transitions

Knighted: In the Queen’s birth day honours, Sir lambakey Okuk for distinguished political and community services. The often fiery highlands politician has been variously a motor mechanic, minister for trans port, deputy prime minister and, currently, minister for pri mary industry.

Also knighted is Port Mores by’s Catholic Archbishop Sir Peter Kurongku who said: “I didn’t like it. I spent two days thinking and asking questions about the significance of it. I decided to accept it for the church and for the Catholic people I represent. ” Also hon oured as Dame Commander of the British Empire is Mrs Rose Tokiel.

Fiji’s retired Supreme Court judge. Mr Justice Kermode, was also knighted. Sir Ronald Kermode, 66, was bom in Nadi and graduated in law at the University of New Zealand.

Died: Joint author of a report examining PNG’s law and order problem, Bill Clifford in Canberra. Englishman Clifford spent a lifetime studying crime, its causes and its punishment.

In what became known as the Clifford Report, he and co-authors Dr Louise Morauta and Canadian judge Barry Stuart in late 1984 recom mended long term action on Port Moresby’s crime problem.

He was 67. Died: At Lautoka Hospital, Fiji, Mr Alsace Lor raine Miller of Tubunikava, Wailevu West, son of the late Mr Julian Bathie Miller after a long illness. He was 70. Leav ing: Commander of the Salva tion army in PNG, Lt-Col Robert Newman and his wife Joyce after five years of mis sionary work. Published: After 11 years as a ‘prisoner’ of her own self-imposed Solomon Is lands project, Sally Edridge, a senior Christchurch librarian, is now indulging in the luxury of free evenings and weekends.

In 1974, Sally went to Solo mon Islands on secondment from her job with the National Library of New Zealand to help establish a national library in Honiara. Within a few months, she began compiling a bib-

liography of the Solomons, starting with the literature relat ing to the Mendana expedition of 1567 and continuing to the present day.

She worked on the bibliogra phy for the rest of her three year stay and continued with as a spare time project after her return to New Zealand.

Thanks to a couple of grants, Sally visited England in 1980 and Australia in 1981 to ran sack the libraries there for en tries.

Finally, towards the end of last year, after seeing to all the printing details herself, Sally’s opus was published jointly by the Institute of Pacific Studies, USP, The National Library of New Zealand and the Solomon Islands National Library.

Titled Solomon Islands Bib liography to 1980 (ISBN 0- 908702-03-5) copies can be obtained from the IPS, Univer sity of the South Pacific, Suva at SFI2. Buyers in Australia can find copies at SFIS. Others must apply to the Turnbull Library, Wellington where the price is SNZ3O Robert Langdon.

Died: Lawyer Geoffrey Jack son, for many years the only practising lawyer in Western Samoa. Head of state Malietoa Tanumafili II led the mourners

at a memorial service in the Anglican Church, Leifiifi, while the Supreme Court held a special sitting in his memory.

Returned: To USP after five years as head of research and development at PNG’s Depart ment of Statistics, Dr Martinus Bakker. Dr Bakker will return as reader in population/de mography in the School of Social and Economic Deve lopment.

He was previously at USP from 1974-77 as Nuffic Fellow (Netherlands University Found ation for International Co operation) in demography.

Dr Bakker, during that time, also assisted Tonga and Fiji with population research, particu larly the censuses of 1976.

Died: Aged about 80, Miss Beatrice Parham sister of Miss Helena Parham. Both were active social workers in Suva in earliet years with their late mother Mrs H.B. Richcnda Parham, writer, botanist, traveller and former Fleet Street editor, whose poems were a feature of the Fiji Times of 60 years ago.

Sir lambakey Okuk

Died: At Norfolk Island Hospi tal, Arthur Ward Buffett, (82) the youngest of four sons of John and Agnes Buffett. His father was the eldest son of Seymour and Selina Buffett both bom on Pitcairn.

First: To swim unassisted across the Mulifanua-Salelologa strait is Cook Islander Don Carlaw who arrived in Savii to cheers and champagne.

Many Samoans have made the crossing in the past but usually with the aid of a float in the form of two coconuts tied together, The Samoan Times reported.

Before the celebration, the Rev. Vili Uaita, of Saloga, Salelologa, offered a prayer of thanks for the successful cros sing which took eight hours and 55 minutes. Appointed: As new educational broadcasts officer for the SPC, Mr Ashley Wickham.

Mr Wickham, from Solomon Islands, was previously general manager of the Solomon Is lands Broadcasting Corporation

(Sibc).

He will be based at the SPC Regional Media Centre in Suva.

Appointed: As general manager of Suva’s Courtesy Inn, former British Army officer, David Woodman.

Mr Woodman (38) succeeds Mr Robert Ellis who has been appointed director of group sales and marketing with the Travel Company in Suva.

Mr Ellis’ appointment was one of several announced by the Travel Company. Mr Max Storck, formerly of Avis, be comes director of management services, while Mrs Flora Houng Lee, manager of in ternational product deve lopment with the company’s Australian susbsidiary, Tapa Tours, is appointed to the board of the Travel Company.

First: Visit by a cruise ship to the Fijian island of Rotuma despite objections by the local council which had voted 8-6 against the visit.

The ship, The Fairstar brought 1400 tourists to the island. They were welcomed by traditional dances at Oinafa beach and the tourists were able to buy local artifacts and shells.

The vessel left 25 minutes late.

Welcomed: As new PNG high commissioner to Fiji, Mr Denis

Kepore who presented his credentials to prime minister Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara.

Mr Kepore was previously counsellor at the PNG high commission in Canberra.

PNG’s new ambassador to the United States, Mr Kiatro Abisinto also presented his credentials to President Ronald Reagan, who wel comed the appointment of a resident ambassador as an im portant step towards strengthening bilateral ties.

Surrendered: Convicted mur derer Jack Ume who had escaped from Port Moresby’s Bomana jail.

Ume, 30, was serving an 11-year sentence for murder when he escaped in Septem ber, 1980. He gave himself up

after hearing that his wife had been arrested for harbouring him.

Ume told the court he had changed. “I have given my life to Jesus and I am heavily involed in his work.” He was sentenced to six months to run concurently with the remainder of the original sentence.

Died: Former Fiji Army officer, Major Bill Masi, 56, originally from Tavuki, Kadavu. He died at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital after a short illness.

Major Masi, a former Controller of Prison Services, was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry during the Malayasia campaign. Died: Well-known

Kiribati MP, Mr Naboua Ratieta from heart disease at the Kiribati Central Hospital. Mr Ratieta, who was given a state funeral in Tarawa, entered poli tics in 1967 and was the first chief minister in 1974 during self-internal government.

Appointed:As a judge in the Fiji Supreme Court, New Zealand born Maurice James Sheeham, after 15 years’ ex perience as a magistrate.

Defeated; No confidence mo tion against Solomon Islands prime minister, Sir Peter Keni lorea.

The motion had been moved by former leader of Solomone Ano Sagufena (SAS), Mr Sethuel Kelly, now a backben cher.

The SAS was a former junior partner in the coalition with Sir Peter’s United Party.

Mr Kelly had been a minister in the government until last December when he was dismis sed by Sir Peter following allegations of irregularities in the sales of government houses. He was later removed from the leadership by the SAS executive.

The all-day debate was re stricted to the leaders of the five parties plus five other speakers.

Died: Solomon Islands cabinet minister, Mr Emmanuel Tony Harihiru.

Mr Harihiru was United Party MP for Small Malaita and minis

ter for economic planning.

Aged 39, he was born in Tarapaina, Malaita Province.

Mr Harihiru, a USP business studies graduate, who first en tered politics in 1980 and was re-elect4ed in 1984, leaves a wife and four children.

Died: One of Fiji’s most distin guished sailors, Captain Frank ‘Koti’ William Mitchell after a heart attack at his Suva home.

Captain Mitchell, who was 63, was captain of the Jubilee and had been master on a number of vessels travelling around Fiji and the Pacific.

Born on Qamea Island in 1923, he first went to sea at the age of 16 and, two years later, had a licence to sail a 15-tonne vessel for Pana Am.

He earned his mate’s certifi cate in 1959, his Fiji master’s certificate two years later and his Pacific Islands master’s certificate in 1970. ‘Koti’ as he was known to his friends joined the Civil Service in 1979 as master of the re search vessel Bulikula.

He then became harbour master at Lautoka, a post he held until his retirement in 1984.

Returned: To Tahiti the small wooden stool taken to Britain in 1774 by the first Polynesian to visit that country.

Omia was born on Raiatea but moved to Tahiti after his father was killed by men from Bora Bora and it was in the hope of enlisting the aid of the British crown to regain his hereditary lands that the young man accepted the invitation of Tobias Fumeaux to sail home with him.

He caused a sensation in Britain, was received by the king and was painted by Joshua Reynolds.

Omai never recovered his lands, but Captain Cook bought him some land and built him a house on Huahine when he sailed back to the Society Islands in 1776.

The stool, some clubs, shoes and other relics remained in the Fumeaux family.

Through its own efforts and with the aid of Lord McAlpin a keen collector of South Seas artifacts and fellow collector George Ortiz, the Tahiti Museum bought the stool at Sotheby’s London auction for 80,000 pounds.

Sally Edridge