Cash for Cans in Honiara

I write in response to the letter in your November 1984 edition (plO) regarding drink cans.

B.J.S. Agencies, as operators of the Cash for Cans Trust established by the Lions Club of Guadalcanal, Solomon Is lands, have been recycling alu minium cans out of the Solo mons since June 1984. Since

that time seven containers of 3500 kg of cans each have been sent to the re-cycling plant of Comalco Aluminium Ltd in Sydney.

Plans are being looked at for the opening of a baling process for cans in Port-Vila, and for the collection of cans from cruise ships as well as in the immedi

ate area of Port-Vila. At present ships—especially cruise ships— regularly dump thousands of cans into the sea.

The Honiara town has be come remarkably free of empty cans since June ’B4. Children are seen collecting cans every day around town, and all clubs and hotels use the special cages supplied by us to place empty cans in. It is interesting to note that there is another private company now collecting cans in Honiara, to crush and sell as scrap metal. The Solomons is well catered for as far as recyc ling cans is concerned.

I share with you some statis tics which would indicate clearly what a success our Cash for Cans project has been. 1. Over 24,000 kg of cans have been collected from the environment. Previously all served as havens for mos quitoes. A weight of 24,000 kg represents 1.2 million cans. 2. We pay 20 cents per kg for cans. Thus, about $5OOO in cash has been injected into the local economy. 3. School children are using it as a means to raise funds for their schools, and through it are becoming more conscious of their environment. 4. Honiara is a much cleaner town.

The South Pacific Trade Commissioner, Mr Bill McCabe in Sydney, has been an active helper and supporter of the project, as has Mr Jeremy Carew-Reid of the South Paci fic Regional Environment Prog ram (SPREP). Both have assisted in the project and would provide further back ground information if required.

B. J. Saunders

B.J.S. Agencies Limited Honiara Solomon Islands

Vanuatu’s

Links with

Cuba

I do hope that some of our under-developed Pacific Island countries know what they are doing in the way of establishing diplomatic relations with other countries.

Of course, they have their own freedom and the right to

choose. But they ought to choose the right type of coun tries, taking into account the interests of their Pacific Island neighbors.

I’m very much concerned about newly independent Vanuatu, which has established relations with a four-letter worded country, Cuba, which is presumed to have established an office at Port-Vila, disguised as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing”.

Some Pacific Islands people will surely agree with me that we do oppose another Afgha nistan, etc, in this part of the peaceful Pacific area. So, let us pray that this wolf or bear will remain silent in its sheep’s hide or otherwise.

Let us hope that Pacific Is land leaders know what they are doing in this sort of issue not only for themselves alone, but for their poor country peo ple who don’t understand what is going on in their country, and in which direction they are being taken.

Semi Goneyali

Tailevu Fiji

Pro and con

On Anzus

Your excellent editorial on ANZUS, (PIM Nov. ’B4 p 5) is I suspect wrong when it says “there is no machinery by which a member may opt out”.

Article X of the treaty says: “Any party may cease to be a member of the council . . one year after notice has been given to the government of Australia, which will inform the govern ments of the other parties of the deposit of such notice”.

Now, admittedly, withdraw ing from the council does not necessarily mean abrogation of the treaty, but most observers in New Zealand consider that for any of the three powers to withdraw from the council would mean the end of the treaty in its present form.

Your concept of a Material treaty between the U.S. and Australia can also have little substance, since the New Zea land Government has made it very clear that it has no inten tion of withdrawing from ANZUS, which enjoys full bi partisan support in the New

Zealand political set-up.

You also seem to be making the same mistake as the U.S.

Embassy in Wellington in re porting that the call for a ban on nuclear weapons comes only from a “vociferous left in New Zealand”. The last Heylen poll in New Zealand showed that the policy of the Lange govern ment on this issue had the approval of 76 per cent of those polled.

Timothy Birch

Editor “The World This Week”

Radio New Zealand Wellington New Zealand The point is not that New Zealand may opt out of ANZUS but that ANZUS will cease to be credible because of New Zea land policy on nuclear ships and weapons. In that event, and although, as we in fact said, the point has not arisen in any substantial way, a bilateral trea ty between Australia and the U.S. would be, most assuredly, an option.

We agree with you that the ban is attractive across the spectrum of New Zealand so ciety, but we remain of the view that the main pressure comes from the articulate and trendy left, just as it does in Australia.

The poll alone would not have so firmly confirmed Mr Lange in his pursuit of the policy.

Editor.

“Replaced” was

misconstrued

In PIM, November 1984, it was stated that Dr Niel Gunson and Dr Deryck Scarr had been “replaced” as editor and review editor respectively of The Jour nal of Pacific History. While I appreciate it was not your cor respondent’s intention to be ambiguous, the word “re placed” has been miscon strued. In view of this, I would like to state that Drs Gunson and Scarr have voluntarily, and perhaps only temporarily, re tired from those positions after many years of service which has been highly valued by the editorial board of and sub scribers to JPH.

James Griffin

Chairman, JPH Inc.

Canberra ACT Australia