Postscripts

Black Sunday

January 30 was Black Sunday for seven motor cyclists on Rarotonga.

Four were brought to grief in one big pile-up which ended with three going to hospital. The remainder were in separate accidents.

The pile-up came near Avarua when three machines were travelling in “convoy”. One attempted to over take the leader and collided with it.

Both crashed and a third joined the melee.

An oncoming Honda 50, with rider and pillion passenger, ploughed into the heap.

In the other incidents, a motor cyclist collided with a car; another ran into a parked motor cycle and one was brought down by a dog which ran into his path.

Hunts grows

The Hunts group of companies continues to prove itself one of the fastest-growing organisations on the Fiji tourism scene. Following ex pansion of its operations to include Australia, New Zealand and the Solomon Islands, the group has now consolidated all of its shareholdings m Fiji under the control of one com pany—Hunts Holdings Ltd.

Coinciding with this announcement February 1, managing director Mr. Dick Warner revealed that an agreement had been reached in Principle for the international merchandising company of Jardine Matheson to take a substantial

minority shareholding in Hunts

rioldmgs Ltd. “The partnership will )nng considerable strength to the -lunts Group,” he said. “Jardines is i company with a very long trading ustory, mostly in SE Asia and the Jnent, particularly through its ictivities in shipping and the tour nd travel business.”

j-ood Samaritan

The 30-year-old Anglican cathedral t Saints Peter and Paul at Dogura i Papua’s Milne Bay District was in anger of falling down and nobody 'as interested.

At least, that’s how it looked when

the cathedral authorities cast around for someone to do the repairs and for funds to foot the bill. Big con tractors and church organisations weren’t interested but a Lutheran, private enterprise builder Mr. Werner Pieru, has come to the rescue.

A 48-year-old German immigrant to Australia, Mr. Pieru is doing the work at cut-price rates with the as sistance of a team of locals. The bill will be about $12,000, but an appeal for donations has brought in only $2,000 a “disappointing response” said the cathedral authorities who, however, have been assured of the remaining $lO,OOO from the Austra lian Board of Missions.

Two extra pillars are being built into the 170 ft long building to sup port the west end which is sinking under pressure from the rest of the building. The outside walls, which are flaking badly, are being re plastered and covered with a special preservative paint.

The scaffolding is local bamboo lashed together with stripped cane known as “bush string”.

Epic voyage

A courageous mercy mission was carried out in Vila Bay at the height of the hurricane Carlotta. Boatswain Ernest of the British Marine Depart ment. captain of the touring launch Keo, undertook to transfer a doctor from the hospital on Iririki Island to Fila Island where a young girl had had her leg broken by a falling door.

As the crow flies, the distance is only a little over half a mile, but in a 30 ft launch, at the height of a hurricane, the voyage was of almost epic proportions and deserves to be put into song. It probably will.

Immigrant peals

A church bell, which was in the tower of St. Andrews Church, Cran leigh, Surrey, has been sent to Betio in the Gilbert Islands to be used in the Protestant Church built there a few years ago.

The bell, weighing U cwt, was cast in 1898, and the church being about to be demolished, the Cran leigh postmaster, Mr. H. Sparrow, who had served a term as Chief Postmaster at Tarawa, arranged for the bell to be given to the GEIC and for its recovery and transport to Betio to be paid for by a firm and the local Rotary Club.

The Rotary Club also collected over 200 books to be sent as a gift to the Betio children.

Tongans for NZ

New Zealand employers were so pleased with their 61 Tongan workers who were employed in the Hutt Valley area last year, that more will be welcomed there this year.

Eighty-one men were due to arrive in the valley last month, the employers, Ford Motor Company, Todd Motors, Austin Distributors Federation, Alex Harvey Metal Con tainers, the NZ Railways and W.D.& H.O. Wills, having increased the ac commodation.

Another contingent will leave Tonga in July and will be back home for Christmas with their wages.

According to Mr. E. C. D. Watson, chairman of the immigration com mittee of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, the first group of Tongan workers—6l of them—was very successful.

“Their conduct was first class,” said Mr. Watson. “They set a high standard for the next group to fol low.”

Workers from Fiji have also been in New Zealand, but their work has not been as congenial as that in the Hutt Valley. They have been on the laborious job of tussock grubbing in Canterbury and there has been some criticism of their accommodation and conditions.

Companies “black”

Companies in Papua New Guinea and Fiji are named, with others, on a black list which is being compiled by a self-described “anti-racist’ 1 movement within Australian univer sities called The Anti-racist Move ment.

The list appears on a typed letter which is going the rounds of the miversities and which proposes a of all anti-racist novements within the universities.

The letter, which is unsigned and :arries only one address—a proposed nformation exchange c/- the Union, donash University, Clayton, Vic oria—appeals for concerted action rom groups “such as the Anti apartheid, pro-Papua Niugini and left

ring groups.”

ITie first action planned is a ational campaign to “deny all niversity facilities to companies and istitutions which our research esignates as racist”, and defines racist companies” as those which don’t give equal wages and con itions to their workers of different aces; operate on land on which lacks live and have traditional rights f ownership, particularly if there is rong black opposition to the com

pany; deny their services on grounds of race.”

The list of “companies for research and further action” includes, in PNG, Burns Philp, Steamships Trading, CRA, Bechtel-Pacific, W. R. Car penter, Harrison and Crossfield, Dillingham Corporation, Kennecott and Mt. Isa Mines, Rothmans and Gulf Oil, and. in Fiji, Burns Philp, Travelodge and newspapers.

“This is a brief, tentative list, by all means add your own villains,” the letter reads.

The letter names Nabalco in Gove, CRA in Bougainville and South Afri can Airways as “ideal initial targets” for action which, it is proposed, should include, “Strong pressure on students not to take jobs with them on graduation; the total exclusion of company reps, on campus for recruit ment; a total ban on all their advertising in student papers; pressure to cancel all contracts and research agreements currently existing between them and university personnel, re gardless of whether this research relates directly to their racist activities; intense research into all their activities, and a campaign against them outside the universities, such as attendance at board meetings and other actions.”

Cooks battle

The Cook Islands politicians are clearing the decks for action and announcing their candidates for the

Legislative Assembly elections

scheduled for April 11.

Dr. Tom Davis, who came home :rom the United States, where he vas a research physician, has found nore support for his new Democratic arty with which he hopes to unseat ’render Albert Henry and his ruling -ook Islands Party. He has been Dined by the United Cook Islanders arty, the members of which have ecided to sink their own identity nd join forces with Dr. Davis.

Indefatigable Mr. Albert Henry as been quick off the mark with is campaign and, by the end of anuary, had held three meetings in ie main districts of Rarotonga.

At one of the meetings, Mr. Henry renounced that Dr. Joseph Williams, firector of Health, had decided to dmquish his Aitutaki seat which will aw be defended by Mr. Geoff Henry ho is external affairs officer in the remier’s Department. Mr. Teaukura

ho represented Teau-o-Tonga, has

so resigned and is replaced by Mr. ®r°wne, a Rarotongan business an. Other candidates waving the IP banner are Terii Samatua

(Penrhyn) and Vaka Akatika (Raka hanga).

Candidate Mr. Joe Browne, who has been an “underground” supporter of the Cook Islands Party for several years, confessed that before 1966 he had sat on the fence, “observing which side to support”. After the second election, although he never made it known, he fully supported the present government.

“If the people are prepared to carry me. I’m ready” he told a cheer ing audience.

Millions for TT

United States President Nixon has agreed to the full amount asked by the Trust Territory for its 1973 budget, a matter of US$6O million with another $1 million for the Economic Development Loan Fund.

That’s the first hurdle cleared. The second, and final one is the United States Congress which must also agree before the $6l million begins to flow into Micronesia.

More than $l6 million is for capital improvement projects and $43 million is for operating costs including big grants for education, health and public services, with health taking nearly $7 million and education $11.2 million.

The bill for capital improvements includes $2.4 million for the first phase of the new teaching hospital at Ponape—total cost $5.7 million— -5500,000 for the rehabilitation of Bikini Atoll, $4.8 million for water and sewerage projects on Sa : pan, Truk and the Marshalls, and $500,000 for the first part of the new Micronesia Community College at Palikir on Ponape.

Fishy tale

In an annual fishing contest between the three villages of Puka mka in the Cook Islands in January ishermen caught an estimated five ons using outrigger canoes—making he best recorded catch for the island.

V total of 422 big fish was caught Lai (tuna), maimai, ono, dolphin, mo paara. Roto village won the ontest with 164 fish, Ngake came econd with 143, and Yato third with 15. Ngake entered eight boats, Roto even and Yato only four. The fish 'as shared among the people. It was stimated that if the fish had been aid at 30c a lb the catch would ave been worth $3,360. However, ie people of Pukapuka never sell sh to each other; they prefer to ivide catches.