People

In a surprise move in February,

Port Moresby City Council

voted Kipling Uiari, in his absence, out of the job of lord mayor and elected politician and former radio announcer Sevese Morea in his place. Cr Morea, member for South Central in the national parlia ment, got the job by a 14-11 vote after Cr Uiari, his deputy, Sogo Sebea, and the council’s finance and executive com mittee had succumbed to a vote of no confidence moved by John Torrisheba. At the time of his sacking, Cr Uiari was representing the council at an International Union of Local Authorities conference in Manila. On his return to Port Moresby Cr Uiari described the action of his opponents as ‘rather low’ in waiting until he was out of town to make their move, and indicated he would be questioning the validity of the no confidence motion.

National Opposition Leader lambakey Okuk and Papua Besena parliamentary leader Gavera Kwarara welcomed Cr Morea’s elevation. Cr Tor risheba, in justifying his motion, claimed it had taken the death of a council worker to bring to light the ineffec tiveness of the council and its

disregard for safety.

About 70 years ago Maria Rovoseko was kidnapped from her home during the Choiseul tribal wars in Solomon Islands.

Attackers killed her son and carried her off. The story of her escape when the war party stopped at Qalovoke is now

legend in Sirovanga. Recently

her descendants and other Sirovangans honoured Maria, now in her nineties, while visit

ing her at Vaseqo'where they

prayed for their clan mother and then settled to feastifig.

Dr Tom Davis, 61, premier of the Cook Islands since the overturning of Sir Albert Henry’s government last August by Justice Gaven Donne (now Sir Gaven). hasn’t

had much time to himself since getting to grips with the task of government. But early in February, with little or no fan fare, he snuck away to his home at Muri Ngatangiia to marry To Pa Teito Ariki of Takitumu village. For both it was a second marriage. First to officiate was a Ba’Hai minister, representing the faith of the bride; second was a minister of the Christian Church of Raro tonga. Dr Davis was divorced from his first wife, a New Zealander, last June.

Pitcairn Miscellany notes that the island’s roadman has been

going ‘beyond the call of duty

in his work’, having planted marigolds and begonias on the verge of the roadside to give the people something to smile at’. The roadman is Christy Warren, aged 79. A later issue of Pitcairn Miscellany looks at the island’s oldtimers in gen eral and puts their longevity and active ways down to ‘exer cise’ (‘one cannot go anywhere on Pitcairn without walking either up or down’) and ‘other important factors’ such as the

‘non-smoking, non-drinking

nature of the community’ and the ‘abundance of good fresh food and fruit plus the bounti ful supply of fresh air and sun

shine’. Among the ‘young’ people of Pitcairn mentioned was fisherman Andrew Young, 79, who still rows his own canoe and pushes a wheelbar row around the island ‘for fun’; Mimic Warren, the island’s oldest inhabitant at 89, who still does for herself around the house; John (83) and Bernice (79) Christian who are usually

found working their garden

‘near the top of the island’; Albert Young, 79, who still ‘grubs’ bush ‘up at the radio station’; Virginia Warren who ‘can often be seen busily sweeping the island tracks and roads clear of leaves’; and Roy Clark, ‘one of the most alert 85 year olds one could wish to meet’ who is ‘still turning out first class writings’.

The University of the South Pacific centre director in Honiara, Mostyn Hahu, has re signed to become headmaster of the Kamausi secondary school in Santa Ysabel Prov ince. Mr Habu, 35, who comes from Kia on Santa Ysabel, explained to the News Drum: T want to take a part in com

munity education and help

local people. This is more im portant than considerations of pay in any case I shall enjoy living in the rural area.’ The

post of USP centre director is one of the highest education appointments in the country.

Two senior officials of Papua New Guinea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade are doing an advanced course in international relations at Oxford University, England.

They are Ralf Karepa, first as sistant secretary (political), and Mary Tabogan, head of the Asia section in the political div ision. The course will list for nine months.

Fiji has appointed two former residents, now living in North America, honorary consuls to promote trade and commercial interests on the West Coast.

They are Joel Kamali who lives in Canada’s largest West Coast city, Vancouver, in British Columbia, and Elias Hannif of San Francisco.

John K. Lee has taken over from David Tuncap as elected chairman of the Guam Visitors Bureau. Mr Lee, vice president, branch manager and supervisor of branches of the First Hawaiian Bank on Guam, has been a director of the bureau since last June. A native of Hawaii, he moved to Guam in 1971. Among other positions, Mr Lee is president of the Chinese-American As sociation of Guam.

Lani Tupu, a Samoan com munity leader in New Zealand, has been given the matai title of Tuioto, Falelima, Savaii.

When he finishes his daily work as manager of the post office savings bank in Welling ton, he becomes secretary of the Pacific Islands Advisory Council and of the Samoan

Advisory Council in Welling

ton. His active interest in com munity work won him a trip to China in 1978 with a group of New Zealand community workers. He visited Western Samoa for bestowal of the title.

George Atkin, editor of Solomon Toktok, has been acquitted of a charge under the sedition act. It was alleged that Mr Atkin had published a let ter entitled ‘Local War’ in Toktok last September with the intention of promoting ill will

Sevese Morea at the lord mayor’s desk... Kipling Uiari questions events. PNG Post-Courier photo

between the people of Malaita living in Honiara and the people of Guadalcanal. Prin cipal Magistrate L. M. Holt said that while Mr Atkin had been negligent he was not guilty of a criminal offence.

Paul O’Regan, for Mr Atkin, submitted that the sedition act was a colonial law, not relevant to an independent country, and that Mr Atkin’s alleged offence was outside the act because of a lack of intent. Mr Holt, in acquitting Mr Atkin, observed that while there should be no interference in the freedom of the press, everyone involved in the production of publications should take care to avoid

including anything which

might bring harm to the country.

Irene Johnson, since last Sep tember Canada’s Wellington based envoy to New Zealand and four South Pacific nations, has made her first sortie to the Islands, presenting her creden tials to King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV of Tonga. She also gave the king a gift of Eskimo (Inuit) sculpture. Mrs Johnson, as high commissioner to New Zealand.

Tonga, Fiji, Western Samoa

and the Cook Islands, visits each of these Island nations twice a year.

William Farmer has taken over from Hugh Craft as Australia’s

deputy high commissioner to

Fiji. Mr Farmer has served with the Australian foreign service in Cairo, London and Lisbon. His most recent assign ment was as executive officer in the diplomatic staffing sec tion of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Canberra. Mr Farmer is also accredited to Tonga and Tuvalu, The US ambassador to New Zealand, Tonga and Western Samoa, Armistead I. Selden Jr will complete his term late this month after making a final visit to Nukualofa on April 23. Mr Selden on his return to the US in mid-May intends to work in

private employment,

This

year’s Fulbright-Pacific

island News Association (PINA) fellows are Ngauea Uatioa, editor of the Atoll Pioneer in the Gilbert Islands and Kuar Singh, chief reporter G f the Fiji Sun. They are en rolled in the University of Hawaii’s school of journalism for one semester and will then spend six weeks working on the Honolulu Advertiser Kumalau Tawali, one of Papua New Guinea’s best-known poets, has been appointed as-

sociate editor of Wantok, the national Melanesian pidgin weekly. Since graduating at the

University of Papua New

Guinea in 1971 he has worked as a freelance writer and guest lecturer at Gualim Teachers College in East New Britain Province and at UPNG where he was a teaching fellow in the

literature department.

Frank S. Rosario, 28, former Saipan bureau chief of Micronesian News Service, is now working as managing edi tor of a new Saipan weekly, The Weekly Star, Mr Rosario had been with MNS, a valued and copious source of infor mation on that part of the Pa cific, since June 1973. Derson Ramon, assistant editor of the High Commissioner’s newslet ter Highlights has now the ad ditional responsibility of writing for MNS.

Consecrated a bishop 20 years ago. Daniel Stuyvenberg, 70, now Roman Catholic bishop of Honiara, will become an arch bishop in March with the elev ation of the diocese of Honiara to an archdiocese, a natural se quel to the attainment of

independence by Solomon

Islands last July. The pope also seems to have given a clear hint of the identity of the arch

bishop’s successor by appoint

ing as his auxiliary bishop.

Father Peter Kurongku, 49,

vicar-general of the Bougain

ville diocese since 1971. Auxili

ary bishops normally succeed

when the see becomes vacant.

Taina Dai, one of the first to train under the Papua New Guinea Education Depart ment’s executive training pro gramme in the early sixties, has been appointed assistant sec retary for teacher education.

Mr Dai, of Tubusereia village just outside Port Moresby, has served around the country as a teacher, headmaster, inspector and superintendent of schools and last year completed three years as teaching service com missioner.

Dr Bill Razzell has been appointed director of the South Pacific Forum Fisheries

Agency. The appointment is

for two years. Dr Razzell was

previously engaged in fisheries

research with the Canadian Department of Environment, Vancouver.

Tovale Nimarota, the first woman in Western Samoa, to train as an air traffic controller, is now in New Zealand on a three-year course at the Civil Aviation Aeronautical College

in Christchurch. Sponsored by

the New Zealand Government, Miss Nimarota left Western Samoa in January with three male air traffic controller cadets.

Father Peter Kurongku, from Tonu village in the North Solomons Province of Papua New Guinea has been named next bishop of Honiara. He will succeed Bishop Daniel Stuyvernberg who becomes archbishop of Solomon Islands. Father Kurongku, who is to be consecrated this month, has spent the past five-and-a half years at Tubiana, North Solomons.

Dr Ram Narayan, medical superintendent of St Giles Hospital, Suva, since 1973, has retired after 14 years in the Fiji civil service. The only qualified psychiatrist in government ser vice, Dr Narayan is understood to be planning to settle in Aus tralia. Dr Issac Karim has taken over as acting medical superin tendent at St Giles.

Papua New Guinea’s consti tution is being combed through by a General Constitutional Review Commission an nounced at the turn of the year by Prime Minister Michael Somare. Chairman of the com mission is the national member for Wewak, Tony Bais, and the national member for Abau, Gerega Pepena, is deputy chairman. The other seven members are Ibne Kor, Barunke Kaman, Buri Kidu, Pedi Anis, Louise Aitsi, Anthony Deklin and the Rever end Dick Avi. The commission has two years to complete its report which is due to be tabled

in parliament by early 1981.

Harold Picton-Smith, Fiji’s solicitor-general, will be suc ceeded, on his retirement in June, by Qoriniasi Bale, at pre sent crown solicitor. Mr Bale, 38, acted as solicitor-general in 1976 and 1977.

Mrs Johnson, at the entrance to the Royal Palace, Nukualofa, listens to the Canadian national anthem by the Royal Band of Tonga. With her from left is Soisaia Maulopeko Tofa Tuit, assistant secretary in the prime minister’s office and a son-in-law of the king, Howard Campbell, Canadian commercial counsellor in Wellington, and Lieutenant Maafa, ADC to the king.