Face To World

Kusaie To Show

With the work now going ahead on the airstrip at Kusaie, the time is close when Kusaie, one of the most attractive islands in Micronesia, will be added to the Island round.

At the moment, it is hard to get to it, but when a 3,500 ft runway— later to be doubled in length—is completed, the island will be open to small plane traffic and, inevitably, to discovery by the tourist. A master plan drawn up in 1970 by Hawaii Architects and Engineers observes that Kusaie “has nor been an im portant centre under American Administration” although the Administration had major capital improvements in mind. Now that political changes are coming, a popular tourist centre at Kusaie would help the territory towards the self sufficiency goal.

There have been recent meetings of public works and planning officials at Saipan and plans they have dis cussed for the island include the airfield, a new hospital and high school, a power plant and roads designed to open up agricultural land and an easy route to the many scenic attractions which visitors love.

With 42 square miles, most of it undeveloped, and 4,000 mouths to feed, Kusaie has been one of the Cinderellas of the TT but there are signs at last that the TT government is ready to spend some money on an island which is the fourth largest in the territory.