Mururoa Moves Shock Paris

French Polynesia

A Papeete seminar challenges France’s nuclear tests.

By David Robie

TAHITIAN Health Minister Jacqui Drollet invoked the spectre of Hi roshima at a week-long seminar on “peace and development” in Papeete last month. “We must dismiss the pernicious argument that the American nuclear bom bardment of Hiroshima was the only way to end the Second World War,” he said. “It wasn’t necessary to kill thousands of people with a crime against humanity.”

Turning to French nuclear tests in the South Pacific, he then said it was time to rename the deadly atoll; it should be called “Mururoa-shima”.

Drollet, leader of the anti-nuclear and pro-independence party la Mana Te Nu naa (and Minister for the Environment and Scientific Research in the coalition Government) was careful like other or ganisers of the seminar to avoid any anti-French tone, but the strong message from the conference and its list of de mands has both signalled a revival of anti nuclear sentiment in Tahiti.

“More than ever it is necessary to act objectively and dispassionately,” said Pa trick Howell, a Tahitian dentist and chair man of the organisation Tomite No Te Rai Hau (‘Blue Skies Committee’). “Speaking of nuclear issues is not being anti-French; it is taking up our responsibility for the fu ture of our country and our children.

“When a young person decides to leave the family home to seek his or her destiny, he or she isn’t anti-parents,” he explained.

“It’s simply that they want to be respon sible for their own future... It is the same with us. We are all Polynesians and we want to build the Tahiti of the future.”

The Rai Hau conference comprised representatives of most Tahitian political parties particularly la Mana and Tav ini Huiraatira (the Polynesian Liberation Front) the Protestant and Catholic churches, trade union leaders and envi ronmental associations.

Specialists from Australia, New Zea land and Japan also took part, including Australian biologist Dr Tilman Ruff, an authority on ciguatera; Auckland physi cian Dr Tony Atkinson, of the New Zea land branch of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War; and can cer specialist Dr Shigenobu Miyake of To kyo’s Kamigyo Hospital. They were greeted by Tahitian Premier Alexandre Leontieff and Papeete mayor (and Parlia mentary Speaker) Jean Juventin... to the annoyance of the administration.

Their brief was to review the impact on health, the economy, immigration, social life, culture and politics of the 25-year presence of the nuclear Pacific Experi

ments Centre (CEP) and the recent scaling down of CEP operations.

The Tahitian economy has been heav ily reliant on CEP, but the shift of its head quarters to Hao Atoll and a reduction of staff have renewed criticism of the eco nomic value of the testing program. Since 1968, the number of Tahitians employed by the program has dropped from 10,000 to 2000, out of a total labour force ofBo,ooo.

Unemployment is one of the gravest social problems facing the Tahitian Government.

Statistics indicate the French military is gradually disengaging itself from Tahiti, says Mr Drollet. “We must develop our own strategy for economic survival.”

Over the next few days the foreign del egation conferred with local clergy, civic leaders, doctors and politicians and con demned French nuclear policies. On Hi roshima Day, the delegates held a public meeting at Willy Bambride sports stad ium where the resolutions were presented and broadcast live on Radio Papeete.

Their demands, endorsed by Drollet (a marine biologist trained at the University of Toulouse) include: • To create a radiation epidemiology lab oratory under World Health Organisation supervision to study diseases linked to nuclear tests. The laboratory would inves tigate the relationship between ciguatera, pollution, contamination by radioactive fallout and cancer in Polynesia. • To create a health register of the 12,000 Polynesian workers who have been em ployed at Mururoa and Fangataufa atolls since tests began in 1966. The aim of the register would be to record the cause of death of those workers who have since died and to establish a checklist on the health of workers still living. • To demolish unused military bunkers and blockhouses on Hao, the headquar ters of the CEP, as the first step in reha bilitating the atoll’s environment. • To liaise with Tahiti’s social and eco nomic council to carry out research and propose ways in which the territory could become self-sufficient after the nuclear re seach centre is removed.

It is believed Drollet supported the conference to strengthen his hand in pushing through the demands as he is able to do under new ministerial powers.

Another member. Islands Minister Emile Vernaudon, also took part. Later the Prot estant Church, supported by more than 70 per cent of the 160,000 people of French Polynesia, again strongly condemned the nuclear tests (it first did so in 1963, the year France began building its Pacific testing

centre). “The church has always de nounced this vileness of mankind and the degradation of God’s creation,” said sec retary general John Doom.

Dr Atkinson described the health de mands of the seminar as a “remarkable breakthrough” in Tahiti. “Until now,” he said, “France has kept statistics classified and this move should expose the facts about the health of the islanders.”

Dr Atkinson told the conference French authorities had exploited the 1983 South Pacific scientific mission, led by Hugh At kinson, then director of the NZ National Radiation Laboratory, by claiming it had given the tests a clean bill of health. In fact, the mission found clear evidence that Mu ruroa is leaching radioactivity.

“The local papers tried to slur us in a mix-up over our names,” he said. Tony’

Atkinson was confused with ‘Hugh’ At kinson and the largest French daily in Pa peete, La Depeche de Tahiti , accused the conference organisers of trying to “trick”

Tahitians by introducing a New Zealander with the same name as the leader of the Pacific mission.

“They tried to say anti-French stirrers from Australia and New Zealand led the Pacific mission. But IPPNW is a world wide organisation representing more than 200,000 members, and is against Ameri can, Soviet and British nuclear testing all nuclear tests.”

Dr Atkinson believes the register of for mer and present Mururoa workers will give a more accurate picture of Tahiti’s sus pected health problems. Such information would provide data that could be com pared with well documented radiation-in duced illnesses in the Marshall Islands.

During the conference a row broke out after France’s new Environment Minister Drice Lalonde, a former anti-nuclear protester who sailed twice to Mururoa, claimed in Sydney that the testing had no negative effects on the environment.

The French branch of IPPNW chal lenged the French Government to back up this claim, saying Lalonde’s statement went against international scientific opinion.

Dr Franck Fauilhade, chairman of the group, said part of Mururoa atoll had col lapsed and the collapse had damaged coral reefs and had spread ciguatera poisoning 900 cases had been recorded in French Polynesia, he claimed.

However, while the French Govern ment was able to brush off the criticisms by French doctors, it will have a more dif ficult time opposing the Tahitian cancer register and laboratory supported by Health Minister Drollet. □