Islands

From The

Press

“Must it be a concrete jungle” asks an editorial in The Fiji Times: Suva is fast becoming a city of skyscrapers. Gone are the days when the height of buildings was limited by the height of a coconut tree. Airy and elegant colonial architecture is a thing of the past and adapted traditional Fijian designs are practical only on spacious out-of-town sites. For space and economic reasons, buildings in urban areas must now go up instead of out. The results are often less than aesthetically pleasing. It appears that, however hard architects try, looming towers of glass and concrete remain towers of glass and concrete and not elegant, soaring monuments to design. . .

From the Arawa Bulletin: Father John Momis isn’t the most enthusiastic person about boarding aircraft. . . He was ushered, rather unwillingly into Somare’s private plane for the trip to Rabaul as a goodwill gesture on the part of the Prime Minister. When the plane landed safely in Port Moresby, he wondered why the plane had stopped so far away from the terminus. Wonder how he felt as they towed the plane across the tarmac it just couldn’t get there under its own steam as they’d come in on one engine!

From the Samoa Times: The Western Samoa Association of the Blind was given two second-hand cars this week, the biggest donation to the association so far, officials said. The children named the pick-up ‘Uncle Sam’ because it was from the Peace Corps and the aid was from the States, and the sedan ‘Aunty Nancy’ because they said the name goes well with Uncle Sam.

The uncertainties of Island living, as illustrated in the Norfolk Islander: Rawson Hall Talkies. Saturday, March 13th. No pictures to film. At the Mission Road Theatrette, Saturday, March 13th at 8.00 p.m. And Hope to Die. Subject to arrival. Sunday, March 14th. Pictures subject to film arriving Saturday. Monday, March 15th. Please ring 2069 for title of film from Saturday P.M.

The Micronesian Independent relays a cloak

and dagger story from Guam’s Pacific Daily

News:

Ruth Gilliam, now a Guam Bureau of Planning employee, told the newspaper the Navy’s desire to know “everything” that happens in Palau brought a job offer from Navy Intelligence to “spy” on Palau where the US has requested land to be used for military purposes. She was offered $5OO a month, trips to Japan for clandestine training, a secret radio transmitter receiver, tape recorder and monthly trips to Guam, said the newspaper.

From the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier:

A Bill outlawing direct sales to the public from breweries has been passed in Parliament. The Liquor Licensing Minister, Mr Lus, said that beer could only be obtained from bars, taverns and licensed storekeepers.

He said the Bill was aimed at cutting down on

black marketing.

From the Tonga Chronicle: A few areas of Tonga which have been tested for microfilariasis in the blood, revealed that about 70 per cent of the population tested is infected with filariasis. The youngest person to have filariasis was 20 months old. The highest count was 6000 worms in one drop of blood. The decision for mass treatment in Tonga comes from many sources, Studies by the Ministry of Health, assisted by the WHO and Dr Hitchcock in Niuatoputapu have shown the project is necessary.

Pressure from other Pacific countries where treatment is already instituted has also added to Tonga’s decision to rid all her people of filariasis. The project will affect every person living in Tonga.

Editorial in the Tohi Tala Niue, on Christmas and New Year in Niue (pop 3962): A lot of tradition associated with the festive season has been lost, take for instance this week, Prayer Week, was a week of feasting, playing of cricket and tripping round the Island on the back of a truck, walking or on push bikes, and some enterprising locals even paddling round the island in canoes. Why we have lost most traditions is because we are becoming westernised, and lazy, people now have more spending power and easier access to most things considered myths in the past. And just for the record, the Treasury Bond Store sold $26,055.64 worth of liquor over the festive season. . . but what really marred the season was the 21 accident cases, one so serious the RNZAF made a mercy flight to take them to New Zealand for specialised treatment. Most of these accidents were caused by drunken driving.

From the Arawa Bulletin:

Assistant manager of the Arawa Supermarket, Mr Dave Ross, said that at one stage they were buying empty beer cartons from S.P. Brewery for 15t each and selling them to customers for lOt. This proved so costly they abandoned the idea.

The Samoa Times reported, after being

unable to buy stamps at Apia Post Office for

three days:

People were turned off at the stamp booths with the story that there were no more stamps because the girl responsible for stamps was sick. What if the girl did not return, the reporter asked. “Then we would look for somebody else. It’s the people upstairs who handle that”, a girl at a booth replied. When the Director was notified of what was happening he ordered stamps to be on sale at once. . . “We have thousands of stamps, but the people downstairs are just too lazy to get on their feet and get the system going when the booths run hot”, he said.