People

Two policemen with records of long service in different parts of the Pacific have retired. They are Senior- Sergeant George Wichman, who was in the Cook Islands Police Force for 46 years, and Deputy Superintendent Nemani Raikuna, 42 years with the Fiji Police. Senior-Sergeant Wichman was 18 when he joined the force. He was personally involved in the in vestigation of three murder cases, and four cases which resulted in charges of manslaughter. He helped to solve a number of complicated crimes. DSP Raikuna, who became a constable in November, 1935, rose steadily through the ranks. He served in most police stations in Fiji and at the time of his retirement was in command of the Namaka (Nadi) police district. In 1972, he was awarded the Fiji Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, and in the 1975 New Year Honours List was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal for meritorious service.

The City and County Department of Parks and Recreation in Honolulu has created a mini-park near the Kapalama entrance to the Bernice P.

Bishop Museum as a memorial to the late Sir Peter Buck. It was dedicated last July when it was named Peter Buck Park, in honour of the museum’s third director.

Peter Buck, who was also known as Te Rangi Hiroa, was born in 1880 of New Zealand Maori and Irish parents and graduated MD from the Univer sity of New Zealand in 1910. He later became a noted ethnologist and joined the Bernice P. Bishop Museum in 1927, becoming director in 1948. He was named as a Knight of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in 1946 and died in 1951.

Mr Peter T. Coleman, acting High Commissioner of the US Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and an ex-Governor of American Samoa, where he was born, has announced his impending resignation. His reason the appointment was political, under the Republican regime, and he’s got in first on the off-chance that Democrat

President Carter might replace him with a Democrat nominee. But Mr Coleman isn’t clear about his future.

There are indications that he might compete for the governorship of American Samoa, which is now a locally-elected post. Then again, he might seek a political career in Hawaii.

He has been 16 years in Micronesia, four years as a district administrator in the Marshalls, four in the same job in the Marianas and eight years as Deputy High Commissioner. The first local Samoan to be Governor of American Samoa, he held the position for five years. He was a US Army captain in World War 11.

Commander of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force, Brigadier- General Ted Diro, first Papua New Guinean to hold the highest military post in the country, has been re appointed for another three years.

Cabinet extended his term and announced its decision while he was on a 10-day visit to New Zealand where he toured military establish ments and had discussions with New Zealand defence officials. Born at Boku on the slopes of the Owen Stanleys, Ted Diro arrived in Port Moresby at the age of 12, fought hard to get an education, lived “on the run” buying food with money earned by caddying at the Port Moresby Golf Club, won a place at Slade School, Warwick in Queensland and then took his first step along the road to a military career by earning a place at Portsea Officer Cadet School. His father must have been proud when his son chose a military career. He, himself, fought with the Papuan Infantry Battalion on the Kokoda Trail.

Tongan-born Molimea Tlolahia was awarded the Royal Victoria Medal by the Queen during her March visit to New Zealand. Mr Tlolahia 69, a butler, was awarded the medal for his services to members of the British royal family during their stays at Government House in Auckland and Wellington.

Mr John Beusmans, general man ager of Vila’s Le Lagon Hotel, made a promotion swing in March through eastern Australian States and New Zealand. A warm welcome was extended to him, and to his wife, Marina who made the ex acting trip despite the fact that she was seven months pregnant with their first child in travel industry circles wherever they went.