The Island Press
p. 52 · Read in the full issue
Reports from the papers, compiled by John Carter
THE FISH that Peter Cusack caught will be a tale that will be told for a long time.
A massive 11 ft blue marlin weighing 207.5 kilos was caught by the Aitutaki fisher man recently.
It is, at least, the biggest bill fish re corded by the Aitutaki Game Fishing Club. The fish was caught [from ] a tiny 12ft dingy and took half an hour to bring in.
From the Cook Islands News, Rarotonga.
SANITARIANS from the Division of Public Health confiscated spoiled marsh mallows from the shelves of a Chalan Piao store, shut down a Chalan Kanoa snack bar and told a local bakery to get rid of rats during recent inspections.
From Marianas Variety News & Views , Saipan.
KEREMA police have arrested a 15-year old boy for setting fire to more than K2OOO worth of text books at Maipenaru Com munity School two weeks ago.
Police said the boy set fire to the books because he was not happy with one of the teachers. The boy’s parents and relatives then threatened to set fire to all the school buildings when he was suspended.
From the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier , Port Moresby.
WHILST I understand there is a shortage of one and two cent pieces and I can accept a “rounding off’ situation when I pay for my goods from a store, I find it extremely difficult to see my change well and truly rounded off.
Recently I purchased several paltry items which came to a total of $10.56 I tendered $ll and received 40 cents change not 44 cents or 45, cents but what that storekeeper thinks is appropriate.
This in itself appears to be a great way
to inflate the cost of all goods better still for the shop owner.
From a letter by R C Chapman in the Cook Islands News , Rarotonga.
THE INCIDENCE of alcohol-related violence and wife bashing within Papua New Guinea families must be one of the highest in the world, according to a Na tional Court judge.
Mr Justice Hinchcliffe told a public meeting in Mt Hagen last Wednesday that in the 15 months that he has lived in PNG, he has been amazed at the amount of mur der and manslaughter cases relating to drunken husbands killing their wives.
From The Times of Papua New Guinea , Port Moresby.
DEAR SIR: May I share a very upsetting experience with you that will, hopefully, serve as a warning to wash all vegetables very thoroughly before use.
Last Saturday I bought some Chinese cabbage at the market and gave a few of the outer leaves to my two pet geese. Two hours later one goose was dead and the other paralysed. Thankfully she recovered after 12 hours. The dead animal had a leaf
stuck in its throat and had foamed at the mouth profusely a clear case of poison ing from fungicide or insecticide.
From a letter by Ursula Zuest in the Tonga Chronicle , Nukualofa.
EGG PRODUCTION in Tuvalu declined in 1987 due to the coup in Fiji. Production of hybrid layer chicks was temporarily stopped after the coup.
From Tuvalu Echoes , Funafuti.
THE TUVALU Co-operative Society, Funafuti Branch, ran out of sugar at the end of February; as a result, some families are now drinking cold water and toddy.
From Tuvalu Echoes , Funafuti.
PORT Moresby’s birthrate is booming, and the public hospital’s maternity unit is bursting at the seams. From a normal fig ure of 400 to 500 babies a month, the fig ure has shot up suddenly to about 700.
There are not enough beds in the labor ward to meet the demand, and some ex pectant mothers are having to make do with chairs and benches in corridors and waiting rooms.
Medical Superintendant Garry Ou said yesterday all available sources were ex hausted, and another source said the nearby army hospital might be asked to help if the boom continued.
From the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier , Port Moresby.