Deaths

of Islands People

Ratu J. K. Sovasova Ratu Josua Kanakamakama Sovasova, the Tui Vitogo of Fiji, has died. He was in his 70s. As Tui Vitogo he was head of about 3 000 people. He is survived by his wife and nine children.

Mr Ngatupuna Matepi

Mr Ngatupuna Matepi, Member for Mangaia Island in the Cooks Legislative Assembly, has died in Rarotonga, aged 68.

Mr Matepi, born in Rarotonga, :ompleted his eduction in New Zea land. He was a school teacher in Mangaia for 33 years, then became a businessman in Mangaia, estab lishing a bakery, general store and :inema there.

He entered politics in the Cooks before self-government was achiev ed in 1965 and later became a mem ber of the opposition Democratic Party. During his years in the Legis ative Assembly he worked hard and consistently for the economic bet erment of Mangaia. He was espected by all his business and bolitical associates for his honesty md forthright attitude.

Chief Isaiah Bangara A 91-years-old Solomon Islands ehief, Isaiah Bangara, drowned dur ng a fishing trip near Hele Island.

Fhree boys, aged 10 to 14, who were vith him, managed to swim to safe y. The old man was chief of Nazareth Village, near Sege, in the Western District. The four were hrown into the sea when their canoe vas broken in half by a big wave.

Mrs M. Binzegger Mrs May Binzegger, sister of veil-known Western Samoa musi :ian and entertainer, Bertie Mann, las died at Taumaranui, NZ. She eft Western Samoa in 1948, and in 949 married Mr Binzegger, a King Country farmer and later a politi :ian. Three cultures were repre sented at her funeral Samoan, Maori and pakeha. Mrs Binzegger vas Mayoress of Taumaranui when ihe died. She is survived by her hus band and a son.

Mr G. Deighton Mr George Deighton, English born, who spent 45 years in Fiji, has died at Drummoyne, Sydney, aged 93. He went to Australia from Eng land after service in the Boer War, and in 1906 went to Fiji, where he set up a trading store in Vanua Levu. He married Lily Rachel Simpson, a member of a pioneering family, most of whom settled on copra estates in Vanua Levu.

In the time he was in Fiji, Mr Deighton managed a copra estate in Vanua Levu, a sawmill at Nukubalavu, on the south coast of Viti Levu, and a stone-crushing quarry at Nasinu, near Suva. While living in Suva he took an active part in instructing young people in gym nastics and physical culture.

Mr and Mrs Deighton left Fiji in 1950, to join their three children, Emily, Terence and George, who had settled in Sydney. Mrs Deighton died in 1963. They always made visiting people from Fiji welcome at their Sydney home.

Mr Anitnara Nooroa A prominent Cook Islands public servant, Mr Animara Nooroa, died at Rarotonga in March, aged 64.

Mr Nooroa’s long career covered work in treasury, radio and post of fice services.

Mr Denys Hibbert Mr Denys Hibbert, who, for four years up to 1970, was Director of Education in the Solomon Islands, has died in England at the age of 71.

‘Visual pollution’

complaint in PNG

Compilers of a national tourism plan for Papua New Guinea are not at all happy with the Port Moresby wharf development. They want a completely new approach to take into account visual pollution and the need for park and recreation space. There should be a develop ment code to govern future harbour foreshore and urban industrial development.

They said the present reclamation and warehouse building programme effectively ruined the outlook pre viously obtained from the foreshore road and nearby hills. A once-grand harbour vista had been reduced to a view of dockyards and warehouses typical of ports the world over.

According to the report, there was a “startling lack” of recreation and park space in Port Moresby.

“There is a clear need for the authorities involved and responsi ble the Harbours Board, the Port Moresby City Council, and the na tional and provincial governments to come to terms with the prospect for a trade-off between recreational needs for an in creasingly urbanised population and real development needs,” the report said.

To offset the impact of the warehouse development on the foreshore, the council should con sider widening the road and plant ing trees and shrubs.

In practical terms, the Port Moresby harbour development scheme necessitated the construc tion of a new haven for yachts and a marine base for tourist and game fishing vessels. Ideally, a new yacht basin should be in the harbour to take advantage of natural shelter.

However, it appeared that site choices were limited to the harbour foreshore north of the reclamation area and defence base. An alterna tive site could be on the coast east of Koki in the of Matirogo and Daunagena Islands. • Japanese enterprise, consisting mainly of small businessmen, far mers and fishermen, from southern Niigata, have a joint investment in a hotel at Bora Bora, as a place where people from the snow country can go to soak up the sun. They planned to invest $35 million in the project, with local interests putting up a like amount.