Briefly

• The Nauruans, who have no buildings above nine metres on their own island but own the highest building in Mel bourne opened a new high

rise building recently,

eight-storey Nauru House on Saipan in the Northern Marianas. The building, cost ing US$6.B million, is in the Susupe area and has a revolv ing restaurant, the only one in Micronesia, on top of the 39m building. More than 200 Nauruans flew to the opening ceremony, including 44 council officials, a school choir and a rock band. Also in the party was the Fiji Military Forces Band. Speeches were by Marianas Governor Carlos Camacho and Head Chief Hammer Deßoburt, who, at that time, had not resumed the

Nauruan presidency.

• The Agriculture Depart ment in Western Samoa has received numerous reports from around the country about a new pest which is attacking taro plantations, the army worm. The worm eats taro leaves, taro shoots and attacks the roots of the plant, destroy ing it completely. It has a life cycle of six weeks. The Agricul

ture Department is advising

planters to examine their crops at least once a week for signs of eggs and young caterpillars which are found on the under surfaces of the plants.

The pest is kept under some control by flies and other insects which attack it but the Department is looking into its breeding habits, and is recom

mending a spraying pro

gramme for the planters. • CIG (Fiji) Ltd is investing $1 million in a liquid oxygen

manufacturing operation in

Fiji. It is one of the biggest investments in Fiji by an Aus tralian company for some time. • Fiji had an export trade ot $162 822 000 in 1977, which in cluded $123 048 000 for local products. The remainder came from re-exports. Against that, however, the import bill was $2BO 960 000, leaving a deficit of $llB 138 000 in visible trade.

Offsetting that of course, were

the invisibles such as loans, transfer funds, capital inflows and income from tourism.

Overseas reserves at the end of 1977 were $l2B 090 000. Raw sugar exports of 322 422 tonnes earned $93 574 000 - an aver age of $290 a tonne, compared with $271 a tonne in 1976.

Coconut oil exports totalled 17 551 tonnes, worth $8 865 000, and 1 393 000 grams of gold earned $4 936 000.

Exports of canned fish were worth $3 728 000. • Australia has given Tonga

a quantity of agricultural

equipment including 14 trac

tors, 29 disc harrows and ploughs, 16 peanut harvesters, threshers and shellers, and four maize, peanut and soybean planters. A number of vehicles are included in the gift utili ties and lorries, and six motor cycles. As most farms in Tonga are too small for farmers to buy

such equipment, the machinery

will go into the Ministry of

Agriculture farm machinery

pools. Farmers will hire the

machinery required. Australia

will train Tongans to use and maintain the machinery. • Fiji Forest Industries has opened a plant at Malau, near Labasa, to make a new type of composite board known as blockboard. The blockboard is made from timber previously burnt. Ratu Josaia Tavaiqia, Minister for Forests, opening the plant, said the government had been concerned about the waste of timber from forest logs, where land had to be cleared for other projects.

Through technological de

velopment, Fiji Forest Indus

tries was able to set up the

blockboard industry and help

to eliminate waste. • Australia will give $2 650 000 under its South Pacific aid pro gramme to construct and fur nish the School of Social and Economic Development and the associated Institute of Ad ministrative Studies at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji. This will enable the school to move into its own buildings and will provide the university with its second major block of lecture rooms.

The project will be one of the

largest in Fiji financed by Aus

tralia.