Back Door

Fiji Closes

To Yachtsmen

Fiji is about to crack down on cruising yachtsmen who call at outer islands on entering Fiji waters in stead of first reporting to the authori ties at one of the three ports of entry —Suva, Lautoka or Levuka. Fishing ships based outside Fiji will also re ceive closer attention.

Most yachts arrive in Fiji from the east, sailing in through the Lau and Lomaiviti Islands. Fiji officials are concerned about what the yachts may be carrying—drugs, firearms, liquor, cigarettes, fruit or vegetables.

Mr Charles Wooley, the Comptroller of Customs, says officials in Fiji do not know when yachts are arriving.

Cases have been reported of visit ing yachtsmen offering liquor and drugs to Fijian villagers. The chair man of the Lau Provincial Council, Mr Tevita Loga, said recently that young men caused trouble in the villages after receiving liquor or drugs from cruising yachts.

Closer liaison with the authorities in Western Samoa and Tonga would help to overcome the problem of knowing when yachts were due.

The Fiji authorities have also re ceived reports of Asian fishing boats calling at the Lau Islands. The Fisheries Department considers these are probably Korean, Japanese and Taiwanese ships, based in the New Hebrides or American Samoa. The department discounts suggestions that they could be locally-based ships. If they were they would run the risk of being expelled, and that is some thing the Pacific Fishing Co would not appreciate.

That company’s ships only visit Levuka and Suva. They do not call anywhere else in Fiji, unless it is to seek shelter during tropical storms.

It was reported from Matuku, in the Moala group and west of the Lau chain, that fishing boat crews recently visited the island and offered presents of food and liquor to vill agers. The fishermen then asked for women. There was some doubt about the nationality of the fishing ships.

It seems there is plenty of work for the three law-enforcement boats, the Ika Vuka, Sila Sila and Saku, which New Zealand presented to Fiji

as an independence gift.