Pacific Report
pp. 5-6 · Read in the full issue
Change Of Government In W. Samoa?
Party politics came to Western Samoa with a vengeance with the resounding success at the February 27 general elections of Vaai Kolone’s Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP), which won 22 of the 47 seats in the Legislative Assembly. Eleven of the 22 seats were won by newcomers, sitting members holding the rest.
Tupuola Efi’s former government group (it’s not, strictly, a party) held on to only 11 seats so that the HRPP was only two short of a majority which was expected to come from among the 13 uncommitted members. The result was not a foregone con clusion, however. If the 13 freelancers gave their support to Tupuola Efi admittedly an unlikely event then parliament would be as you were. In one seat the vote was tied, and will be decided by the drawing of lots. Mapuilesua Pelenato’s Labour Party seems to have foundered before setting sail, as he was heavily defeated by Tagaloa Leota Pita. Many well-known stalwarts fell by the wayside. Human Rights lost Laulu Fetaui, widow of first Prime Minister Mataafa, Tuigamala Saofaiga, Faamatuainu Tala Mailei, Leulu Leifaga and Matautia Fagalua.
The government party lost Speaker Tu’u’u Faletoese, Deputy Speaker A’e’au Taulupo’o, former Cabinet minister Asi Eikeni, Minister of Economic Affairs Letiu Tamatoa, former WSTEC general manager Aumua loane, former minister Tofaeono Tile, Toomalatai Siaki, and Talamaivao Niko. As the dust was clearing early in March, indications were that Human Rights might end up with 30 members and Tupuola Efi’s party 17. Felise Va’a in Apia.
Png Seizes Big U.S. Fishing Vessel
Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, District Court in early March ordered the seizure of an American trawler, its equipment, including a helicopter, and its catch of fish. It was a mandatory decision under the PNG 1974 Fisheries Act and was thought likely to bring retaliatory trade sanctions by the USA. The trawler, Danica, skippered by William Pryor Lowie, was arrested by PNG Defence Force patrol boats north of New Ireland for alleged illegal fishing.
Lowie, of Florida, who pleaded not guilty, was fined K5OO, in default three months gaol. Some delicate diplomatic bargaining was expected behind the scenes because the United States refuses to recognise laws controlling tuna in 200-mile fishery zones and, under its own Magnuson Act, is bound to impose an embargo on imports of fish from countries which have seized US vessels. The US fish market has been worth K2O million a year to PNG’s fishing industry. Danica is a 100-tonne, 80-metre mother ship worth about SAI2 million. As well as its helicopter, it is equipped with satellite navigation. Essalon Fishing Co (Captain Lowie) had until about March 28 to appeal against the court’s decision, a move lawyers in PNG thought unlikely to succeed.
According to reports, the more likely option was that Essalon would be offered first-choice best-price status when the PNG Government put the confiscated vessel on the market.
Tonga: Grim Legacy Of Cyclone Isaac
Cyclone Isaac, which struck Tonga on March 2, wreaked greatest havoc in the central island group of Haapai. Second worst hit was the island of Tongatapu to the south, especially the seafront of the capital Nukualofa, and the island’s western district villages.
Islands of the Vavau group to the north, and the island of Eua, southeast of Tongatapu, also suffered severe damage. Estimates of loss of life have not been completed (March 8). But it is known that a baby was drowned off Sopu, on the Nukualofa seafront, a man in a dinghy was lost off Nukualofa, another was killed in a house collapse in Haapai, and a child was electrocuted on March 7 after touching live wires during electrical repair work in Nukualofa. Other people are believed missing, but no firm information on them is yet available. Official estimates of damage to trees, crops and buildings run into tens of millions of ST.
Estimation of damage to civil engineering works roads, seawalls, etc has not been completed, but this will certainly add many millions more. Emergency aid has flowed in from Australia, New Zealand, French Polynesia, Guam and the United Kingdom. A New Zealand relief ship has already arrived. In a recent move, Australian and New Zealand army doctors and
engineers switched their base trom NuKualota to Haapai.
Reactions on the Tongan side include; establishment by government of a national disaster fund with a sum of $1 million; a visit by the king and queen in the vessel Olovaha to the stricken areas of Haapai and Vavau; and the establishment of a national disaster committee which, based in the national defence headquarters in Nukualofa, will oversee the distribution of aid.
Penny Hodgkinson in Nukualofa.
Micronesian Seminar’S ‘Memoranda’
The Catholic-based Micronesian Seminar in Truk, Federated States of Micronesia, is giving Pacific-wide circulation to a series of ‘Memoranda’. The latest released, Memos Three and Four, address the questions of nuclear weapons in Micronesia, particularly in Palau, and self-government, in the context of the Draft Compact of Free Association with the United States. Memo Three, written by Henry M. Schwalbenberg, SJ, closes with the words: ‘ln the past there has been general agreement among Christian theologians that the possession of nuclear weapons can be tolerated if this provides a deterrent to nuclear war, which is considered a greater evil. Today, however, a growing number of Catholic theologians question whether even the possession of nuclear weapons can be tolerated. The moral issue facing Palau is whether or not the servicing of nuclear weapons in Palau will help deter nuclear war. I suspect that with or without a Palauan base the American ability to deter a Soviet attack is unchanged.
Unless a good argument can be made that a Palauan base is needed to help deter a nuclear war, then the moral argument for having one is extremely weak. The morality of nuclear weapons in Palau may not be considered in the public debate that will arise once a date for the plebiscite is announced. Like the Marshalls with Kwajalein, Palau stands to make substantial money if the Americans ever decided to use Malakal Harbour as a base. There is a danger that the important moral issue here may be obscured by a desire for money.’
NOUMEA: 17 000 SIGN FOR CANON’S RELEASE A petition calling for the release of Dominique Canon, 20, held since September 22 1981 as chief suspect in the September 19 murder in Noumea of Union Caledonienne leader Pierre Declercq, had attracted 17 000 signatures by late February. The campaign was given impetus by the findings of a Paris ballistics expert called in to study the case. He stated his view that the traces of gunpowder found at the scene of the crime could not have come from the rifle seized at Canon’s home.
Fiji: Confusion As Poll Approaches
One fact that emerged in March from an increasingly confused Fiji political scene is that the ruling Alliance Party will enter the July elections in a precarious position. It is possible that only another split in the usually bickering ranks of the opposition National Federation Party could save it from defeat (as was the case in 1977 when a split Indian vote gave the Alliance a comfortable majority). Both parties are running into trouble with sour and resentful reactions from disappointed applicants’for endorsement as parliamentary candidates. Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara has had a bitter row with James Shankar Singh, president of the Indian Alliance, which could erode some of the ruling party’s already small support among the Indian community. There are also hints that opposition from two small Fijian-based parties, the Fijian Nationalists and the Western United Front (which has teamed up with the NFP with the idea of forming a coalition government), could be more of a problem for it than the Alliance cares to admit.
A further headache is the possibility that supporters of the ousted NFP leader Siddiq Koya will change tack and support the present leader Jai Ram Reddy. If Reddy’s claim that the NFP will move into the election as a united force is borne out, the Alliance faces an alarming prospect. Robert Keith-Reid in Suva.
Vanuatu And The Commonwealth Games
Vanuatu’s Prime Minister, Father Walter Lini, said in Canberra in February his government had not yet decided whether it would boycott the Commonwealth Games, due to begin in Brisbane on September 30. During the week before his visit to Australia, Fr Lini had been reported as saying Vanuatu may boycott the Games over the Australian Aboriginal land rights issue. Asked about these comments, he said: ‘The position of the Vanuatu Government and people in regard to the Commonwealth Games is as yet undecided, mainly because we are one of the newest members of the Commonwealth, and we have not actually trained our people sufficiently to participate in the Games.’ He said the Games and the issue of Aboriginal land rights were two separate issues. The government supported the Aboriginal land issue, but
he could not say whether he would tie that in with the Games.
Fr Lini said he had had some discussions with Aboriginal leaders, including members of the Aboriginal Development Commission, during his visit. They had not formally asked Vanuatu to boycott the Games. They are looking obviously at Pacific Island nations for support but they did not put any particular request to me, he said. The decision depended on how important the Australian public thought the issue was. If all the Australian churches thought the issue important, it would be easy for other Pacific Islands to see how they could act in support of the Aboriginal issue. Sue Green in Canberra.
‘Spies In Png,’ Says Chan
‘There are spies in Papua New Guinea’, the Papua New Guinea Parliament was told in February when Prime Minister Sir Julius Chan tabled his National Intelligence Organisation Bill. But the House refused to be stampeded. Debate on the bill lapsed because not enough members were there to vote. Sir Julius had refuted charges that the National Intelligence Organisation (NIO), which would be created by the bill, would terrorise PNG’s own citizens, or that he wanted dictatorial powers. Under the bill, NIO officers would have power to enter and search premises, use listening devices and open postal articles for inspection. Sir Julius argued that the bill was aimed at protecting PNG’s national security from subversive activities.
Santo Damages Claim Is Filed
The Vanuatu Government has made a detailed claim amounting to SA4 893 000 to the French and British governments for damage caused in the rebellion on Santo in 1980. The package claim contains 829 individual claims for a total of $1 149 000, 24 company and associations’ claims for $3 504 000, and a government claim for $240 000. The largest single claim is for $2 079 000 by the owners of Santo’s former copra mill, which was destroyed by fire during the attempted secession. Both the British and French Governments had earlier indicated that they were willing to consider paying compensation for properly documented claims, provided that the claims, as submitted, were final. A Vanuatu Government spokesmen confirmed that the claims as described above are final. lan Mclntyre in Port-Vila.
Fiji Military Want New Patrol Boats
The Fiji Government is studying a request from the Royal Fiji Military Forces for six new steel-hulled patrol boats at a cost of $1 million each. Designed at the government shipyard in Suva, the vessels will be of 50 metres length overall, have a speed of 18 knots, a helicopter pad, two electronic radars, two machine guns (50 calibre) and a 30 millimetre cannon. The Naval Squadron wants them to replace the three aging ex-US mine-sweepers and use them mainly for patrolling the country’s 200-mile economic and fisheries zone. One of the old patrol boats has, in the past two months, arrested a Taiwanese fishing trawler and a Korean trawler for alleged illegal fishing in Fiji waters. The vessels are at Suva, with their captains awaiting trial.
Tonga Peace Corps Man Convicted
A Tongan jury in February found former US Peace Corps Volunteer William Joseph Adams guilty on two counts of possessing Indian hemp, and Mr Justice Henry Hill sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment on the first count but waived sentence on the second. Passing sentence, Justice Hill said he took into account that the total quantity involved was only six grams, and that the accused had not planted any of the seeds in his possession, or involved any Tongans in smoking marihuana.
He had taught agriculture and English for a year on Nomuka Island in Haapai, and had achieved good results although isolated and depressed by being the only expatriate in this outer-island community. He had also been dismissed from the US Peace Corps, forfeiting emoluments that would have been due to him at the end of 1982. Nevertheless, the judge said, persons directly involved in agriculture were best placed to introduce the growing and use of Indian hemp in defiance of Tongan law. The accused had been in that position, and 260 seeds had been found in his possession. Penny Hodgkinson in Nukualofa.
New Otec Projects For Hawaii
The US Department of Energy has given the go-ahead for two design teams to develop concepts for Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) plants that will be based on Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands. The federal agency announced in February that it was awarding two contracts, each worth $9OO 000, for conceptual designs of two OTEC plants. One would be an offshore plant, the other onshore. OTEC uses temperature
differences between surface and deep ocean water to produce electricity. The awards were made despite mammoth cutbacks in federal aid to alternative energy projects. However, there are already hints that there may not be money available in later years to carry the projects through. Both concepts are based on a 40-megawatt pilot plant that would provide electricity to a community of about 40 000 people. Paul Addison in Honolulu.
Parliamentary Union Men In Vanuatu
Vanuatu, which has applied for full membership of the Asian- Pacific Parliamentary Union, has been visited by a five-man delegation of Japanese parliamentarians who sought to explain the implications of membership of the union. The delegation was led by Daisuke Akita, deputy to the Japanese Diet, and included Yoshiharu Takeno, the parliamentary union’s secretary-general.
The delegation called at Nauru on its way home. lan Mclntyre in Port-Vila.
AID FROM UK, FRANCE, NZ, FOR VANUATU The British semi-government Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) has been authorised to operate in Vanuatu. It will work in partnership with the Vanuatu Government on projects including coffee and cocoa-growing, beef cattle, and forestry, studies of which have been underway for some time. The CDC has long been established in Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. Meanwhile, it has been agreed that the French financial aid organisation, Caisse Centrale, will operate in Vanuatu through the Vanuatu Development Bank, funding low interest loans for small and medium commercial projects. Larger projects will be financed directly by Caisse Centrale which is expected to offer long-term loans (15 years) at interest of about 5 percent, and make available technical expertise for develop ment projects. Caisse Centrale operated in the country under the French administration before independence. New Zealand’s first official aid mission, led by Bryce Harland, director of external aid in New Zealand’s ministry of foreign affairs, has been in Vanuatu inspecting projects and evaluating others in areas where it is felt New Zealand could offer technical assistance. Projects now being undertaken by New Zealand include forestry, reef-clearing, health, education and the Vanuatu Police Training School, with extensions of regional aid schemes, and training in education and technical fields being considered as new projects. lan Mclntyre in Port-VUa.
Kl5O 000 BREWERY FIRE IN PORT MORESBY A fire at the South Pacific Brewery in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, towards the end of February destroyed the VIP lounge, two offices and a laboratory. The damage is assessed at about Kl5O 000. The brewery’s operations were not affected.
Fiji Sugar Men In China
A 10-man delegation from the Fiji sugar industry paid a six-day visit to the People’s Republic of China in February. The delegation toured sugar-growing areas in southern China, paying special attention to methods of cane transport, and the use of waste products from the factory process.
Vanuatu In U.N. Water Scheme
Vanuatu has been included in the United Nations campaign for ‘water for all by 1990’ through the World Health Organisation.
The campaign in Vanuatu will cost about SUSS million. More than 90 percent of urban residents in Port-Vila and Santo have access to a water supply, but fewer than 25 percent of rural dwellers have a proper supply.
Toberua Gets ‘Hideaway’ Award
Toberua Island, a miniature resort 32 kilometres from Suva in Bau Waters, has been rated one of the world’s top 12 retreats for people who ‘want to get away from it all’. A ‘Hideaway of the Year Award’ has been conferred on Toberua by Harper Associates of Fairfax Station, Virginia, USA. The company specialises in reporting on what it considers to be the world’s most ‘peaceful and unspoiled’ places. The island shares the award with resorts in Britain, France, the United States and the Caribbean. A commemorative plaque from Harper Associates will soon go on display at the island, where accommodation is limited to a maximum of 28 guests staying in 14 self-contained bures.
Png Checks Money Dealings Of Missions
Papua New Guinea’s ministry of foreign affairs and trade has launched an inquiry into the financial management of its overseas missions. The inquiry follows a preliminary audit check which indicated that all PNG missions have been operating on cash deficits.