People

Chief Willie Bongmatur of Ambrym has been elected chairman of Vanuatu’s National Council of Chiefs.

In an interview with Len Garae, reporter for the govern ment weekly Tam-Tam, he explained that the council’s role was ‘to revive and protect our customs and culture, to ensure that they are not forgotten otherwise we will lose every thing’.

He said that under the national council there were dis trict, island and area councils which function in the same manner in their particular re gions.

Discussing the problem of urban drift, Chief Bongmatur said: ‘We the Chiefs have already made our stand clear that parents must not under any circumstances allow their daughters to go to Vila or Santo alone. This is to make sure they

do not fall into the same traps that others have fallen into . . . ’However, sometimes parents themselves are to blame for this behaviour. A girl may wish to cut a bit of copra to sell for herself and is refused this privi lege. Her frustrations may urge her to leave home. ‘Also if she has a boyfriend and is scolded by her parents . . . this is wrong . . . she is too young ... she must not see him again, etc, etc. Perhaps some

times her parents may be right.

The boy (or man) may be unemployed and always drunk.

OK then. But if she has already been forced by her parents to drop two or three boyfriends, then they must be blamed if she runs away to Vila or Santo. She may only be looking for another boyfriend!

T would like to ask all parents to try and understand their sons and daughters better, and help us Chiefs to introduce a better system of control over our sons and daughters.’

Chief Bongmatur was inter viewed following a visit to American Samoa, Western Samoa and Fiji. He had rep resented the Vanuatu Govern ment at American Samoa’s Flag Day on April 17.

He was depressed by what appeared to be the complete loss of custom in American Samoa, but cheered to discover that traditional custom and culture seemed alive and well in Western Samoa and Fiji.

Ivy Adam, Vernier Addi, Esther Depaune, and Jane Aremwa are the first four nurses to graduate after training on the spot at the Nauru General Hospital.

They were honoured at a grand graduation ceremony in May at the Civic Centre Theatre, and at a feast and dance at the Menen Hotel the following night.

Speaking at the graduation.

Sister Ruby Dediya thanked the many people and private organ isations who had helped in one way or another to raise funds for the girls’ training. She also thanked the girls’ parents for supporting and encouraging their daughters to finish their courses. She then told the girls to be proud and honoured for having been chosen by God to take up and succeed in the worthwhile profession of nurs ing.

Individual awards were pres ented as follows: Ivy Adam, Directors’ Award for top student, Tutors’ Award for best in theory, Calls Cain Award for top student in Medicine, Joseph Harris Award for top in Obstet rics, and Taiwan Consul Award for top student. Vernier Addi took out the Lagumot Harris Award for top in Surgery, while Jane Aremwa took the Matron’s Award for best in Practical.

Esther Depaune won Most Im proved Award given by the local doctors.

The first Samoan ever to stand as a candidate in New Zea land’s general elections is West ern Samoa-born Asalemo Pesamino, 32, an accounts clerk with the Health Department in Wellington. He will contest the Labour-held seat of Poruroa, near Wellington, for the ruling National Party. Although the seat has traditionally been held by Labour, the party is badly split at the local level, and, given that a large percentage of voters are of Polynesian origin, Pesamino’s candidacy could cause problems for the Labour Party.

Geoffrey E. Yates has taken over as chief manager of the Bank of New South Wales’ Fiji and Pacific Islands Division. Mr.

Yates, who came directly from the bank’s general manager’s

office in Sydney, has also worked with the bank in the United Kingdom and New Zea land.

In his new post he replaces E.A. (Ted) Griffith (PIM May p4l).

Fiji’s Commissioner Western Narendra Singh has been ap pointed director of the country’s newly formed Economic Devel opment Board.

The board which appointed him is made up of representa tives of employers, trade unions and government, and has an advisory role to the government.

Mr Singh will be responsible for advising the board how it

should carry out the provisions of the act of parliament which set up the board ‘to promote, stimulate and facilitate’ the economic development of Fiji.

Hector Hatch has been ap pointed to the board of directors of Carpenters Fiji Ltd, the main operating company of the group in the South Pacific. He will

retain his present post as the group’s general manager personnel. Mr Hatch is an employers’ representative on Fiji’s Tripartite Forum, which groups business, trade union and government representa tives.

Phillip J. Klap, for the past three years New Zealand’s Trade Commissioner to Papua New Guinea, has been reposted to a similar position in Bangkok, Thailand.

During his period of service in Port Moresby the value of New Zealand exports to PNG rose from SNZI2 million to an expected total this year of more than $5O million.

Vice-president of New Zea land’s Export Institute Gilbert Ullrich, speaking at a reception honouring Mr Klap, expressed the gratitude of New Zealand exporters to PNG. He said they had found him and his efforts ‘worthy of special recognition’.

The new Ambassador of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to Tonga is Clement A.K. Tsien.

Tom Copley of Fiji has taken over as acting chief executive of the Carpenter group in the South Pacific. Mr Copley will have overall executive respons ibility for the group in Fiji,

Chief Willie Bongmatur

Geoffrey E. Yates

Hector Hatch

Tonga and Western Samoa. Mr Copley has had 24 years ser vice with Carpenters.

John Wisdom, appointed in May as Air New Zealand’s new chief executive, is a Fiji-born former Suva Grammar School boy from a family with long standing connections with Fiji.

He served in the naval vessel Viti during World War 11, is a former member of the Suva City Council, and started work as a paymaster with Fiji’s Pub lic Works Department.

For the past 35 years he has pursued a career in New Zea land civil aviation.

In his new post he succeeds Morrie Davis who has retired in the wake of the findings of a Royal Commission which inves tigated the crash of an Air New Zealand jet into Mt Erebus hi Antarctica in 1979.

Fiji’s ambassador in Brussels, Satya Nandan, has been named as his country’s new secretary for foreign affairs. He succeeds Jioji Kotobalavu, who has been appointed ambassador to Japan.

Rodney Gates completed his ;wo-year term as New Zea and’s high commissioner in Fonga in May, and has now aken up a new Wellington 3ased post as head of the xonomics division in the Minis ry of Foreign Affairs.

Mr Gates will be remem >ered in Tonga far beyond the isual official and diplomatic circles in Nuku’alofa because of lis keen personal interest in the nany and varied rural develop nent projects funded under the 'Jew Zealand bilateral aid pro- - ;ramme.

He made frequent trips to >utlying villages and the outer slands to assess progress on ndividual projects and get to mow the people involved in hem, thereby giving an extra mrnish to the aid provided by

lis country.

Penny

Hodgkinson in Nukualofa.

LH. Pettigrew of Napier has )een appointed chairman of NZ viaritime Holdings Ltd and leputy chairman of Union Shipping Group Ltd and Union

Steam Ship Company of New Zealand Ltd, while W.J. Sand man of Auckland has been appointed a director of NZ Maritime Holdings Ltd, Union Shipping Group Ltd, and Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand Ltd. The appointments follow the death early in April of Sir Reginald Smythe.

Mr Pettigrew is also deputy chairman and managing direc tor of Freightways Holdings Ltd, and deputy chairman of NZ Forest Products Ltd, as well as being on the board of a number of other New Zealand companies. He also represents the freight-forwarding interests on the Transport Advisory Council.

Mr Sandman is a senior partner in the Auckland stock and sharebroking firm Jordan, Sandman, Smythe & Co, and has been an alternate director of Union Shipping Group Ltd and Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand Ltd boards since 1972.

With his country settling down after the troubles which marked its independence last year, Walter Lini, prime minister of Vanuatu, has taken the oppor tunity recently to make a series of extensive meet-the-people tours. Travelling by air and sea and sometimes on foot he

has been meeting the men, women and children of the Vanuatu islands. A feature of his visits was the wide use in village communities of welcom ing ceremonies of the type given to chieftains under traditional cusjom. In some areas he was bestowed with chiefly titles and presented with traditional gifts.

Officials said later that the series of lours had indicated a growing sense of national unity among scattered communities.

Peter Simogun, former police man, soldier, coastwatcher and politician, and whose story was told in detail in PIM in May is one of three new knights created in Papua New Guinea in the birthday honours list of Queen Elizabeth, head of the Commonwealth of Nations.

The new Sir Peter already holds the awards of Member of the Order of the British Empire and the British Empire Medal. He has been made a Knight Bach elor of the Order of St Michael and St George.

The two other awards, both Knights of the Order of the British Empire, were made to the Rev Percy Chatterton of Port Moresby and to Henry Toßobert of Port Moresby. Sir Percy, who is now retired, came to PNG from England 57 years ago as a missionary and was a prominent politician in the years leading to self government and independence.

The third knight. Sir Henry Toßoberl, is the man whose signature appears on PNG banknotes he is governor of the Bank of PNG. He comes from the Tolai people of New Britain and has had a brilliant career in PNG public service.

In other Queen’s birthday honours in PNG Vincent Eri was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George for his services as sec retary for defence. Mr Eri is best known in the Pacific as one of his country’s first writers, and was author of the widely-sold book The Crocodile.

Dr Alexis Sarei, who was prominent in autonomy politics for Bougainville Island and who became premier of the North Solomons Province centred on Bougainville, was made a Com panion of the Order of the British Empire. A similar award was made to an Australian, Mr Justice John Greville Smith, a member of the National Court Bench.

Prime Minister Lini gets a hand shake and a gift at Buniga.

Tam-Tam picture.

Sir Peter Simogun

Sir Percy Chatterton