Pacific Report

27 INVITATIONS TO ARTS FESTIVAL . . .

Twenty-seven nations and territories have been invited to take part in the Third South Pacific Festival of Arts hosted by Papua New Guinea from June 29 to July 12. Contingents of as many as 200 are expected to fly in from some of the larger countries.

PNG will have teams from each of the nation’s 20 provinces.

Recent visitors to the area say about 600 local canoes from the Papuan coast are expected to take part in the ‘armada’ which will be a feature of the festival (PIM Apr p 24). . . . BUT CYCLONE-HIT FIJI CAN’T MAKE IT Fiji, one of the main participants in the annual South Pacific Fes tival of Arts and host country for the first festival, has announced its withdrawal from this year’s arrangements. The reason given was a heavy strain on the country’s resources following Cyclone Wally (see pi 7). The announcement has come as a heavy blow to organisers of the festival, they had been banking on a Fiji contingent to provide a major content of the festival programme, and late last month tentative attempts were being made to obtain at least some representation from Fiji.

Political Heavies Huddle In Honolulu

One of the most impressive arrays of Pacific political leaders seen in years gathered in Honolulu at the end of March for a conference on problems of economic and social development in the Pacific. The conference was sponsored by the East-West Center. (Full report, Political Currents.)

Tahiti Politicians’ ‘U-Turn’

French Polynesia’s politics have been thrown into confusion by the announcement by the conservative opposition party of a sweeping new plan to expand the territory’s powers of self government (see p 27).

Protest Turns Pinochet Out Of Fiji

A widespread public protest in Fiji, claiming the repression of human rights in Chile, was instrumental in cutting short a visit to Fiji in April by the Chilean President, General Pinochet. Fiji had agreed to a two-day private stopover by General Pinochet on his way to the Philippines, although Chile announced the occasion as ‘accepting with pleasure an official invitation’. By the time General Pinochet arrived however a protest movement was in full swing including a peaceful demonstration and it was announced, too, that the Philippines had cancelled his planned six-day State visit. After a brief overnight stop in Suva it became obvious to General Pinochet and his party of nearly 40 that they were not welcome there and they turned round and went back to Chile without even making a call on Government House. The Suva protest movement, which was described by its organisers as ‘a triumph for human rights’, involved the Fiji Council of Trade Unions, the YWCA, university students, the Fiji Council of Churches, airlines staff, letters to newspapers and radio broadcasts.

Texas Land Subscriptions Frozen

Green Valley Acres, the land bubble in the US State of Texas into which Tuvaluans poured an estimated SUS7O 000, has burst. A statement issued in late March from the US Federal Trade Commission in Washington reports that the Federal Court in Texas has been asked to take control of money paid for land in West Texas. The statement lists three names of men involved in the land deals and gives details of alleged misrepresentations.

The men named include Sidney Gross, a Californian real estate dealer who had been involved in an abortive scheme to establish a fishing fleet for the Tuvalu government (PIM Apr p 56). The freezing of investments made in the land scheme suggests that some measure of repayment may eventually become available to islanders who put money into the scherne, but the full extent of the money now in trust was not known last month. Reports reaching Tuvalu suggest that people in Kiribati also put money into the Green Valley Acres scheme.

Tahiti Financier’S Son Murdered

Olivier Breaud, 26, son of French Polynesia’s wealthiest businessman, Jean Breaud, was kidnapped and murdered in Tahiti in March. His kidnappers had demanded a SUS 2 million ransom (see pl 7).

Australia To Get Png Aid Accounting

Sir Julius Chan’s new government in Papua New Guinea has undertaken to give Australia an annual report on how Australian aid is being spent. Australia at present provides about SA2OO million a year as a direct grant in aid to the PNG Budget, representing this year about one-third of PNG revenue. The grant is completely untied and Australia asks no questions about how it is spent, but Sir Julius is understood to believe that a general accounting will do much to promote a firm and continu ing aid arrangement during the period in which his country con solidates its self-reliance. The former Somare government was attempting to reduce its aid dependence by 4% in real terms each year, but Sir Julius said last month that this target could be excessive and in the long term could delay the economic development of his country.

Moruroa N-Test: Minister Accused

French Polynesian anti-nuclear campaigners have accused French Defence Minister Yvon Bourges, who has just completed a tour of French Pacific territories, of deception and conceal ment from Tahitian people and politicians about the nuclear pro gramme. In a statement in Papeete Mr Bourges had denied that France was about to conduct a nuclear test just before he flew off to Moruroa Atoll to witness France’s third underground blast there this year (on March 24). Eric Monod, a spokesman for the ecological movement la Ora Te Natura, described the epi sode as ‘another example of how the French authorities hide the truth from us’

Dengue Outbreak In Niue

Medical personnel from Fiji and New Zealand arrived in Niue late in March to help fight an outbreak of dengue fever, which posed a serious threat to the island’s 4000 people. One report said that four people had died of the disease of 600 who were affected

N-Free Pacific Meeting In Hawaii

An international conference for a nuclear-free Pacific is to be held in Hawaii this month. Delegates will include representatives from mainland US organisations, and others from Australia, Japan and a number of Island countries.

Banaba’S Economic Future Studied

A full-scale study of Banaba’s economic prospects will be under taken following a two-week visit by experts who found that the island has economic potential. The study will be financed by Britain, which formerly administered Ocean Island.

Noumea Paper On Chan Government

The Noumea weekly Corail, which recently resumed publication after several years, has described the election of the new Papua New Guinea Government headed by Sir Julius Chan as ‘an un pleasant setback for supporters of New Caledonian indepen dence’. The weekly added: ‘Up to now, Port Moresby has been their fiercest supporter.’

Rats Thrive On Radioactive Islet

A thriving population of rats has been found on the heavily radioactive islet of Runit, part of Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands. The rats have survived 40 atomic tests, which experts have said would leave Runit unsafe for humans for 25 000 years.

Hebrides Independence For July 30

The New Hebrides Government on April 10 ended speculation about the date of the country’s independence proclamation by announcing its choice of July 30 (see p2l).

Stuart Inder Leaves Executive Posts

Stuart Inder, Publisher and Chief Executive of Pacific Publi cations Pty Ltd, publishers of PIM and seven other national magazines, has relinquished those positions at his own request due to continuing ill-health. However he will remain with the company as an Associate Editor of all publications concerning the Pacific area. Mr John McDonald, Editor-in-Chief, and Mr John Berry, Manager, will be executives jointly responsible to the board of directors for the operations of the company. Mr Inder has resigned as a director, and Messrs McDonald and Berry have been appointed directors of the company. The Chair man of Pacific Publications, Mr R. H. Sampson, in April paid a tribute to Mr Inder for his contribution to the company over 23 years and, in particular, to the Pacific area. He said he was glad Mr Inder would remain with the company and continue to make these contributions without the pressures and strains of the Chief Executive position.