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Ok Tedi Mining Ltd. has con firmed in Port Moresby that a 43-year-old Texan, Harold Roy Shipes, has been appointed general manager of the Papua New Guinea gold/ copper mining company as a first step to becoming chief executive when Irwin Newman resigns as chief general mana ger from the middle of this year.

Mr Newman, 55, who was previously general manager re sources in BHP’s minerals divi sion and before that general manager of the Mount New man iron ore project, has ten dered his resignation to pursue his own interests in mining, engineering and management.

His five-year contract with OTML would normally have expired in September, allowing him to return to BHP, which has a retiring age of 62 for its senior executives.

However, he is not returning to BHP and is leaving OTML earlier than planned to return to Melbourne as a consultant.

Mr Shipes, who will be lo cated at Ok Tedi’s centre of operations as Tabubil in PNG’s remote Western province, left a position as a vice-president and general manager operations of Southern Peru Copper Corporation, a 52.3 per cent owned subsidiary of Asarco Inc.

The former head of Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Peter Henderson, has joined the Burns, Philp and Co. Ltd. board.

Mr Henderson, 56, resigned after 33 years with the depart ment last September. He was a Fraser Government appointee whose Liberal Party connec tions his wife is a daughter of the late Australian Prime Minis ter Sir Robert Menzies reduced his chances of being promoted.

His resignation involved the government “buying him out” for around $52,700 which included two months’ salary for each year until he turned 60 and superannuation payments.

Commenting on his appoint ment, Burns Philp chairman, J.D.O. Burns, said Mr Hender

son’s wide range of experience would be an “invaluable asset” to the company.

Tuvalu’s Deputy Prime Minister Henry Naisali has been named pro-chancellor of the University of the South Pacific. Mr Naisali, who is also Tuvalu’s finance minister, will serve for a three year term. He replaces Fiji’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Mosese Qionibaravi.

Oliver Cordell, an Australian diplomat who is well known in the Pacific, having served in both Nauru and Papua New Guinea, has been named Aus tralian ambassador to Hungary.

Mr Cordell will be the first Australian ambassador to be resident in Hungary.

Fiji’s Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs Jioji Kotobava lu has moved to the position of Cabinet Secretary, replacing Dr Isireli Lasaqa, and the Perma nent Secretary for Education, Narsi Raniga has moved into Mr Kotobavalu’s place.

Dr Lasaqa has been ill for some time, and is expected either to retire, or to return to his old job as lecturer in geogra phy at the University of the South Pacific.

Viresanial is the new name assumed by Vanuatu’s Leader of the Opposition, Vincent Boulekone.

It was conferred upon him at a custom ceremony on his

home island of Pentecost early this year.

Isaac Bulewak reported from Pentecost in Vanuatu Weekly that local people felt that since other national leaders had been given traditional names to symbolise their status, the opposition leader should also have such a name.

Viresanial is Mr Boulekone’s grandfather’s name. He claimed it after killing two pigs during the ceremony.

Mr Bulewak also reported that during the pig-killing cere mony, Mr Boulekone and his father received 78 pigs from participants.

The chairman of the board of directors of the National Deve lopment Bank of Palau (NDBP) in April announced the appoint ment of Glen C. Forgan as president of the bank. Mr For gan, 47, is a second generation career banker with over 30 years experience, which in cludes 26 years as a commer cial banker in his home country Australia, and more recently as managing director of the Fiji Development Bank.

The post of president re mained vacant following the resignation of the bank’s first president almost two years ago.

Since that time Mr Forgan has been acting as a consultant to the bank.

One of the bank’s priorities, Mr Forgan said, was to encour age the development of the agricultural and fishing sectors of the local economy so as to reduce dependency on im ported foodstuffs.

The American Samoa Gov ernor A. P. Lutali has con firmed his fullest support of Palauini Tuiasosopo’s nomination to the post of secre tary-general, the chief executive of the South Pacific Commis sion.

In a letter to Secretary-Gen eral Francis Bugotu, the gov ernor said he was reiterating “the confidence of the people and government of American Samoa in the ability of Mr Palauni M. Tuiasosopo to serve

the Pacific region as secretary general of the South Pacific Commission. ”

“Mr Tuiasosopo,” Lutali added, “is a highly motivated individual with an unusual sense of vision and capacity for leadership.”

Tuiasosopo was special assistant to former Governor Peter Coleman. He is now with the National Arts Council await ing moving to New Caledonia to take over the SPC top post. ‘Ainise Malekanu Sevele, 36, has become the new French honorary consul for Tonga. She takes over from Father Callet who held the position from 1980 when diplomatic relations were established between the two countries. “I suppose that what is significant about my appointment is that I am a woman and a Tongan,” she said. Mrs Sevele returned to the kingdom last year after spen ding six years in New Caledonia where her husband Dr. Fred Sevele, was the chief econom ist with the South Pacific Com mission at Noumea. He is now the director of the Catholic Church Education division in Tonga. Pesi Fonua.

Peter Kelsey, the general manager of Polynesian Airlines, based in Apia, Western Samoa, has been reassigned to Mel bourne. John Buchanan, pre viously based wtih Ansett Air lines in Darwin, arrived in Apia in February to take over as the new general manager.

A former Fiji architect has taken to combating crime in the streets of Los Angeles in his spare time.

He is Daniel Sukal. an architect with the Public Works Department before he migrated to Los Angeles in 1972.

Mr Sukal, who does evening patrols with the Los Angeles Police Force, has the distinction of being the only Fiji Indian to have joined the force.

During the day he serves as an engineer with the Papermate factory. In the evenings he dons his police uniform and does his

Peter Henderson ... to Burns Philp board.

bit towards keeping the peace on the streets of Los Angeles.

Mr Sukal joined the force two years ago but before doing so he had to undergo six years of rigorous training.

He now claims to be a top pistol marksman, and excellent in hand-to-hand combat and self defence.

At 40, he keeps himself in shape by running about 16 km every second day. He is a marathon runner and competes in 10 km runs.

Miss Agnes Wong has resigned from Hooker Fiji Ltd to run her own real estate firm to be based in Suva.

Miss Wong left the Australia based real estate firm after 11 years.

First among her list of clients is the $65-million resort deve lopment on the Coral Coast, Vunaniu Bay. Miss Wong will not only be responsible for the Fiji sales of the resort’s 172 villa lots, but her firm will also market in the country the re sort’s 102 single-unit condomi niums.

Miss Wong will share office space with Vunaniu Bay project headquarters in Ratu Sukuna House in Suva.

Agnes Wong ... in business on her own account. - Chan dra Prasad photo.