Pacific Report
pp. 5-9 · Read in the full issue
Foreign Ministers Conclude S.R.O. Talks
Foreign ministers from four South Pacific countries have agreed on an interim report to this year’s conference of the South Pacific Forum on the setting up of a single regional organisation (SRO).
After two days of talks in April in Wellington, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea’s Foreign Minister Rabbie Namaliu said it was not I* \ new k°dy would be formed in the next year or so.
Mr Namaliu said the interim report would go before the South Pacific Forum meeting in Tuvalu in August. A new body has been suggested as a replacement for the South Pacific Bureau for Economic Co-operation (SPEC), the regional secretariat of the forum and the South Pacific Commission (SPC). Apart from Mr Namaliu, the Wellington talks were attended by the foreign ministers of New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga. They were delegated to study the problem by the 1983 meeting of the forum which was held in Canberra.
Regular Talks For Solomons, Png
The prime ministers of Papua New Guinea (Michael Somare) and Solomon Islands (Solomon Mamaloni) have agreed, in talks in Honiara, that their countries will hold a series of talks each year on subjects of mutual interest.
Bikinians Plan New Legal Move
Former residents of Bikini Atoll say they will take new legal action in an effort to force the United States Government to clean up radioactive material from atomic bomb tests so they can resettle their central home island. The Bikinians were removed in 1946 to enable the U.S. to conduct a series of nuclear tests. Their lawsuit, to be filed in the federal court in Honolulu, seeks an injunction to require the government to make the atoll safe for human habitation. Last November, a committee of scientists reported that decontamination of the atoll was technically feasible. In March, the
House of Representatives Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs recommended that SUSIO million be spent annually, beginning in the 1985 fiscal year, to clean up the atoll. The Bikini Atoll Rehabilitation Committee, which was funded by Congress, estimated it would cost up to $l3O million to decontaminate Bikini’s two main residential islands Bikini and Eneu. American Associated Press said the nearby atoll of Enewetak, the site of 43 nuclear tests, was cleaned up and rehabilitated in the late 1970 s at a cost of $l5O million. The U.S. returned the Enewetak people to their atoll in 1980.
A.C.P. NATIONS BALK AT HUMAN RIGHTS TIE Delegates from more than 50 African, Caribbean and Pacific nations say they are opposed to a plan to link aid from European countries to their records on human rights. The African, Caribbean and Pacific Council of Ministers was meeting in Fiji in April-May to discuss aid under the Lome Convention with officials of the European Economic Community. A press spokesman said the ministers had no objection to discussing human rights, but said it should not be linked to aid or trade concessions.
Traditional Court Set Up In Marshalls
The first Traditional Rights Court has been established on Majuro under the new constitution of the Marshall Islands Republic with nine judges and a clerk sworn in by Judge Kabua Kabua, presiding judge of the District Court. The new rights court will define and protect the customs and traditions of the Marshallese concerning their land rights, titles and other rights. Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony, Judge John C. Lanham, Chief Justice of the High Court, said the new court “will protect and define the customs and traditions of the Marshallese people . . . your lands will not disappear into the hands of missionaries and greedy businesses as did the Hawaiian lands in Hawaii. ” Chief Judge of the new court is Berson Joseph.
French Poll Looms Large In Noumea
Among reasons why New Caledonia’s Independence Front leaders are rejecting the French Government’s proposals for the territory’s future is that they fear that the French socialists will lose their parliamentary majority in France’s elections in 1986, and that the new, conservative National Assembly will scrap the socialists’ plans anyway. Making this point in the Paris daily Le Monde in April, Alain Rollat, who had just returned from Noumea, added: “They also fear that the new statute for internal self-government, once in operation, will work to the advantage of both the European and Kanak communities, and that in consequence a good number of Melanesians might be turned off the idea of complete separation from France. Because they have made a similar analysis of the situation, and are convinced that the moves set in train by the Left will not have time to be fully worked out, the leaders of the main conservative movement, the RPCR whose president, Jacques Lafleur, is one of New Caledonia’s two deputies to the National Assembly in Paris have shown moderation in their attitude to the government’s plans.”
ESCAP TO SET UP SHOP IN VANUATU The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has decided to establish its regional headquarters in Vanuatu, to be known as the ESCAP Pacific Operations Centre. At its recent annual session in Tokyo, the commission endorsed the plan to merge its offices in Suva and Nauru as part of the process of launching a program of special projects to meet the needs of the Pacific Islands. Earlier this year, the Asian Development Bank announced its decision to establish its regional headquarters in Port-Vila, Vanuatu’s capital. Some observers feel that this emergence of Vanuatu as an important centre of the activities of international agencies will do much to keep the country within the ambit of the Western powers, as Vanuatu has been seen by some as a potential power vacuum in a sensitive South Pacific.
Unesco Goes To Apia
Unesco plans to open its first regional office for the South Pacific at Apia i n June, if the Western Samoa Government approves. The office will handle all business involving its member states in the South Pacific, Western Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga, Australia and New Zealand, at present administered, along with the Asian states, from Bangkok.
Greece's Pacific Push (Ujn. In Mind)
Greece is to open diplomatic relations with five countries in the Pacific, the European Affairs Minister, Theodore Pangalos, said in April. Mr Pangalos, about to leave for Fiji for a meeting between European Community ministers and the African, Caribbean and Pacific states associated with the bloc, said he would take the opportunity to agree on starting diplomatic ties with Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Kiribati and Vanuatu. He said that Turkey, which competes with Greece at the UN for votes over the Cyprus issue, had relations with the Solomons and Tuvalu. He expected the Greek Ambassador to Australia to be accredited to the five countries.
JAKARTA PAPER HITS GOVT, ON IRIAN JAVA Indonesia had made little progress in developing Irian Jaya, the Jakarta Post newspaper said in May. “The majority of the people in Irian Java are still living in the stone age,” an editorial in the English-language daily said. This was partly because the govern ment, despite spending millions of rupiahs, sent in “second if not third class officials when what was needed were top-rated and dedicated government servants,” it said. The Post said Indonesian administrators often looked down on the Irianese. The officials’ attitude irritated the locals and made them easy targets for the propaganda of the rebel Free West Papua Movement, which was fighting for independence from Indonesia, the Post said.
Hustings In The Highlands
It’s election time in the PNG Highlands provinces of Chimbu and Western Highlands. Nominations opened on April 24 in Mt Hagen and Kundiawa. Observers expect Western Highlands premier, Nambuga Mara to face a stiff battle to retain power,and even his own seat. His Chimbu counterpart, Matthew Siune, who has held office for the past four years is said to be under no immediate threat, althougfh Henry Tokam, formerly police commissioner at the time of the Chan/Okuk government, is said to be interested in nominating. Mara’s opponent is a wealthy planter, Clement Leahy, son of the Australian explorer and a Mt Hagen mother. Leahy has a large local following and is said to identify more closely with the Melanesian side of his ancestry, despite his smart Mercedes-Benz.
Many feel Leahy will have an easy win. He has represented the area on a number of local government bodies and is at the centre of a movement to reform the provincial government. He has accused Mara’s administration of withholding funds earmarked for rural development and of failing to establish proper communica tion between themselves, councils and the people. As in all Highlands elections campaigns, candidates are distributing free beer and food and many of them are back in their villages for the first time in years, distributing goodies and promises. Aside from the usual charge and counter-charge among the hopefuls there has been a dispute over the reason why Leahy’s name apparently did not appear on the election rolls. Mara said that disqualified Leahy from standing, but the campaign is proceeding with Leahy’s name still on the candidates’ register. Ballots will be counted on July 3.
Leo Scheps.
Rotten Eggs Treatment' For Oz Professor
Professor Harry Lander, newly appointed head of the Fiji School of Medicine, had a mixture of rotten eggs and milk dumped on him in an incident in Suva on May 2. The man doing the dumping was Dr Deo Dutt Sharma, president of the Fiji Medical Association, who claimed the mixture was his “lunch”. Dr Sharma denied the incident had anything to do with his earlier threat that any expatriate who took on the job would be given “the rotten egg treatment”. Dr Sharma said his car was chased and stoned by officers of the health ministry as he drove away after the incident.
Police were investigating complaints relating both to the rotten eggs affair and the alleged stoning of Dr Sharma’s car. Professor Lander, formerly of Australia’s University of Adelaide, was appointed by the Fiji Public Service Commission. On behalf of the Fiji Medical Association, Dr Sharma claimed that Professor Lander’s appointment was “a waste of Australian aid money, because there are local people qualified to do the job”. The association has said it will refuse to co-operate with Professor Lander.
Ramphal To Make Small States Study
Commonwealth Secretary-General Shridath Ramphal in May completed a three-day visit to Tonga, which has the largest
Commonwealth development program in the Pacific. Before leaving Nukualofa Mr Ramphal said he would be carrying out the first major international study on the special needs of small states.
He said the study had been recommended by the last Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
According to Mr Ramphal, the Pacific makes up a large part of the study, and, because of this, island countries like Tonga, Western Samoa, Tuvalu and Kiribati would be given particular attention. He said that when Papua New Guinea opens its new parliament buildings in August, the heads of governments would meet to discuss the future of Commonwealth Heads of Government Regional Meetings (CHOGRM). Mr Ramphal added he hoped they would preserve the regional meetings because they helped to develop a world more peaceful, habitable and prosperous for the majority of its people.
World's Largest Telescope For Hawaii
The world’s largest telescope will be built on a mountain peak in the Hawaiian islands at a cost of SUSIOO million. Construction is expected to be completed in 1990. The telescope which is being financed in part by a $36 million grant to the University of California will be placed on Mauna Kea, a 4300-metre high peak on the island of Hawaii. A spokeswoman for the university said the peak had been selected because it was generally free of cloud cover and provided excellent possibilities for making observations. She added that the project would open new windows on the universe. United Press International said a working demonstration of the telescope was scheduled for completion in June at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in the United States.
UPI said the model is expected to demonstrate that the full-scale telescope and its 36 mirrors can be controlled with precision.
Bulk-Buy Plan By Co Operatives
A group of seven Pacific Island countries have agreed to go ahead with a major regional scheme, under which their national co-operative societies will place joint orders for a wide range of consumer goods. Approval for the bulk purchasing scheme followed a week-long meeting of co-operative officials in Suva.
Countries represented were Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tonga, Western Samoa, Tuvalu and Kiribati. A statement issued at the end of the conference said a committee of three, chaired by Fiji, had been set up to co-ordinate the scheme. The statement added that delegates had agreed that the committee should be operating effectively by July, with an initial working period of one year. A follow-up meeting with the managers of the seven co-operatives is to be held in Fiji later this year to review the committee’s progress.
New Caledonia's Bullish Marble Industry
New Caledonia has set up a Territoral Marble Service which will co-ordinate the activities of the administrative and Melanesian customary authorities concerned with the exploitation of the territory’s marble deposits. The service will work to discover new deposits of the stone, offer assistance to investors, and train craftsmen. According to a spokesman for one company founded only a few months ago: “We’re up to our eyes in orders. . . New Caledonia’s marble looks like being a rich lode to work.”
Reagan's Man Quits Suva Post
Fred Eckert, the U.S. ambassador to Fiji and four other Pacific countries, has resigned and will return to his home state, New York, this month to run for election as a congressman. Mr Eckert, a political appointee to the Fiji post, replaced career diplomat William Bodde early in 1982 as part of the customary ambassadorial reshuffle in the wake of the arrival of a new U.S. president, in this case. Ronald Reagan. Mr Eckert, a leading Republican politician in Rochester, New York, was formerly a state senator and, in that position, had a good deal to do with President Reagan’s successful campaign. Diplomatic speculation suggests that Mr Eckert’s resignation has touched off a vigorous competition for the important Pacific post. Leading the race is a strong posse of U.S.
Department of State bureaucrats who want to see the job back in the hands of a career officer, and away from U.S. political patronage. Of the posts available in the Pacific, and on the rim, the politicos have four embassies, Tokyo, Canberra, Wellington and Suva. The career men have three, Port Moresby, Manila and Jakarta. Mr Eckert’s appointment to Suva was a loss to this faction lorr? 6 ernbass V bab been a professional appointment since 1977 when it was raised from the status of a consulate.
New Caledonia's Bibliography Rounded Off
New Caledonia’s Historical Studies Society has announced in its second quarterly bulletin for 1984 the publication of a 350-page book, Bibliographie de la Nouvelle-Caledonie, 1955-1982, designed for use in libraries throughout the world. The new publication carries on from where French Pacific scholar Father Patrick O’Reilly’s bibliography left off. Father O’Reilly’s work, published in 1955, covered the period from European discovery in 1774 to 1954.
Vanuatu Seeks Malaysian Aid
During a four-day visit to Malaysia in April, Vanuatu Prime Minister Fr Walter Lini asked the Malaysian Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir, for more help in developing Vanuatu’s cocoa industry and for Malaysian investment in his country’s hotel and airport construc tion projects. Fr Lini said he wanted a further supply of cocoa seedlings. A previous gift of seedlings helped Vanuatu to start a cocoa industry. Dr Mahathir told Fr Lini that it was Malaysia’s intention to extend training facilities in youth leadership and radio broadcasting for ni-Vanuatu in Malaysia.
Big War Memorial Project In Solomons
The Solomon Islands Government has approved a plan to build a multi-million dollar war memorial complex on Guadalcanal, scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the War in the Pacific. The complex, a memorial to all who fought on Guadalcanal, will contain a chapel and shrine, a war museum and a Solomon Islands cultural centre. Dedication ceremonies are scheduled for Septem ber 2, 1985, the 40th anniversary of the end of the Pacific War.
Beef Canning Underway At Bouloupari
A beef-canning operation at Bouloupari, about 80 km west of Noumea, has begun production. New Caledonia’s official weekly news release says that the company, Conseb, is at present producing 1000 cans of beef a day, and plans gradually to raise output to 2000 cans daily.
Tahiti Corruption Charges Quashed
A court in Papeete, Tahiti, has dismissed charges of corruption against Rodrigue Legayic, a former director of Papeete’s Port Authority, and Napoleon Spitz, a member of the Territorial Assembly and president of the French Polynesia Permanent Commission. The charges were based on allegations that port authority workers were used to build a house for Spitz’s mother.
Other charges are still pending against Legayic and a local businessman alleging corruption and misuse of funds.
Hawaiian Air's Record High
Hawaiian Airlines in April reported that in the first quarter of 1984, the company achieved its best operating results for any quarter in its 54-year history. Hawaiian Air’s first-quarter operating profit of SUS 4.2 million exceeded any previous quarterly operating profit by a considerable margin. The net income during the quarter was also the best in the company’s history, excluding any gain from the sale of aircraft and extraordinary items in earlier quarters.
“Come Inland" Lure For N.C. Tourists
New Caledonia’s tourist operators catering for visitors outside Noumea have set up a Tourist Development Office for the Interior and the Islands. The two bodies representing the operators of Melanesian-style accommodation, Melatour and Melanesian Holi days Service, have joined in setting up a Tribal Lodgings Federation. The moves are part of an officially sponsored drive to attract tourists to the interior of the main island, to its lush but seldom visited east coast, and to the Loyalty Islands and the Isle of Pines.
Fire Closes Fiji Resort
Fiji’s Treasure Island Resort will be closed until September 1 after a fire which caused about $1 million damage on April 28. The decision to close the island was announced by Bill Waddell, general manager of Islands In The Sun, operators of the resort near Lautoka. He said closure was necessary to ensure reconstruction at speed. The fire destroyed the resort’s central building complex, containing the kitchen, powerhouse, dining room, lounge and administration offices. About 100 guests and 40 staff were in the building at the time of the fire but no one was injured.