Nutshell

In a Nutshell

Big moves are afoot with Air Pacific. The airline is about to move into the big time with its expected nomination by the Fiji Government as the dominion’s international flag carrier.

It will still be known as Air Pacific on the regional and international routes but, as the internal airline, it will revert to its old name of Fiji Airways. Staff changes are pending and these will bring back to Fiji a familiar figure, who helped to build Fiji Airways—Mr Chris Ritchie, manager in the 19605, who is leaving a Qantas executive post to become managing director of Air Pacific. He is expected in Suva in February.

Mr Kit Naidu has been appointed sales manager of Air Pacific, succeed ing Mr David McEwen, who is re turning to Qantas after being on secondment in Fiji for 5i years. Mr Naidu joined Qantas at Nadi in November, 1966.

MAIL THEFTS. —-Mail raiding is rife in parts of the Pacific. The Chief Justice of Tonga, Mr Justice Roberts, recently sentenced two post office employees to prison terms of two years and 18 months for having stolen mail. He warned that such crime must be stopped at all costs, and if it did not he would not hesi tate to pass the heaviest sentence the law allowed. Probation for first offenders would not be considered.

About the same time the Luhesand arrived in Tonga from New Zealand, via Apia, with 255 bags of mail from Australia and New Zealand. Thirty four of the bags had been tampered with. The contents of some parcels were missing while other parcels had been emptied.

The third mate of the ship told the Chief Postmaster at Nukualofa that the thefts occurred at Apia. That was not the first time mail for Tonga had been tampered with when the ship arrived via Samoa.

In Papua New Guinea, the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, Mr Kaibelt Diria, reported that 10 bags of mail were stolen from Jack sons Airport terminal storage office of Macair about mid-December. 60,000 IN GElC.— Early counting in the recent census in the GEIC suggests a total population close to 60,000. The figures from all islands,

except Tabiteuea, Aranuka, Abaiang and Nanumea added up to 47,024, and the census officials expected those islands would add at least 11,500, to give a figure of about 58,500. Add another 1,800 Gilbert and Ellice Is landers working in Nauru and the total would be more than 60,000, compared with a little more than 55,000 counted in the 1968 census.

MAUKE’S UFO.— Mauke Islanders in the Cooks claim they recently saw an unidentified flying object explode at low level, in silence. The object, on an east to west course, burned brightly for about two minutes before its silent explosion. Most of the 800 population of the island said they saw the UFO.

Remains Recovered.—A Jap

anese team searching for war dead recovered the remains of 1,971 Japanese servicemen killed in Truk, Ponape and the Marshall Islands in World War 11. Some of the bones were recovered from a sunken sub marine in Truk lagoon, and some from a cave on Ponape.

PRICE OFFENCE.— Morris Hed strom Ltd was fined $2OO in Suva in January for failure to comply with a price control order. It was alleged that the company sold 20 100-lb bags of rice to a Samabula shopkeeper at $14.70 a bag instead of the wholesale control price of $13.66. The com pany was not represented at the hearing.

Png Rural Wages—A Board

of six will hold an inquiry to see whether the current $5.90 a week for rural workers in Papua New Guinea should be increased to $6.40. The board will also inquire into other matters covering rural workers.

Bsip Tourist Hopes.— The

Solomon Islands Tourist Authority is looking for a flow-on benefit from a big increase in the number of tourists visiting the New Hebrides, which had more than 12,000 tourists in 1973.

The chairman of the authority, Mr James Tedder, who recently attended a tourism conference in Noumea, said the New Hebrides could overtake New Caledonia in tourism. People seemed to be moving away from the more crowded resort areas, and the BSIP could benefit from that trend.

REBELS FREED. —lndonesia has released 67 former Irianese rebels in Irian Jaya. The group, members of the Free Papua Movement, read a statement of loyalty to the Indonesian Government. The movement wants an independent Papuan state, sepa rated from Indonesia. Many of its members fled into Eastern Papua be

fore Indonesia held its “referendum”' on the future of the country in 1969 J

Santa Maria Shake.— Majon

earth tremors shook volcano*-' threatened Santa Maria Island fromr late in December to the middle oft January. Readings were 7.5 on the 3 Richter scale. There has been strongs earthquake activity in the area fon some time, causing a French scientist! to predict that Mt Caret on the island! would erupt. On this warning, about! 450 people who lived on the island! were evacuated to a nearby island last!

December. Santa Maria, knowm locally as Gaua, is one of the Banks* Islands in northern New Hebrides.

NAURU WEDDING.— In one ofi Nauru’s biggest celebrations for years,.

Jeanette, 21-year-old daughter of 3 President Hammer Deßoburt, was* married at the Orro Protestant] Church in December to Gordon Basill Hiram, member of a well-knowni island family. About 2,000 guests en joyed a special entertainment staged! for the occasion by the Betela Dance: Troupe from the Cook Islands, which: was on its way home after a concert] tour of Japan.

BOMB TESTS.— The French are; drilling in the coral rock of Fanga taufa Atoll near Mururoa where they hope to hold underground nuclear tests by 1975. The first experimental I hole was 650 metres deep going through 400 metres of coral and lava before reaching a layer of basalt, which makes up the summit of the underground volcano on which Fan gataufa sits.

The aim is to transfer testing from the atmosphere over Mururoa and Fangataufa Atolls, where they have been held since 1966, and which have become subject to increasing criticism from Pacific countries. But the 1974 tests will be held in the atmosphere according to a statement by President Pompidou, of France.

He said that France was determined to carry out its test programme.

Following studies of the experi mental hole, digging was scheduled to start in January to sink the shaft where the tests will be carried out 1,500 metres underground in the basalt, where there will be no risk of radioactivity seeping into the at mosphere.

It has now been revealed that one of the 1973 tests off Mururoa, was the dropping of a tactical bomb from ai Mirage 111 fighter-bomber. It was: only the first or second time the; French exploded a bomb that way.

The usual practice was to explode the bomb while it was suspended from a balloon about 300 metres above ground.