services) amounts to only 10 per cent., with the US a little less.— and Papua-New Guinea not very far behind. New Zealand’s proportion of the total of equipment and servicing is however very small. They’ve missed out.

Although Bougainville Copper has arranged some lines of credit in Japan and US, these carry no obliga tion that binds the company to specific purchases.

Little fluctuation

in price of copra

Mr. K. G. Oliver, chief accoun tant of the Papua and New Guinea Copra Marketing Board, gave the following report on July 10: Very little fluctuation in prices occurred during June, for which the average price was $A197.96, a difference of 5A5.91 below the May average.

Towards the end of the month market trading in copra was con fined to August, September ship ments from the Philippines and Indo nesia, but even so, trade was not brisk and bids were accepted at about SUS2I9i for August shipment, SUS2I9 for September shipment.

Latterly too, coconut oil has failed to stimulate much buyer interest and although there was a brief revival of demand for Dutch oil which caused sellers to look for better prices, the added interest was short lived and prices reduced to previous levels.

Probably as a result of the lack of interest by sellers during the latter days of June copra prices began to rise a little at the beginning of July and the improvement has continued with a gain of as much as SUS 4 or SUSS so far this month.

FDC to stop oil

palm experiment

Experiments with oil palm pro duction are to be abandoned by the Fiji Development Company, as it is felt that a fully commercial industry is impossible in Fiji.

The Department of Agriculture is due to take over the company’s 30-acre trial plot at Navo n u , Cakaudrove, in August.

The manager, Mr. J. H. Sand, said that although the decision to abandon the trials was regretted by the Commonwealth Development Corporation, of which the FDC is a wholly-owned subsidiary, six years of experiments have indicated that the scheme would not be justified.

Fiji was farther from the equator than any other country producing oil palms and although the palms at Navonu were fruiting and growing well, production was too seasonal for commercial exploitation, Mr.

Sand added.

The FDC’s records are being made available to the Department of Agri culture, which will maintain the trial plot and record all future progress.

Mr. Sand said the only way in which oil palm production could be established as an industry would be on a non-commercial or supported basis.

Bmlrlino hnom

DUimmg Doom

in Suva

Suva is experiencing an unprecedented building boom. Permits issued by the city’s city council for building work during the first five months of this year involved construction work to an estimated value of $F1,329,273.

This was $374,339 more than the value of building approved in the corresponding period last year. The biggest increase was in the category of new dwellings, with permits for

40 such buildin g s bein 8 issued, representing a value of $685,511.

Altogether, 221 permits were issued for building repairs and alterations, new dwellings, new commercial buildings and miscellaneous works, Only seven new commercial build ings were approved, compared with 13 during the same period last year, but the value of these was $317,480, compared with $238,966 for the pre vious period, Building fees of $3,281 received by the council were more than $l,OOO higher than for the cor responding period in 1969.

Drop expected in

Fiji prices

It’s rare for the householder to see prices going DOWN—but that’s what should happen in Fiji if retailers pass on certain import duty reductions announced in July.

Bread, outboard motors and visits to the dentist should be affected, as well as most kinds of motor vehicle parts, shelled and dried leguminous vegetables, leather, pre-made soles and heels and other materials used in making shoes.

In a statement, the government said it expected businessmen to cut

the price of goods affected by the reduction.

Duty has been reduced on outboard engines and their major spare parts as outboards are considered essential to people living in rural areas and outlying islands.

Duty on sweet fat and similar preparations used by bakers has been reduced or removed, enabling bread to be made at the lowest possible price.

Duty on dental waxes, dental im pression compounds and dental plasters have also been reduced.

Dental and surgical instruments, drugs, medicines and artificial teeth

have been duty free for a con siderable time.

The reductions, which will cost the government about $500,000 in lost revenue this year, are intended to help local manufacturing industries.

Fighting inflation

in New Caledonia

As a means of combatting the in flation which is threatening New Caledonia, France’s Defence Min ister, Mr, Michel Debre, on a visit to the territory in July, suggested raising local loans, thus encouraging Caledonians to lend money which could be used by the local authorities for financing urgently needed roads and housing.

He promised to seek Paris approval for such a scheme.

The Minister also underlined the need for the Caledonian economy to become more diversified, so as not to be solely dependent on nickel production. To this end, he urged greater development of agriculture and tourism.

Prospecting in Fiji,

still hopeful

Prospecting work which has been carried out at Namosi, Viti Levu, during the past two years will con tinue until at least May next year, at a cost of $F 150,000.

Sir Albert Robinson, the South African mining company executive who is chairman of Anglo-American Corporation (Australia) Ltd., which is involved in the work, said this in July after visiting the site.

A consortium consisting of Anglo- American, Charter Consolidated of London and the Emperor Gold Mining Co. Ltd. holds a special prospecting licence covering an area of about 100,000 acres.

Sir Albert, a former High Com missioner in London for the now defunct Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, said the $150,000 to be spent at Namosi between May this year and May next year would take the total put into the work up to $350,000.

The company employs between 25 and 30 local men in the field, including four Fijian geological field assistants who have been trained by its senior geologists, and four Fijian drilling assistants. Sir Albert said work at Namosi had reached the stage at which diamond drilling had begun.

“To date we have not found any thing which would indicate the pos sibility of a mining development, but the geological environment encourages

us to continue the search,” he said.

Sir Albert is an executive director of the giant Anglo-American Cor poration of South Africa Ltd. the parent company of companies which are mining or prospecting in about a dozen African countries and in Australia and Canada.

Among the corporation’s associates are the huge Zambian copper mines and the De Beers Diamond Cor poration. Sir Albert spent nearly a week in Fiji after a tour of Anglo- American’s Australian interests.

Tonga announces

record budget

Small by any standards, the SA4J million budget announced by the Tonga Government last week is nevertheless a record figure for this newest member of the Common wealth.

The amount is more than double the estimate of expenditure of three years ago and is nearly $400,000 higher than last year.

The budget represents an imposition of SASS per capita and is interpreted by many as being much too high a figure to be borne by the average Tongan, who does not earn that much in a year.

The country’s economy also is still vulnerable, being based on agri culture. Of the two main export crops, copra is subject to fluctuating prices, while bananas are prone to hurricane damage and fungus diseases.

In the face of this, the Treasury department has done well to find the money for the higher cost of main taining essential services at an estima ted total of SA3.I million, as well as diverting the remaining SAI.4 million to new development.

Tonga to start

oil exploration

Oil exploration in Tonga was due to start in late July, it was an nounced earlier in the month by Tonga’s Minister for Lands, Mr.

Laufilitonga Tuita. He said details of the initial exploration programme had been reached after discussions with the manager of the Shell Ex ploration company of Tonga, Mr.

Alan Jackson, and Mr. A. T.

Vanhalder, senior hydrographic sur veyor for Dutch Shell.

It is almost two years since the first oil slick was discovered off shore from the island of Eua, 12 miles east of Tongatapu. Since then a great deal of activity and high level talks at home and abroad have finally cleared the way for work to begin.

The Minister, who formerly held two portfolios of Health and Lands, has now been freed of the former in order to concentrate his attention on the search for oil. He has led the project from the beginning and has now arrived at the point when the administrative and legal machinery are ready for the task.

He said that Tonga Shell, acting on behalf of the consortium which comprises five other companies—British Petroleum, Aquitaine, Ampol, Gulf and Republic—will shortly have men and equipment in the area to initiate the preliminary search. This is expected to take some two years and is estimated to cost about sAli million.

Iniincnn 1 Ul JOnnson

fmich

■ ■ iiian Probably he’s the South Pacific’s best known businessman, and despite his reputation for toughness, he’s widely called “Tui”. Mr. W. G.

Johnson, chairman and managing director of the W. R. Carpenter companies in Fiji, where he was born, retired in July and will live in Queensland. He was 70 on July 28.

The Fiji Times, on his retirement, devoted an editorial to him in which it said: “Such has been Mr. Johnson’s impact on Fiji that his name has dominated the activities, particularly

in the commercial sphere, with which he has been associated.

“So it has been Tui Johnson’ who has bought copra. ‘Tui Johnson’s ships’ that have carried it and ‘Tui Johnson’s mill’ that has crushed it in Suva.

“Mr. Johnson has been given the credit—and sometimes the blame, usually depending on the point of view—for the policies of his employers and associates, and frequently of boards and committees on which he has sat and in which his voice has been heard with special force because of his personality, strong views and the detailed knowledge which experience has brought him.

“But on the other hand, when help, with shipping or in donations in money or goods, has been sought from firms or organisations with which Mr. Johnson has been associated it has been ‘Tui Johnson’ who has been approached, in the certain knowledge that the requests would always be met with deep understanding of Fiji conditions and and with unfailing generosity.”

Son of a Canadian father and Australian mother, Tui Johnson began his commercial activities with Morris Hedstrom in Suva in 1920, but then became a trader, first with A. Q. McGowan and then with

Brown and Joske Ltd. He became a director of W. R. Carpenter & Co. (Fiji)—previously Brown and Joske —in 1939, and managing director and chairman in 1947. He was appointed to the board of the Carpenter holding company, Canberra, in 1958.

Tui Johnson was a member of the Fiji Legislative Council on two occasions (he donated his council remuneration to charity, as he was against pay for members), and at one time a member of just about every council, board, or committee you could mention. He held a com mission with the Fiji Defence Force and Fiji Military Forces.

He was named Tui Tavua in August, 1900, at a Fijian ceremony Tavua, Fiji. ,

Diq Ncstics Cqiti Do Iq Vi

. C* \ A • 3

111 Ncw

A special Nestles contest in Noumea early in July gave but a foretaste of this food company’s planned activities in the territory this year, to take in the annual round-the-island bicycle race in Sep tember.

The July contest brought a wide response, and a week’s visit to Sydney for two was offered to the lucky

winner, Mrs. Suzanne Meyer, living at Mont Dore with her retired hus band, The contest required Caledonians to answer why they prefer a type of powdered milk, A “Nestle Week” was conducted in three leading Noumea stores— Prisunic, Ballande and Barrau—which featured cooking demonstrations using its products, A Nestles representative is to drive in the caravan following the 11-day fourth Tour de Caledonia. Milo is to be distributed as the officially approved tonic drink for the tour, At the same time, the purchaser of the lucky Milo tin sold in New Cale donia during the trial will win a racing bike.

At the end of the tour, Nestles will sponsor a two-week visit to Sydney for the two winning Cale donians in the bicycle race, By this initiative, Nestles is joining the highly publicised Caledonian sporting world. Other firms to have recently sponsored sporting events are Coca-Cola, Le France Australe newspaper and Stromboli French ice cream. Their representatives drove hundreds of miles over rough inland roads in June, during a series of weekend bicycle trials around various nickel mining centres.