They're Fast Polluting

The South Pacific

From a Suva correspondent Although references to French nuclear testing were removed from the report of the South Pacific Conference in September, it’s not so easy to wipe out the growing concern about this and other forms of pollution in the Islands.

As delegates pointed out then— why should the people of the South Pacific have to suffer the effects of something they don’t want?

There are other forms of pollution however, for which only the people can be blamed.

Suva Harbour authorities, for instance, have been concerned recently about the rising amount of waste oil and rubbish dumped in the harbour.

The Harbourmaster, Captain J.

Harrison, has complained that when ever it rains heavily, an oil slick covers part of the harbour. The oil, he said, comes from some motor garages. To make matters worse, some householders and commercial firms dump rubbish in the harbour.

Captain Harrison says the oil isn’t coming from ships, because a close check is kept on these. He believes that most of the pollution comes from the shore. While it is an offence to use the harbour as a rubbish

dump, the practice is still frequent enough to cause concern.

In Fiji, it’s not just a matter of unsightly rubbish despoiling a beauti ful harbour—the problem is a medical one as well, because of the number of people who collect food on the reef.

At high tide, it’s an intriguing sight to see Fijian housewives of Suva, wearing their best reef-going gear, conducting fish drives. But one wonders about the effects of oil and germ-polluted fish and shellfish upon the tender stomachs of young families. Certainly, the medical department is concerned.

There are other, more immediately unpleasant, forms of pollution in Suva. Perhaps the worst is the stink ing black exhaust smoke of buses.

This too is an offence, but it seems to deter none of the bus owners.

It can be argued of course that measures designed to prevent all forms of pollution cost a lot of money.

This should not prevent the authorities—whether police or city council—from stamping down as hard and fast as possible on all the things that are turning Suva into a less than-lovely city.

Some form of public instruction about the dangers of pollution should be introduced at this stage of Fiji’s development. It would be stupid and shameful to leave it until it is too late.

It should never be said that Fiji was so busy after independence trying to catch up with the rest of the world, that it neglected to preserve the one thing the rest of the world longs for—a healthy environment. • Mr. Martin B. Pray, sales manager for Continental/Air Micro nesia, has moved his headquarters from Honolulu to Agana, Guam.

Mr. Pray, a former Far East regional director for the US Travel Service in Tokyo, speaks fluent Japanese and was recently appointed to serve on the Trust Tourist Promotion Com mittee.