Islands

From the

Press

From the Pitcairn Miscellany:

Vlaurice, our town personality and head coconut opener, was turning the rubbish from Ben’s office in a drum at the square vhen an empty fly spray canister went into the burning drum vith the rest of the paper. A tremendous explosion echoed around ;he square which nearly blasted poor old Maurice into tomorrow, md even old Albert was heard to remark that the duck shooting vas early this year. In any case Maurice is now much more careful ibout what he burns.

From the New Hebrides News: \nother Namele tree must be planted outside the Condominium milding to replace the one removed last year, says the Vlalvattumauri. The Chiefs expressed their regret at the uprooting )f the tree. They felt the removal of the Namele tree was like lestroying all nakamals in the islands. Another must be planted o signify the power and the true identity of the people of this :ountry. To properly settle the matter, a custom ceremony should >e held between the Chiefs and the people who removed the tree. <Tom a speech at Honolulu by the Governor of American Samoa reported in the American Samoa News Bulletin: .. The Pacific island peoples are awakening to the obvious need o co-ordinate their efforts towards economic development. This s especially important now that big powers like Red China and he Soviet Union, outsiders until now in the Pacific region’s )olitical sphere, are making serious efforts to penetrate the :conomic and social order of the Pacific islands. No island immunity or nation can “go it alone” in the face of increasing nvolvement by large industrial powers, for they neither have the eources nor the economic base to unilaterally safeguard their >articular interests or the Pacific region’s interests in general. It s therefore imperative that the Pacific island peoples co-ordinate heir efforts to ensure an orderly economic growth and safeguard heir collective interests in the region ... vlr John Chipper, president of the Rabaul Town Council, :astigates the “National” people in an interview reported nthe AilansNius: . . The National Government gives the people millions of kina )er year. The Australian taxpayer has given the Papua New fuinea Government over two thousand million kina since the ast war, and yet it would seem that most National people take werything and give nothing. You are looked after from the time r our mother begins to carry you until you die. You are the spoilt hildren of God in this world. The name of the country should )e YU GIMI not New Guinea, for you take all the time and ay thank you by grumbling, asking for more and not looking ifter your country and things in it which belong to you . . .

'om the Solomons News Drum: ndependence meant “freedom to solve our own problems”, the Minister, Mr Kenilorea, told the Legislative Assembly in us winding-up speech on the constitutional debate. He said that ndependence did not mean an end to problems or running away rom problems. If man was the main source of problems then nan, too, was the main source of solutions . . . Some members, le said, were concerned about the security of their people. People

were frightened of what lay ahead. “It is not the system or the constitution that will disrupt the country,” he said. “It is the human force which should be considered as the enemy. If we face tomorrow with fear, we face ourselves. But, if we face it with a clear mind, there shouldn’t be any fear.”

From the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier: The Commerce Minister, Mr Lus, has warned Papua New Guineans not to go into business with expatriate partners without checking out the deals. He said foreigners were often taking nationals “for a ride” and were having a “wonderful party” with the country’s economy.

From the New Hebrides News: Saturday, May 6, will be Snail Day in Vila. This is the second attempt to slow down the spread of the Giant African Snail in Vila. Over 30 tons were collected by schools, youth clubs, Scouts and Guides, communities and individuals last year . . . Prizes totalling 60 000 FNH have already been drawn up, including a special prize for the largest snail collected ...

A placard photographed outside the Majuro International Airport and appearing on the front page of the Micronesian

Independent:

Long live Marshalls. Hell is a place for C.O.M. (Congress of Micronesia) and Devils. Uninvited guests keep out. C.O.M. go to hell.

From a letter in the Arawa Bulletin signed by Constable Martin Kepa “and the Traffic Constables, Arawa Police” in reply to a protest from a motorist at being singled out for a parking offence: ... “Unjust” lady you were booked for parking at the “No Parking” sign when Police “saw” you committing the offence.

But your male counterparts of whom you are complaining were not seen by us (duty traffic men). If we don’t see someone committing an offence and if no one reports them, how the hell do you think we could go about establishing the facts to present a case?

From the Coconut Telegraph, a monthly published at Savusavu, Vanua Levu, Fiji: ... The per capital income of Fiji’s people is said to be $920 per year about $lB a week. With great care, many people, including families, manage to live on this amount, plainly, honestly and decently, paying their way and owing nothing, though, of course, there’s no allowance for luxuries. The success of such an exercise needs a special kind of intelligence and expertness seldom understood or acknowledged by a person living on, say, $2O 000 per year.

From the Solomons News Drum: An attempt to secure the release of all prisoners on Independence Day was rejected by the Legislative Assembly at its recent meeting . . . Opposing the motion, the Chief Minister, Peter Kenilorea, said that already there was confusion among people about independence. Some people in the rural areas thought independence meant free goods in the shops and if prisoners were

released, people wouldmisinterpret independence as freedom

from law and justice and the rate of crime would be inevitably

high.

From The Fiji Times: Throwing down rubbish wherever you happen to be standing may have been a tolerable process years ago when most rubbish was of a different type and there was simply not so many people throwing it around. But to see today a mother quite calmly letting a child hurl a plastic bag or food wrapper on to the city footpath or back step does not bode well for the future of this green and

pleasant land.