Islands

From the

Press

From The Fiji Times: How does a destitute widow on $4 a month welfare payments buy a coffin for her husband’s funeral. This was the problem which faced Bayly Clinic almoner, Mrs Shirley Hemming, yesterday just two hours before the funeral was due to take place ... the husband died of a heart attack and his widow ordered a coffin from a construction firm. When they told her it would cost $5O the already distressed woman broke down. She turned to the Bayly Clinic for help. “We could not find $5O for a coffin so I asked the construction firm if they could donate one. They could not and appeals to the Commissioner Central and Nausori welfare department were unable to solve the problem either,” Mrs Hemming said. “Meanwhile, the widow and a small group of friends and relatives were waiting at the hospital to claim the body when they got a coffin. Finally, a really kind businessman in Toorak donated a coffin and the funeral could go ahead.”

From the Arawa Bulletin The President of the Honiara Boxing Association, Mr George Abana,.complimented the members of the North Solomons boxing team on good bouting display, although the Honiara officials were sorry to see their boxers knocked about and knocked down in either the first or second round. He said it was unbelievable that even their two most promising boxers, Saro and Takerebu, went down too. Mr Abana followed on by saying that the North Solomons boxers did not fight using normal “human powers” and instead used “black magic”. He said one ot the boxers admitted this was being used and “the magic was passed around so that everyone had a look at it”. It was reported that one parcel contains a substance resembling lime and another contains material believed to have been dug up from a dead man’s grave.

From a House of Assembly debate on a proposal to raise members’ salaries, as reported by the Tuvalu News Sheet: • • • Mr Moeanga maintained that government claims not to have sufficient funds available to raise the price of copra, but there is always enough money to increase its officials’ salaries .. .

From the Lae Nius: A man has been convicted and sentenced by the Morobe Provincial Court to six months in jail with hard labour for committing adultery. He is Anton Bebeim Buka, aged 23.

From the Solomon Islands News Drum: A taxi driver who was in the police station reporting an assault made upon himself, found his vehicle missing when he returned to where he had left it. This was at White River, on Saturday.

From the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier: A Filipino woman was warned in the Goroka Court last week u F u? a T 8 in coffee - Aroa Masive < of Bena, in the Eastern appeared on a charge of being a person other than a riNO cmzen dealing in unprocessed coffee. The magistrate, Mr Stephen Awagasi, found Mrs Masive guilty of the charge, and cautioned and discharged her.

From an article by Richard Nathanson in the Tonga Chronicle: ... If the Bank of the South Pacific is going to exist at all, it should be above reproach from the first. There is no point in sowing the seeds of its own destruction early in the ball game.

After all they have 99 years to practise . ..

Opening gambit in an interview by an Atoll Pioneer (Gilberts) reporter with the Governor, Mr John Smith: Reporter: Sir, did you have a good time going again overseas for some weeks? H E.: Well, I don’t call it a good time to have to go from here to Europe and back inside a couple of weeks and in this particular two weeks I encountered snowstorms, floods, fog and even the aftermath of an earthquake in Guam .. .

From a letter by Policeman Bilong PNG in the Lae Nius protest against the new Summary Offences Act: .The new acts are not really good at all and I’d say they help the people to commit more crimes and give the police a hard time nowadays in carrying out their duties and to maintain law and order . . . I think the old laws made by the Colonial Administration are good and why don’t we obey the laws made by them and make amendments only to the ones that are not suited to the people of Papua New Guinea . . .

From The Fiji Times: In the interests of justice, scheduled court cases are often stood down by magistrates for a short while for various reasons witnesses are late, an accused wants to brief his lawyer, prosecution wants to amend the charges. Just as pressing a reason wasgiven the other morning when Suva lawyer Mr Vijay Parmanandam asked that cases in which he appeared be stood down for half an hour in Suva Court. His fly zipper had failed in its duty and he had to go home and change his trousers. He went otit of court holding hisjacket in front of him but returned later with his “briefs” and trousers intact.

From the Tonga Chronicle: It was vital that, as Pacific Islands people came into the New Zealand community, they thought of themselves as New Zealanders, the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) told a Conference of Pacifica in Dunedin recently. “New Zealanders if you like, of Samoan, Cook Island, Tongan, or Niuean origin, but New Zealanders, part of the New Zealand community,” he added. All should retain a pride in their ancestry and indigenous culture, but think of themselves, first and foremost, as New Zealanders living as one people.

From the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier: The Mogei people of the Kimininga sub-clan are frightened by the mysterious death of one of their clansmen. Six clansmen have cut off fingers to show their grief at two recent deaths. This is customary but unusual in such numbers. Joseph Rumints died recently after a long illness which his people said originated from a painful leg. Sim Pup, in his 30s, with four young children, joined the village mourning group circling Rumints’ close relatives after the man’s death. A spokesman from the village said Pup suddenly fell out from the circle and died. He said there was no indication of ill health. The youngsters in the village are whispering of poison and sorcery.

From The Fiji Times: Seven long years of dreams and hard saving by a young Nasinu family came to nothing within a few minutes this week, and almost claimed the life of their young son. Without warning, Khalid Dean’s $l2 000 house simply fell down ... On Wednesday morning, the almost-completed contractor-built house collapsed on its foundation on their block of land in Secala Road,Nasinu. Their son Omar, 3, the youngest of the Dean s three children, was playing under the house throughout the morning, and narrowly escaped serious injury when his mother called him out only seconds before the collapse ... Mr Dean said support piles “just gave way under the weight of the concrete floor”.