People

Former publisher and editor of PIM Stuart Inder was in Pago Pago in October for the 22nd South Pacific Conference in his present capacity as South Pacific affairs writer for the Sydney, Australia, magazine The Bulletin.

As a veteran attender at the annual conferences of the South Pacific Commission, he writes here on some of the personalities who were in Pago for the occa sion. (He also took the pictures of the people he mentions.) A feature of the 22nd South Pacific Conference in Pago Pago in October was the number of high-ranking visitors who turned up, and the great variety of other guests and observers. I can’t re call a conference with such an array of participants.

The roll-up was largely through the organisation of American Samoa’s Governor Pe ter Tali Coleman, an islander himself, who initiated the idea of attracting international business men with interests in the islands as “sponsors”, and invited them to submit papers and take part in discussions on the “Pacific 2000”.

Governor Coleman was deter mined to show these sponsors that the Pacific truly was a part nership, which was the theme of the conference, and he used his personal influence to get as many leaders as he could to show the flag.

Many were able to stay only a day or two for the opening cere-

monies, but they made an im pressive group dominated by Tonga’s King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV, looking very relaxed in the usual outsized chair pro vided for him.

Making a rare visit was West ern Samoa’s Head of State, His Highness Malietoa Tanumafili 11, but Western Samoa’s prime minister didn’t attend the cur rent political situation there be ing in a pretty fluid state.

Fiji Prime Minister Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara chartered a plane to make it to the opening

ceremonies: it was the only way he could arrange his schedule so that he could be on hand in Fiji the following week to greet Queen Elizabeth II on her Royal tour.

President Hammer De- Roburt, of Nauru, was one of those who arrived at the last minute, because he had just farewelled the Queen on her first visit to the small republic.

Other prime ministers present were Sir Thomas Davis, of the Cook Islands, and Robert Rex of Niue. Deputy Prime Minister Duncan Maclntyre represented New Zealand, but Australia was represented by the Minister for Defence Support, lan Viner.

Lord Belstead, Minister of State for the Foreign and Common wealth Office, led the UK delegation.

There was a large contingent from the US Micronesian states, Northern Marianas being repre sented by Governor Pedro Tenorio. There was an even lar ger contingent representing the US State Department and the Department of Interior, and there was a number of US Senators.

Fred M. Zeder, President Reagan’s Personal Representa tive to the Micronesian Status Negotiations, stayed for most of the conference.

Governor Coleman invited former secretaries-general of the SPC as guests for the opening ceremonies, and two who arrived to renew old friendships were Fred Betham, of Western Samoa (in office from 1971 to

1975), and Dr Macu Salato, of Fiji (1975 to 1979). Stuart Inder.

Papua New Guinea’s largest ad vertising agency, Gordon Sioni Pacific, has appointed a new chairman of directors.

He is Joe Joel, a well-known public relations consultant now based in Sydney, Australia. Two senior Papua New Guinean ex ecutives of the agency have also been appointed to the board of directors. They are Willie Ste vens, associate creative director, and Angelyne Tukana, media director.

The agency’s founder, Chris Gordon, continues as managing director and chief executive.

Solomon Islands’ new roving ambassador is Francis Saemala,

Two veteran national leaders at the South Pacific Conference: Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, Fiji Prime Minister; and President Hammer DeRoburt, Nauru.

In Pago Pago for the confer ence: Robert Rex, Niue Prime Minister; King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV, Tonga; Malietoa Tanumafili II, Western Samoa Head of State; Sir Thomas Davis, Cook Islands Prime Minister.

Joe Joel

who will double as secretary for foreign affairs and trade.

Mr Saemala succeeds Francis Bugotu, who is the new secret ary-general of the South Pacific Commission.

Mr Saemala served for several years as special secretary to for mer prime minister of the Sol omons, Sir Peter Kenilorea, who now leads the parliamentary opposition.

Mr Saemala’s first major as signment was to lead the Sol omons delegation to the 37th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Rory Scott has been appointed one of three new vice-presidents for the Asia/Pacific region of the Hongkong-based Asian Holiday Inn chain. He will have responsi bility for franchise relations.

Mr Scott was formerly the chain’s director of marketing and sales for the Asia/Pacific region, a position he held for four years.

Before that, he was director of the Office of Tourism of Papua New Guinea, and previously worked for 11 years for the gov ernment of Fiji, as district officer and later as general manager of the Fiji Visitors Bureau.

Mr Scott’s new position as

regional vice-president for franchise relations marks the es tablishment of a new function within the chain, and reflects its rapid growth by the end of this year, according to a press release, it will comprise 21 hotels.

Pago Pago’s “own” Queen Em ma is Emma Randall, owner of the Purple Onion Lounge night spot, and widely appreciated loc ally as “the hostess with the mostess”.

Ms Randall was widely tipped to succeed as a candidate in the November elections to the territ ory’s House of Representatives.

“You need Emma NOW” was the slogan seen by many October visitors to Pago on card board sheets nailed to coconut palms in the vicinity of her home village.

It was a good slogan, too, according to old Pago hands. The elections, they pointed out, were “issue-free”.

Dr Gidon Blumenfeld has been appointed as the representative of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Western Samoa.

Dr Blumenfeld, who served as

a senior agricultural adviser/FAO representative for the South Pacific, based in Fiji, from 1975 to 1980, arrived in Apia earlier this year to establish a new FAO Representation.

Costs of operating the repre sentation are met from FAO’s regular program that is, from membership fees paid by FAO member countries and from a special contribution by the gov ernment of Western Samoa.

FAO developing member countries in the Pacific are Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and

Emma Randall of the Purple Onion Lounge, a nightspot in Pago Pago, American Samoa. “You need Emma NOW” was her election slogan nailed to coconut palms during recent campaigning for the House of Representatives.

Aggie Grey, the Western Samoa businesswoman who, in 25 years, turned a hamburger and coffee shop into a major hotel enterprise, turned 85 on Octob er 31. At Aggie’s Hotel in Apia she is shown here on her birth day autographing a copy of her biography, the Nelson Eustis book Aggie Grey of Samoa.

Rory Scott

Western Samoa, and it is expect ed that the FAO office in Apia will eventually serve them all.

Deputy Prime Minister of Tonga Baron Tuita of Utungake, studied the development of Aust ralia’s solar water heating indus try during a recent visit to Sydney.

Baron Tuita visited the solar production plant of Rheem Aust ralia Ltd., largest hot water sys tem manufacturers in Australia.

He also studied the latest de velopments in gas and electric water heating during an official inspection of the company’s plant in the Sydney suburb of Rydalmere.

Helen Framhein Wong of the Cook Islands has taken up a post

with the South Pacific Bureau for Economic Co-operation (SPEC) headquarters in Suva.

The first Cook Islands woman to serve in an executive position with SPEC, Mrs Framhein Wong is working on a three-year ap pointment as project officer in charge of carrying out studies in the areas of economic develop ment, trade, telecommunica tions, shipping and tourist de velopment in the Pacific region.

She was formerly a senior public servant in the Cooks.

Saturday December 11 has been set as wedding day for HRH Prince Lavaka Ata, youngest son of King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV of Tonga, and Nanasipau’u Vaea, eldest daughter of Tonga’s Minister of Labor, Commerce

and Industries, Baron Vaea and Baroness Tuputupu. The young couple’s engagement was an nounced on July 12 (PIM Sep. p 43).

French High Commissioner to New Caledonia Christian Nucci finally left the territory on Octob er 22.

Earlier in the day, opening the budget session of the Territorial Assembly, Mr Nucci had said of his experience in the territory; “I knew that this was going to be a tough assignment before I ever came here. Along with the vari ous compensations that have come my way, it certainly has been. My feelings have certainly been hurt by insidious and un founded criticisms that have been levelled at me. But I’m a politi

dan, and I knew I owed it to myself not to reply to them, and to leave the Caledonian people to act as the only judge.”

Mr Nucci’s successor, Jac ques Roynette, arrived in Noumea on October 24.

In an arrival interview with the Noumea daily Les Nouvelles, Mr Roynette emphasised that no time limit had been set for his mission in New Caledonia.

He said he had chosen the post of high commissioner in New Caledonia from a number he could have had because it pro mised to be “exciting”.

Dr Geoffrey Caston, former re gistrar of Oxford University, has been named vice-chancellor of the University of the South Pacif ic in Suva.

He succeeds Dr James Maraj, who has joined the World Bank as a consultant.

Dr Caston takes up his post early in 1983.

Baron Tuita, Deputy Prime Minister of Tonga, with Australian officials and industry representatives during his Sydney visit to assess the potential of solar energy for water heating. In the picture, left to right, are: Don Hazeltine, Technical Manager of Rheem’s Appliance Division; Sione Kite, Deputy Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Tonga; Graham Hall, General Manager of Rheem’s Appliance Division; Baron Tuita; Max Boyley and Derek Thompson, Australian Prime Minister’s Department.

Fiji and Papua New Guinea are among 12 countries with army officers at historic Queenscliff Fort, now a modern military staff college, on the Australian coast. They are training for higher rank at the college at the entrance to Port Phillip Bay, Victoria. Among the officers are

(below) Major Jioji Konousi

Konrote of the Royal Fiji Milit ary Forces with his Australian

sponsor, Major Stephen Yates,

and (below left) Major Jack Pas

singan Tuat of the PNG Defence Force with sponsor Major Dave Mills. Patrick McArdell pic ture for AIS.