Pacific Report

Bp S Phil Best Resigns

Mr Philip Best, Fiji-born chief executive of Burns Philp, has resigned and his place at the helm of the large Pacific and Australian trading conglomerate will be taken by Mr Andrew Turnbull. Mr Turnbull, 53, joined BP, in 1981 as general manager of the company’s Australian operations and was appointed to the board in 1983. He is a chartered electrical engineer and was formerly assistant managing director of GEC (Australia) Ltd. Mr Best has resigned from Burns Philp and its affiliated companies after 31 years with the group. He said that after eight years at the top of BP he planned to take up new challenges. BP group profits increased 91 per cent in the six months to the end of 1983.

Museum's Islands Display In Sydney

Sydney’s Macleay Museum was the scene on June 29 of a gathering of more than 150 people for the opening of a display of Pacific Island artefacts. One of the largest private museums in Australia, the Macleay is noted for its Pacific Islands collection. The museum said in a press release that the display was aimed at deepening the appreciation of Australians of the cultures of those countries of the South Pacific which they so often visit as tourists.

The June 29 occasion was opened by C. B. Singh, vice-consul of Fiji in Sydney, and featured a lavish Islands feast, and dancing by the Fiji Cultural Group of New South Wales. The exhibition will remain open until mid-September.

Landowners Stall Big Fiji Hotel Project

Opposition from some local landowners in Fiji is reported to have put plans to build a multi-million dollar tourist resort in doubt. The

project, to be built near the international airport at Nadi, would include a hotel with 350 rooms, two smaller hotels and 700 villas.

The general manager of the Native Land Trust Board, Mr Kamikamica, said the opposition came from a group which claimed to represent the younger generation. He said village elders and leaders supported the plans. Mr Kamikamica said benefits to the landowners from the project would be immense. He said they would receive $1 million in rent, as well as opportunities to participate in tourist-oriented business. Because the land is native reserve, the consent of the majority of native owners is required for the project to proceed.

Queen Honors 55 In Fiji, Png

The independent chairman of the Fiji Sugar Industry, Gerald Barrack, trade unionist James Raman, and Colonial War Memorial Hospital surgeon Etika Vudiniabola were made Commanders of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1984 Queen’s Birthday Honors.

They headed a list of 21 Fiji citizens honored by the Queen. In Papua New Guinea, the highest of this year’s 34 awards went to the retired head of the Anglican Church of PNG, Bishop David Hand. He was made Knight Commander of the British Empire (KBE). Former Lands Minister Thomas Kavali was made a Knight Bachelor. CBEs went to Brigadier-General Ken Noga, head of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force, the Minister for Works and Supply Pato Kakarya and Mr Justice Norris Harry Pratt.

Village Burnt, Kidnapping, On Png Border

In the troubled border area of Papua New Guinea-Irian Jaya, about 50 unidentified armed men late in June entered a village

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about 500 metres inside PNG territory, and, according to a PNG Government protest note to Indonesia, set fire to huts, destroyed fruit and cash crop trees, carved their names on trees and left empty Indonesian army ration packs scattered around. Speaking in Jakarta, Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Dr Mochtar said he was treating the claims seriously and was seeking advice from military authorities in Irian Jaya. He said although it was too early to know the facts, the conspicuous way the men carved their names on trees and left the ration packs behind made him suspect they were O.P.M. rebels. In another development, a PNG schoolteacher, Damien Makal Aiyu, was abducted by O.P.M. rebels on June 28.

Mr Aiyu was walking in a remote area of West Sepik province when he was seized. Following an ultimatum from the PNG Government, he was released unharmed on July 3.

FRANCE S THIRD N TEST FOR 84 French scientists detonated a nuclear device on Moruroa Atoll on June 13, the third this year. Seismological observers at Rarotonga in the Cook Islands said the explosion was “quite a small one we estimate it to be 5 kilotons”. On May 8 a 20 kilotons explosion was recorded from the French atoll, followed by a 50 kilotons one on The largest explosion on Moruroa was about 140 kilotons

Tuvalu Gets Back U.S. Investment

Tuvalu Prime Minister Dr Tomasi Puapua has announced that information has reached the Tuvalu National Bank from the United States that Californian real estate dealer Sidney Gross had paid into the Tuvalu account $U5148,090.21, the balance of interest and the initial investment of $A550,380 paid to Mr Gross in 1979 by Tuvalu’s former Prime Minister, Mr Toaripi Lauti. The Church of Tuvalu has also announced that Mr Gross has returned to the church $3711.65 for land the church bought in Green Valley, Texas. Many parcels of land in Green Valley were sold to people in Tuvalu and Kiribati. It was alleged that the land was desert.

Fiji Opposition Returns To House

Under its new leader Mr Siddiq Koya, recently elected to replace Mr Jai Ram Reddy, the National Federation Party (NFP) Opposition in the Fiji Parliament, along with its coalition partner, the Western United Front members, returned to the House for the new session on June 4. ending its boycott imposed last December 15.

How Did Arnold Ap Die?

Yet another version of the manner in which Irian Jayan anthropologist Arnold Ap met his death in April has been given by Indonesian lawyet Mulya Lubis. Mr Lubis, president of the Legal Aid Institute, told a press conference in Jakarta on his return from a visit to Irian Jaya, that from various accounts he had heard, Mr Ap escaped from Jayapura Jail on April 22 with four other Irianese and a local policeman who helped them. A car waiting outside the jail took them to the coastal town of Pasir Enam near Jayapura from where they hoped to flee to neighboring Papua New Guinea, although “it was not a good place to escape”, Mr Lubis said. The account obtained by the institute said Mr Ap was found by police after three days and killed, and his body left in Pasir Enam. A second escapee, Eduard Mofu, was also killed and his body found at sea. Urging the government to set up a committee to investigate the case, Mr Lubis said; “The committee should consist not only of government people, police, the military and prosecutors, but also people from outside like lawyers and reporters, so the independent nature of the committee could be maintained. “There is a conspiracy of silence in Irian Jaya over this,” said Yap Hien, vice-president of the institute who accompanied Mr Lubis on his visit.

N.C.: HIGH ABSTENTION RATE CLAIMED IN POLL Pro-independence parties in New Caledonia have claimed that 60 per cent of eligible voters failed to vote in the June 17 poll for the European Parliament. New Caledonia, as an integral part of France, was entitled to take part in the election. The French newsagency AFP quoted the president of the five-party Independ

ence Front, Roch Pidjot, as saying that the Kanak people had responded decisively to he the front’s call for a boycott of the election. In a statement released in Paris, Mr Pidjot said the poll result had confirmed the extent of hidden racism in the territory.

The extreme Rightwing National Front had received 16 per cent of the territory vote, Mr Pidjot claimed the figure reached 24 per cent in Noumea.

Ennoblement Of Tupuola

Former Western Samoa Prime Minister and present Opposition Leader Tupuola Efi is now known as Tupua Tamasese as this title, one of the four highest in Samoa, has been conferred on him by the Aiga Sa Fenunuivao of Salani and Falefa. The four “Tama Aiga” are known as the Four Royal Sons. Tupua Tamasese succeeds his cousin and former Prime Minister Tupua Tamasese Lealofi IV who died last year.

Emergency Gear Flown To Rabaul

Emergency equipment from Australia for earthquake-threatened Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, has been distributed to the evacuation centre outside the town. The equipment, worth about $29,000, was provided by the Australian Development Assistance Burea, and was flown to Kabaul late in June by a Royal Australian Air Force plane, The equipment includes water pumps, chain saws, hurricane lamps, large tents, lighting, and other electrical items.

The new equipment will be used to help between 10,000 and 12,000 people who will be affected by an eruption of the Rabaul volcano.

W. Samoa Tug In Sea Rescue

A tug from Western Samoa in late June rescued two American Samoan residents who had spent five days adrift first on their disabled yacht, and then on a life-raft. A coastguard spokesman at Pago Pago said the two men were found suffering from dehydration and exposure, but otherwise well. The pair sailed their trimaran out of Pago Pago on June 21 bound for Apia, 128 km to the north-east, but failed to arrive. No more was heard of them until a Polynesian Airlines pilot picked up a signal from a distress beacon, and then another Polynesian airliner located the men’s life-raft the following day. Survival equipment was dropped to the men before they were rescued.

JAPAN, PNG AGREE ON CANNED FISH CHECKS Japan’s Canned Food Inspection Association has agreed to improve methods now used in canned fish factories in Japan. The decision is part of a preliminary agreement signed in Tokyo recently between Papua New Guinea and Japan. This follows recent reports alleging that worms had been found in Japanese canned mackerel sold in PNG. However, PNG health officials said that what had been found in the canned mackerel were not worms but anisakis larvae, which is a parasite of fish. The officials said the larvae were harmless after the canning process and could be eaten.

Tonga Digs Deep For Unicef

The Government of the Kingdom of Tonga has just concluded a contribution of $U55899.80 in support of the world-wide programs of the United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF.

While global recession and changing ecnomic and political situations have led many major donors to make little if any increase in their support of international development, Tonga’s initial contribution was noted by UNICEF as an important reaffirmation of the goals of international co-operation in serving the welfare and development needs of children. In Tonga, UNICEF co-operates with the government in areas such as primary health care, child immunisation, rural water supply and sanitation (all in partnership with WHO), and in nutrition and pre-school education.

HUSH HUSH AS TONGAN RAPIST GETS 26 YEARS A 36-year-old rapist was sent quietly away for 26 years in Tonga’s Huatolitoli prison in May. It was one of the heaviest sentences imposed by the Supreme Court on an offender in Tonga in recent years. But the lengthy punishment was not made known to the community. Although the trial by judge alone followed normal procedures, the sentence was not broadcast. Nor was it printed in the government newspaper. As Radio Tonga’s news presenter, Miss Luseane Vaea explained, “It’s traditional for us not to discuss such things (sexual offences) in public.” The man, Vili Falamoe, who has been a prisoner since 1965, practically all his adult life, was found guilty on two charges of rape and indecent assault on

two young women. He has several previous convictions for sexual offences and it was not satisfactorily explained why Falamoe was free to commit further offences when he should still have been serving a 10-year prison sentence handed down in 1976. In April he lured an unsuspecting 14-year-old girl to a house. He denied raping her, but then broke down in court and asked for life imprisonment. The second charge involved a 20-year-old. Tonga’s Chief Justice Harwood said that Falamoe was a case for psychiatric treatment. Tonga has no facilities for psychiatric detainees so two prison terms for rape and two for indecent assault were imposed totalling 26 years. Mary Fonua in Nukualofa.

Former Palau Prosecutor Jailed

A former U.S. prosecutor on Palau, Roger Crobarger, has been sentenced to three years in prison by a U.S. judge in California for income tax offences, and marijuana growing. The offences took place in California. Crobarger had been arrested on these charges in Guam, but was tried and sentenced in San Diego. David S.

North in Washington.

Tufele U Amatua Honored In Hawaii

Hawaii’s House of Representatives has formally adopted a resolution honoring Tufele Li’a, lieutenant-governor of American Samoa as “a dedicated diligent administrator and dynamic leader who is willing to take decisive action on problems affecting his people, as well as an engaging and compassionate person and family man, whose lovely wife Tofiga is a prominent registered nurse who also serves her people at Lyndon B. Johnson Medical Center on the Island of Tutuila.

Congressional Dispute Snags Compact

A dispute on jurisdictional rights between the United States Interior and Foreign Affairs committees of the U.S. Congress makes it unlikely that the Congress will reach a decision on the Compact of Free Association between the US and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) before the early part of 1985. FSM President Tosiwo Nakayama said this at a meeting of the FSM Congress on his return from Washington after committee hearings on the compact, which, he said, had the support of key leaders in the US Congress. A US Political Statues Commission official was reported by the FSM Information Service as saying that the compact had not yet been introduced in Congress because of the dispute. He said Foreign Affairs would most likely have some jurisdiction. In Washington, President Nakayama told a Senate committee that the people of the FSM embraced the Compact of Free Association, and Ponape Governor Resio Moses said the time had come to terminate the UN Trusteeship and for Micronesians to set their own course for the future. “It is our wish that the course we set should include a close, long-term relationship with the United States,” he said.

Guam Government Wins On Foreign Workers

The Guam Territorial Government has won a years-long struggle with US Labor Department over temporary worker policy on Guam. The Labor Department had wanted to limit the number of foreign workers on the island (mostly recruited in the Philippines) and to raise their wages; its principal ally was the Mainland union of operating engineers. On the other side of the issue were island employers and the US Defense Department, both of which preferred the less expensive foreign workers. The government of Guam, which had lost control of the foreign worker program to the Department of Labor years ago, has now been restored to the driver’s seat. The U.S. Immigration Service, which has little interest in wage rates, continues to play a formal role in the program.

David S. North in Washington.

Big Polynesia Documentary Film In Works

Preparations are well underway in New Zealand for a major television documentary series, tracing the history of the peoples of Polynesia. Among project organisers will be a pan-Polynesian trust, to be established with the co-operation of authorities in Tonga, Fiji, Samoa and New Zealand. A Radio Australia correspondent in Auckland has reported that once details of the proposed trust are finished, it will probably be incorporated in Tonga, and have its headquarters in New Zealand. Initial episodes in the documentary series are expected to be narrative in style, following the spread of the Polynesian people from the Malay Peninsula through Fiji to Tonga, Samoa and New Zealand. Later episodes will deal with the

effects of the arrival of white missionaries, world wars and other influences on the Polynesian people. Filming is expected to begin later this year.

Second Marathon For Noumea In September

New Caledonia’s Second International Marathon will be held in Noumea on Sunday, September 9. There will be three different runs, all departing from and returning to the Anse Vata Racecourse. The Marathon Run is 42.195 km, and the Semi- Marathon Run is 21.098 km. each race having a maximum of 300 participants. For those who fancy themselves as distance runners, there is a Fun Run of only 7 km, with as many as 3000 participants.

Applicants for all races will be divided into categories of Junior, Senior and Veteran. Official registration must be made by August 31.

Aboriginals Visit New Caledonia

For the first time a delegation of Australian Aboriginals has visited New Caledonia. Led by Ossie Cruse of the National Aboriginal Conference, the delegation met representatives of all parties of the Independence Front the revolutionary socialist party, PALIKA and the Evangelical Church. The delegation also visited the trive of St Louis on Noumea’s outskirts. The delegation invited the Kanak people to join the World Council of Indigenous Peoples (WCIP), which was set up in the 1970 s to protect the political, economic, social and cultural rights of indigenous peoples in countries where they do not control the national government. Helen Fraser in Noumea.

NIUE TO SEND ONE PER CENT TO FESTIVAL Niue is to send a delegation of 30 to the South Pacific Festival of Arts in Noumea in December. This represents almost one in 100 of the island’s population, estimated at about 3500. Martial dances are expected to figure strongly in their presentation. Pitcairn Islanders have decided against sending delegates, and will instead present a small display on different aspects of their cultural production sculptures in Miro wood, woven pandanus items, postage stamps and photographs.

Ufou S First Marathon

Lifou Island, in New Caledonia’s Loyalty Group, held its first marathon race in June. In fact it was a semi-marathon of 21 km, from Hname (near Chepenehe) to Luecilia. The race was won by Jean-Michel Boulanger of Noumea, with two French servicemen, Angelo Petelo and Jacky Bidaut, coming second and third among the 54 participants. The marathon was one of the highlights of a three day “kermesse” organised by the Zavirob Folklore Associa tion to raise funds for Lifou dancers and singers to go to the South Pacific Festival of Arts in Noumea in December. Helen Fraser in Noumea.

Kiribati Ministers Visit Vostock

Four ministers of the Kiribati Government and six aides were in Papeete recently on their way to visit the uninhabited Kiribati islands of Vostock, Flint and Caroline, 600 km to the northeast of Tahiti. They travelled to the islands aboard the French navy corvette Doudart de Lagree to assess the prospects of establishing a copra industry on the islands.

Jackson Eyes On Fiji Island

Bekana Island off the north coast of Vanua Levu is believed to be the island that Jermaine Jackson, elder brother of superstar, Michael Jackson, is planning to buy. The island was put up for sale by its American owner William Hignett, last year for $§85,000.

According to an Australian Sunday newspaper, Jermaine Jackson was planning to buy the island for $1 million. It suggested that Michael Jackson might visit while his brother sets up home on the island.

PNG FINALLY FLOGS OFF ITS VIP JET The Papua New Guinea Government has sold its VIP Grumman Gulfstream executive jet to an American firm, Roby-Smith Company for about K 4 million (SAS million approx.). The aircraft, which has been on the market for nearly two years, was bought by the Chan government nearly four years ago for Kb million ($A7.5 million approx.), had few hours in the air and sat on the ground with maintenance costing the government about K 1.5 million a year. One of Prime Minister Michael Somare’s election promises before ousting Sir Julius Chan in 1982 was to sell the jet as soon as possible.

Tonga Is In The Olympics

Tonga for the first time is taking part in the Olympic games being helcT in Los Angeles. Five boxers and three officials are representing the island kingdom.