of the Cooks

Atiu —it's the problem island of the Cooks

From W. H. PERCIVAL in Rarotonga

Atiu Island, an 11 square-mile hunk of rock, soil and sand, support ing a population of 1,460, is one of the small Cook Islands that is giving the Cooks’ Premier, Albert Henry, and the New Zealand Government a headache.

The problem is: Do we, or do we not, build a harbour for Atiu Island?

Atiu became important last year when a corporate farming scheme for pineapples was established there, replacing the citrus fruits that had been the island’s major exports for the last 20 years. Atiu’s pineapple crops are of major economic im portance to the Cook Islands—The Cooks’ economy needs all the sup port it can get, and the fruit juice canning factory on Rarotonga, Island Foods Ltd, needs far more pineapples and citrus than it is getting now. New Zealand could also use more Cook Islands’ fruit.

But to export Atiu’s pineapples a good harbour is needed. Atiu is of volcanic origin and has only a few small boat passages in its surrounding :oral reef. Past experience has proved that it is impossible to load visiting ships from these passages during ■ough weather.

Early in 1972, a group of local businessmen visited Atiu to look at ts pineapple industry. They were enthusiastic about the way the land itilisation scheme was working there, )ut were concerned about the delay n starting harbour improvements.

“The existing cut in the reef with ts protective concrete walls is com •letely inadequate,” Mr Bob Boyd, >ne of the businessmen, said.

Nothing more was heard of the matter ntil Premier Albert Henry answered uestions on the subject, posed by ie Member for Atiu, in the Legisla te Assembly Chamber in late March. lr Henry said that New Zealand ad given the Cook Islands $30,000 br the development of Atiu Harbour, ut that this had proved to be in ifficient. The money has not been sed.

A plan for the harbour had been repared by the Cook Islands civil ngineer after he had made an inspec on of Atiu, and it would cost 76,000 to carry his plan out.

The Cook Islands Government had len asked New Zealand to send a vil engineer to make another stimate. At that time NZ had no

engineers to send, so the Cooks Government enlisted the help of two UN engineers who were in the Pacific area at that time. The two engineers went to Atiu and then on to Bangkok where they completed their plan, which will cost more than $400,000.

Both the NZ and Cooks govern ments thought this amount “a bit ridiculous,” so NZ sent its top

Ministry of Works man, Mr Hali burton, to Atiu to do another estimate. Mr Haliburton’s harbour plan would cost $380,000.

All this was a bit staggering, and the matter came to a full stop until the visit of NZ’s Prime Minister Norman Kirk and Minister of Island Territories, Mr Phil Amos, to the Cooks in late April. Mr Amos visited Atiu and said he was impressed with the pineapple growing there. But he didn’t say much else.

Late in May the New Zealand Government asked for certain ad ditional information and for tests to be done locally. A team of NZ engineers is expected to make a final survey in July.