Toxic Waste Plans Slammed

Trade Winds

South Pacific states have been courted by United States firms wishing to

export dangerous industrial by products.

By Phil Twyford

WITH THE disposal of industrial byproducts now a hot issue in the West, waste companies are beat ing a path to the doors of island govern ments. Five South Pacific nations have been approached by United States com panies seeking waste disposal sites but as yet none have been swayed by the jobs, cash and other lures offered by waste company entrepreneurs.

After three months’ deliberations, Tonga has finally rejected a waste incin eration project promoted by the King’s daughter. Princess Pilolevu. The Solo mon Islands and Papua New Guinea have both considered toxic waste disposal plants, and in 1986 Western Samoa was the target of a waste burning scheme mooted by Californian and American Samoan in terests. The idea provoked such a furore that Apia rejected it. . . only to see its backers take their wares next door to Pago Pago. The plan was rejected there, too, but not before island leaders were offered the dazzling prospect of$USll5 million worth of investment and more than 3000 jobs downstream.

Attracted by a possible SUSIOO mil lion a year in compensation payments, Marshall Islands president Amata Kabua stirred controversy earlier this year by asking the US to look at storing high level radioactive waste in the Marshalls.

But the waste dumpers came closest to securing a South Pacific site in Tonga, where the Princess’s plan gained the qual ified support of King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV. Debate raged in the normally sedate kingdom and civil servants suspected of leaking information to the overseas press were placed under police investigation.

The plan was the brainchild of Ha waiian-based Tongan businessman and former professional wrestler Sione Filipe, who was linked to two similar schemes re jected by the Tongan cabinet last year. Fi lipe recruited Princess Salote Pilolevu Tuita (daughter-in-law of Deputy Prime Minister Baron Tuita) as a 40 per cent shareholder and presented a second scheme convincing King and Cabinet to overturn an earlier decision to reject any further waste proposals.

Cabinet sent a delegation led by Health Minister Dr Sione Tapa to check out state of-the-art waste disposal technology in the US. Filipe and the Princess envisaged a SUSS million incineration plant accept ing one container load of toxic waste a day shipped from California; using as yet un

proved technology, the plant was to gen erate electricity through waste burning and was to incorporate plastics recycling. Toxic ash left over would be used as landfill.

But the plan ran into stiff opposition from civil servants concerned about en vironmental dangers, prompting the Prin cess to write in a confidential letter to the committee considering the project that she resented their implication she might sell out her responsibility to the Tongan people for money or through influence from out side sources.

After details of the scheme were leaked to a New Zealand newspaper, the Princess and her agents Nukualofa entrepre neurs Jerry Fletcher and Kelepi Tupou launched a public relations campaign to woo the locals. They bought full page ad vertisements in the weekly Tonga Chron icle saying the plant would be environmentally harmless and would pro vide jobs and cheap electricity, and brought out their Californian business partner to help sell the scheme.

Fletcher, a Vietnam veteran who holds the Tongan franchise for Budweiser beer, and local trader Tupou run Nukualofa’s airport canteen in a joint venture with the Princess.

Supplying the waste and putting up the funds was to be Californian firm Omega Recovery Services, which last year was caught up in controversy in the Califor nian city of Maricopa. The firm was de nied a permit to build a waste incinerator after city authorities criticised its environ mental impact reports as inadequate and questioned the company’s managerial skills and financial capacity.

In its business plan, Omega said it is politically impossible for any municipal ity in the US to accept a new hazardous waste plant and that the granting of new permits had ground to a halt. In the US which generates 275 million tonnes of toxic waste each year planning laws mean it takes around seven years before a plant can get off the ground. Tonga, like most South Pacific nations, is unhindered by such legislation.

The Princess was quick to allay fears that nuclear or radioactive waste, PCBs, asbestos or dioxins were to be imported.

Likely substances were said to include old batteries, refrigerator coolants, newspa per ink, pesticides, paints and solvents used in the cosmetics industry.

Opponents argued that US companies would not bother shipping their harmless

wastes all the way to Tonga. And anyway, the most dangerous toxins associated with incineration need not be present in the original wastes: deadly dioxins, for ex ample, are formed in incinerator stacks as a byproduct of combustion.

Members of Parliament, schoolteach ers, students and civil servants high lighted the threat to public health, the ecosystem and essential industries such as tourism and agriculture posed by possible handling and storage accidents.

In June, King and Cabinet finally gave the Princess’s scheme the thumbs down.

An approach by another US firm, Global Telesis, found little support in the Solomons: a delegation from the corpo ration visited Honiara in June, but its pro posal met short shrift from Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Robert Bera. “They are not able to dispose of their toxic waste in their own country. Why should they be able to go around the globe trying to get rid of it?” he asked. He said the Solomon Islands Government was concerned about Global Telesis touting its waste dumping proposal around the west ern Pacific.

The thrust into the Pacific coincides with a worldwide move by waste com panies in the West to dump their refuse on developing nations. In June, Nigeria sev ered diplomatic ties with Italy and threat ened to shoot anyone found guilty of importing toxic wastes after it was re vealed numerous shipments of Italian ra dioactive waste had been dumped in the inland port of Koko.

The tiny West African nation of Guinea tried in vain to force the removal of toxic ash shipped from the US and dumped there in February: shipments roundly condemned by the Organisation of Afri can Unity and the European Parliament.

Earlier in the year, a ship carrying in cinerator ash from Philadelphia off-loaded 4000 tonnes of ash on a remote Haiti beach, and left in the night after local authorities ordered it to retrieve the waste.

“Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and the South Pacific are becoming the fa vourite dumping grounds of waste ped dlers from industrialised countries,” said Jim Vallette, author of a report on waste dumping published by Greenpeace.

“Industries in Europe and the United States are dumping their waste disposal problems on developing countries and are thereby avoiding their responsibility to prevent the production of wastes.” □

□ New Ship Service To Png

BARBICAN Line, a development of Bar bican Marine, has announced a new non conference shipping service to Papua New Guinea from Australian east coast ports.

With an expanded consortium covering the trade, Barbican founder Roger Rich ards believes there is room for an addi tional non-conference service using container vessels chartered from the Bra zilian BB Line; fast container fitted ships with capacities up to 20,000 tons and fit ted to carry reefer containers.

The new line, which will provide a monthly service, will load in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane for Port Moresby, Lae and Rabaul; this will be extended to Honiara and Suva. Managing agents will be Barbican Bridge, assisted by Union Bulkships in Melbourne and Adelaide and Australian National Shipping Agencies in Brisbane.

□ Pacific Harbour Sold

A JAPANESE company, South Pacific Development, has bought the Pacific Har bour International Hotel on Figi’s Coral Coast for an undisclosed sum. The trans fer deal, approved early in July by Fiji’s Minister for Lands, Ratu Toganivalu, also includes the golf course and the country club at Deuba.

Pacific Harbour, Fiji’s largest resort, is the second major resort to be bought by Japanese interests in the past three months.

Electrical Industrial Enterprises bought the Regent of Fiji on Denarau Island, near Nadi International Airport, last April (see Pacific Islands Monthly , July).

Fiji’s Minister of Finance, Mr Josefata Kamikamica, welcomed the latest trans fer deal, saying the planned expansion would help boost employment.

□ Centralised Buying For Coffee

THE Papua New Guinea Coffee Industry Board is encouraging the establishment of coffee buying depots. Executive Officer Ron Ganarafo said buying depots re duced the risk of holdups, are better places for both growers and buyers to do business and cut down operating costs.

Mr Ganarafo says growers are paid bet ter prices at depots than they would re ceive from buyers visiting their blocks.

Most major coffee buyers have already set up depots but Mr Ganarafo wants them established in other areas during the cur rent coffee season.

□ Vanimo Denies Wrongdoing

AN Australian timber company has de nied breaking an agreement with the Papua New Guinea Government. The Secretary for Forests, Mr Michael Komtagerea, or

dered Vanimo Forest Products to cease its operations in West Sepik province for an indefinite period late in June.

Vanimo, a subsidiary of the West Aus tralian company Bunnings Limited, was alleged to have failed to comply with an agreement to undertake development projects for the benefit of landowners after timber has been removed.

Mr Komtagerea ordered the company to stop tree felling operations until all logs have been removed from timber areas to its sawmill. Vanimo will also be required to submit a new 12-month working plan to the Government for approval from log ging operations can resume.

Deputy chairman of Bunnings lan Kuba said in Perth that Vanima Products had been carrying out all its obligations under a five-year-plan agreed with the PNG Government, and called on the For ests Department to lift the ban.

□ Vanuatu Trade Scare

TWO Vanuatu cabinet ministers have warned that poor quality copra is endan gering the country’s largest export earner.

The Government-owned Vanuatu Weekly newspaper quoted Finance Minister Sela Molisa and Agriculture Minister Jack Hopa as saying once secure markets would be lost unless the standard of copra im proved. Mr Molisa said European buyers had warned that if Vanuatu did upgrade its copra quality they would not buy; Mr Hopa said a lack of good farming practice may be the reason behind the fall in copra quality.

□ Fiji Wage, Rent Freeze Lifted

FIJI’S Government has lifted its freeze on wages, saying the economy is showing signes of recovery. Finance Minister Jo sefata Kamikamica said despite the lifting of the wage freeze, strict controls on ex change outflow imposed after the May 14 coup last year will remain in force.

About 10,000 Fiji Indians, mainly businessmen and professionals, are re ported to have left Fiji following the coups, draining the state of capital funds. Exact estimates are not available, but it is esti mated more than SUS2O million flowed out of the country.

Mr Kamikamica said Government workers, whose wages were cut by 15 per cent in January, would be given a rise of up to 6 per cent. The freeze on industrial and commercial rents has also been lifted, but the freeze on residential rents will remain.

The Finance Minister predicted the country’s overall budget deficit for 1988 will be nearly $A 135 million; a decrease of SA7 million on the original estimate. He

said this was due to expenditure cuts, a slight increase in revenue collection and restoration of Australian and New Zea land aid suspended after the coup.

□ Nz Bank For Sale

NEW Zealand has announced plans to sell its merchant bank for SUS 77 million.

Trade and Industry Minister David Cay gill said in late June the sale of DEC New Zealand was part of a plan to reduce the national debt.

The country’s largest pension fund, the National Provident Fund, would buy 80 per cent of the bank, with the remainder going to the Solomon Brothers Invest ment Bank of New York. The deal would be closed in November.

DEC, formerly the Development Fi nance Corporation, was established in 1964 but has operated as a state-owned company since April 1987.

□ Sugar, Coffee Prices Eratic

World sugar prices have continued to move erratically. After opening the 1987/88 sea son last September at US5.5c/lb, the In ternational sugar Organisation’s daily price had almost doubled in less than five months to reach USIOc/lb in mid-Janu ary. Since then, prices have continued to fluctuate, but again moved above US9c/ lb by the end of May. The average price so far in 1987/88 is 8.31 c/lb, 30 per cent higher than the previous season’s average.

The recent price volatility has resulted from a combination of mixed reports on consumption and production trends, as well as larger-than-expected purchases from China and the USSR. With the maintenance of steady demand growth in 1988/89, consumption is forecast to ex ceed production again, leading to a fur ther fall in the stocks-to-consumption ratio to almost 30 per cent. Consequently, prices are expected to rise substantially to an av erage of USl4c/lb in the 1988/89 season.

The International Coffee Organisa tion’s (ICO) indicator price improved slightly to USll7c/lb in May, two cents above the level at which another cut in ex port quotas would apply. The marginal improvement for all coffee types resulted from extra buying from merchants rather than roasters, who appear likely to hold more coffee until prospects for a further quota reduction (and corresponding price increase) have faded completely.

However, despite the recent price stabil ity, market conditions remain weak be cause of an estimated 30 per cent increase in world production in 1987/88. The ex pected rise results in estimates of stocks rising to 42 million bags by the end of the 1987/88 season. Prices are forecast to re main weak in 1988/89. ►

□ Burns Philip Trading Changes

Name To Kerr Brothers

ON July 1 the activities of Burns, Philp & Co Ltd’s International Trading Services Export Department were merged with those of Burns Philp’s wholly owned sub sidiary, Kerr Brothers Pty Ltd, whose name was adopted on that date.

The activities of the enlarged Kerr Brothers Pty Ltd will encompass all the functions performed by the Export De partment and all outstanding orders placed on or by Burns Philp’s Interna tional Trading Services Export Depart ment will be handled in the name of Kerr Brothers Pty Ltd.

□ Fiji Tourism Convention

FIJI’S annual tourism convention will be held at the new Sheraton Fiji Resort from August 8 to 10, with the prime responsi bility for re-establishing the South Pacific nation’s tourism industry one of its two major foreign income earners.

David Pickering, Fiji’s Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation and Energy, who will be the convention’s keynote speaker, says the gathering is “important and ti mely”, and will provide a positive means for the reshaping of the country’s tourism industry.

Chairman of the convention’s plan ning committee, Sheraton Fiji general manager Chris Gorring, says the confer ence program focuses on subjects of vital interest including the concept of regional tourism in the South Pacific, airline seat capacities, Fiji’s economic rehabilitation and the attitude of the interim govern ment to tourism. “The convention will not dwell on past events,” he said. “We are clearly setting our sights on the future.”

Bill Whiting, Australian regional mar keting manager for the Fiji Visitors Bu reau, said 1988 was a very important year for Fiji tourism with visitor figures already indicating regrowth in consumer confi dence. “In February, for example, Aus tralian visitor numbers to Fiji were a record and in March arrivals were the sec ond highest for that particular month.

There is already a firm indication that this growth will continue and we are confident that by convention time we will have something to talk about,” he said.

□ Shell Buys Guam Refinery

SHELL Guam Inc has purchased the as sets of Guam Oil and Refining Company (GORCO) at Piti, Guam, which Shell has been using for the past three years for the importation and storage of petroleum

products to service Shell’s business with Micronesia. GORCO ceased refinery op erations in 1984 because it was uneco nomic to continue; with the decline in international prices since it would be less economic to operate the refinery now and according to Shell would impose an un necessary burden on consumers in Micronesia.

The liquified petroleum gas (LPG) storage facilities will continue to be oper ated by Shell as a receiving terminal for the three companies presently marketing LPG within Guam.

□ New Trans-Pacific Carrier

AIR NEW Zealand has won the right to fly direct between Sydney and Los An geles. New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Min ister, Bill Jeffries, said the new arrangement would give Air New Zealand the capacity to tap both the Australian and American markets while at the same time strengthening New Zealand’s tourist industry.

Capacity and pricing issues on the Pa cific routes had also been discussed with the Americans.

Air New Zealand has also launched a helipcopter shuttle service between Auck land’s domestic airport and the city centre.

The service is aimed at giving Air New Zealand a marketing advantage over An sett New Zealand in the highly competi tive domestic market.

□ Rata Forum For Singapore

The PATA Research Authority will pres ent the Pacific-Asia Tourism Research Forum in Singapore, on September *5 and 6. Immediately following, from Septem ber 7 to 9, the first Forecasts Seminar, jointly presented by the International Air Transport Association (lATA) and PATA, will be held at the same venue. Program highlights include presentations by Blair Stevens of Tourism Canada, by June Hamilton and Monique Brocx of NZTPD, and by Daniel Chan of the Hong Kong Tourism Association.

Other topics will be presented by Grady Means of Cooper & Lybrand and James King of Aloha Airlines, Hawaii.

The lATTA/PATA Economic Traffic Forecasts Seminar for the Pacific-Asia re gion will be held on September 7 to 9 and will cover topics including the economic outlook for the Pacific-Asia Region and its impact on travel; financial support to fi nance tourism growth in the region; analy ses of traffic from major markets; and airport developments to cope with pro jected growth. □