Islands

From the

Press

From a message from New Zealand Prime Minister Muldoon to Cook Islands Premier Tom Davis on the 13th anniversary of self-government in the Cook Islands, as reported in the Cook Islands News: ... It is clear from recent events and the responsible reaction of the people of the Cook Islands to them that democracy in your country is alive and well. . .

From the American Samoa News Bulletin: It is estimated that nearly two and a half million that’s right, 2.5 million aluminium cans will be imported into the territory of American Samoa in 1978. This includes soft drink and beer cans as well as other various aluminium containers. Because of the devastating effect this number of cans can have on the territory if disposed of improperly, plus the fact that an enormous amount of energy and natural resource is lost when these aluminium containers are simply buried in land fills. Governor Coleman has written to the Environmental Protection Agency in Honolulu inquiring as to the feasibility of crushing and packing the cans in Samoa and sending them back to Hawaii or the West Coast to be recycled.

From The Fiji Times: Syphilis killed 22 babies in Suva in the first six months of this year. Dr Mary Schramm told the Fiji Medical Association seminar yesterday. She said that out of 2200 deliveries at Anderson Maternity Unit in the first half of this year, 60 cases had positive syphilis test results. Dr Schramm, a Colonial War Memorial Hospital consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, said syphilis in Fiji had reached epidemic proportions .. .

From the Tohi Tala Niue: Niue has a dwindling police force at the moment with villages with no constables. It was voiced at the Assembly meeting last week all villages should have a constable. It is not that people are not law-abiding, but it is a custom they are used to, that every village should have a constable. Minor offences do occur every now and again which annoys certain parts of the community. One of the worst offenders today is traffic. During the day, all vehicles especially motor-cycles move silently along the roads making little noise. After sunset you can hear the roar of these bikes miles away.. .

From a letter by Joe Nason, ex-United States Navy, written to Papua New Guinea’s Allans Nius after a ‘nostalgic return to the Solomons and Rabaul’: ... There is, however, one bitter reaction which I will carry away from these islands, and that is the complete dearth of recognition of the role that America played in the eventual liberation of these islands. In no way do I wish to minimise the gallantry of the Aussies and New Zealanders, but the fact remains that without the United States, probably New Zealand and Australia would

have fallen to the Japanese. Yet, at the War Cemetery, I didn’t see one mention of America. No recognition of my many compatriots who died in prison or over the skies of Rabaul could I find in this city. This saddened me.

From a plea by Samoan author and poet Albert Wendt for preservation of the Samoan language, reported in the Samoa Times: . .. English seems to be the dominant language at any function.

Even on our local radio station, the local news is always read out in English before Samoan. It should be the reverse. Mr Wendt said.

From the Fiji Times: The president of Savusavu Chamber of Commerce told yesterday how the two rear wheels of one of the buses serving the town came right off on a journey from Buca Bay. Mr J.A. Khan, who was a passenger on the bus travelling back to Savusavu last week, said the wheels rolled down the road, narrowly missing oncoming traffic. The bus crunched down on to the road, grinding to a halt without causing injury, he said. ‘People here do not know when they travel by bus whether they will get home in one piece,’ he said. ‘Nowadays they travel only if they have to.’

From the American Samoa News Bulletin: Governor Peter Tali Coleman attempted to set a good example by joining ... in a clean-up party which worked their way from Faga’alu Park to Utulei Beach Park. Mrs Coleman was among the party. All along the road the Governor and Mrs Coleman found themselves practically knee deep in litter and they cleaned it all up! But when you drive home today you will notice that the roadside is again full of litter.

From the Lae Nius: Members of the newly-formed venereal disease control committee have called on the Provincial Government to repatriate unemployed non-Morobeans from Lae City. The call was made by an active leader in the committee and a representative of the Public Health Department, Dr Sugoho. Dr Sugoho claimed that venereal disease was becoming a major problem in all centres of Papua New Guinea. He said the number of cases of venereal disease had increased rapidly in the last couple of years because of unemployment and poverty which resulted in men selling their wives into prostitution . . .

From a speech by PNG Minister for Defence Louis Mona at the opening of the 1978 National Congress of the PNG Branch of the Returned Services League and reported in Allans Nius: ... In my Anzac Day speech at the Dawn Service at Bomana I spoke of how WWII united people where a black man fought alongside a white man against a common enemy, and neither man was worried about the colour of the skin of the other. I also asked for the people of PNG to forget racial discrimination and unite to make our country a better land for us, for our children, and for your children’s children. It can be done but. like localisation, it must start at the top and the bottom at the same time. As terrible as war may be, it does at least serve one good purpose, it united people. If we can do it in war, why can’t we do it in peace?

From the Cook Islands News: Some of the people worst hit by the floods of last week were our planter friends. Their taro patches were heaped up with rubbish from the hills but worse still from families who emptied their rubbish into the once-dry streams. I watched a disappointed planter close to tears, examining his newly-turned taro patch covered with debris from the neighbour’s kitchen.