Transition

Died: Kumbamong Niu, 61, Mt Hagen traditional leader and businessman, at his home, on April 25. Paying tribute to Mr Niu at a burial service in the village of Balk, PNG Prime Minister Mr Wingti said the loss was a sad one for the Kerne clan and to the people of Mt Hagen as a whole.

Appointed: Mr Deveni Temu, 34, from Marshall Lagoon in PNG’s Central Prov ince, has been appointed Librarian of the PNG University of Technology, Lae.

Trained at UPNG, the University of New South Wales and Monash University, Vic toria, Mr Temu is the first Papua New Guinean to hold the position.

Awarded: Mr Lakisa Toelupe, chief infor mation officer of the Western Samoa Vis itors Bureau, has been awarded a scholarship one of four provided by the Pacific Asia Travel Association to at tend the 1988 Executive Development In stitute for Tourism program at the University of Hawaii.

Appointed: Mr Savenaca Siwatibau, Gov ernor of the Reserve Bank of Fiji, as Di rector of EPOC, the Pacific Operations Centre for the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). Mr Siwatibau will be based in Port Vila, Vanuatu.

Appointed: Mr Esekia Warvi, former PNG Deputy Secretary for Labour, as Deputy Director of SPEC’s works program. Mr Warvi, a graduate of UPNG, joined the Department of Labour in 1977 and has held a variety of positions prior to his lat est appointment.

In congratulating Mr Warvi, PNG’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mr Akoka Doi said the Government would work closely with him to promote effective regional co operation.

Appointed: Mr Oliver Stim as France’s new Minister for Overseas Territories, by Prime Minister Michel Rocard. Replacing hard line right-winger Bernard Pons as “DOM TOM” Minister, Mr Stim brings experi ence in the portfolio, under President Gis card d’Estaing between 1974 and 1978, and is regarded as more approachable than his predecessor on questions of self determination. D