Headlines
pp. 7-8 · Read in the full issue
Tuvalu hit by water crisis
TUVALU found itself in the midst of a serious water crisis during last month. On the capital Funafuti, a
prolonged dry-spell, with only 50 per
cent of normal rainfall over the previous four months, led to strict rationing four gallons of water a day for each household. As stocks further depleted, Princess Margaret Hospital discharged all in-patients except for one who required observation. Tuvalu’s inter-island ship, Nivaga 11, loaded with passengers for the southern islands and Suva, sat in port and waited its water tanks nearly emp ty. Some relief arrived when USS Schenectady sailed into Funafuti on a three-day goodwill visit. When told of the situation, its Commander gave the go-ahead for the transfer of water to Nivaga 11. Schenectady pumped 60,000 gallons into the shore tank on the wharf for general distribution.
PINA moves THE annual conference of the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) will be held in the American Samoan capital of Pagopago in November. The conference was to have been held in Suva. But the Fiji Government requires that it approves all international meetings held in Fiji and it said it was not appropriate to hold the PINA conference in Suva because the Government was not a mem ber. PINA Executive Director, Radio Tonga General Manager Tavake Fusima lohi, said arrangements for the confer ence in Pagopago is going well.
Successful vote RABBIE Namaliu’s government has suc cessfully pushed through a first vote on a constitutional amendment in Papua New Guinea to enforce a stricter control on motions of no-confidence on the Prime Minister. The amendment, which
requires a two-thirds majority, gives in
coming prime ministers an 18-month grace period from no-confidence mo tions. This will allow a new government to put policies in place before an attempt is made to unseat it through a motion.
July’s first vote on the amendment was passed 74-3. There were 30 members ab sent. It is now likely to go before the Budget sitting in November for the second vote. If it passes the second vote, the change will automatically come into force after the general elections in 1992.
Political observers in Papua New Guinea believe that the frequency of motions of no-confidence, with accompanying vote buying and party swapping, is a major cause of political instability in the country.
Border agreement
PAPUA New Guinea and the Solomon Islands have agreed to make regular pat rols of their sea border between the re bel island of Bougainville and the Solo mon Islands group of the Shortlands.
The Solomon Islands will have a patrol base in the Shortlands and Papua New Guinea will maintain a base on Nissan Island, north of Bougainville. Arrange ments for joint surveillance of the bor der was finalised in the middle of last month to stop the alleged crossing of the border by Bougainvilleans into the Solo mons. While border crossings by the cul turally-related Shortlanders and Bougainvilleans were tolerated in the past, the Bougainvillean rebellion intro duced new border crossers described as “elements with ulterior motives”.
Philippines alternative
THE authorities are looking at hospitals in the Philippines for the treatment of Marshall Islanders exposed to nuclear
testing nearly 40 years ago. Currently
patients are being treated in the United States as part of a US$l5O million re habilitation programme paid for by the US which tested its nuclear weapons in the Marshalls in the 1940 s and 19505.
The programme’s administrator, Jack Jorbon, said sending patients to the Phi lippines will cost a third of the treatment in the US. He said the standard of hos pitals and doctors in the Philippines are comparable to those in the United States.
Help arrives: The crew of USS Schenectady prepare to transfer water to Nivaga II.
New bank PROPERTY and General, a real estate company in Port Vila, has announced a proposal to establish an investment bank in the Vanuatu capital to service the
Pacific Islands. Company Managing
Director Andrew Wrighton said the ser vices to be offered include the arrange ment and packaging of finance facilities for Vanuatu and the Pacific. This announcement follows the acquisition of Property and General by Pacific Asian International Limited (PAIL), of which Wrighton is also a director. Wrighton said the proposed bank will utilise Vanuatu’s offshore banking and finance centre facilities and will provide exper tise in tourism, agriculture and indus tries.
Drug arrest
A 21-YEAR-OLD Brisbane man was jailed for three months in Suva in July for possession of marijuana. Andrew lan Carter, an AIDS Counsellor, pleaded guilty at the Suva Magistrates Court. He was arrested aboard the cruise ship Fair star when she visited Suva last month.
Two of Carter’s companions, Sydney couple Mark and Vicki Ann Elphick, were acquitted on similar charges be cause of lack of evidence.
Vandals strike VANDALS are hindering a research programme into wave energy in Western Samoa by cutting loose a transmitter buoy anchored several miles off the Apia coastline. The buoy’s anchor line has been cut three times, letting the trans mitter float away for up to 100 kilometres each time. The transmitter buoy sends its data to Norway by satel lite. The project, and a similar one in Tonga, is funded by Norway.
New deal A NEW arrangement is being sought to replace the extradition treaty between Fiji and New Zealand which lapsed after the 1987 military coup in Fiji. This new move arose after Fiji police wanted to
question a Fiji boxing promoter believed
to have arrived in Auckland last month.
The man’s wife was stabbed to death at their home in Suva. A spokesman for Auckland Police said they were looking for the man but he was not certain if he could be extradited to Fiji. He said the court would have to decide. Meanwhile New Zealand’s Ministry of External Rela tions said a new extradition arrangement between the two countries is being sought.
Australian Maoris THE New Zealand Planning Council estimates that a tenth of New Zealand’s Maori population would be living in Au stralia by early next century. Already six per cent of the estimated 300,000 Maori population are living in Australia. New Zealand researcher Jeremy Lowe said that of the estimated 26,000 Maoris liv ing in Australia, 70 per cent of them were born in New Zealand. Maori migra tion is continuing at a high rate, he said.
Talk it over A BOOK on domestic violence and how it can be prevented was launched in Port Moresby on July 25. Let’s Talk It Over, was researched and published by the Law Reform Commission, The Women Law Committee, and the Curri culum Development Unit of the Educa tion Department. It is an attempt to edu cate school children on how domestic violence harms a good society. 60,000 copies of the book have been distributed to schools in Papua New Guinea.
Nuclear testing
FRANCE will continue its nuclear testing programme in the Pacific until the su perpowers have substantially reduced their nuclear stockpile, said France’s Consul General in Honolulu, Daniel Droulers. He said his country’s national defence was based on nuclear deterrence and there was little hope of putting a stop to nuclear testing in French Polynesia until the United States and the Soviet Union substantially reduced the number of their nuclear warheads.
Treason charge
PAPUA New Guinea’s former Police Commissioner, Paul Tohian, could be sentenced to death if convicted under a new charge laid against him on July 18.
He is accused of trying to overthrow the Government on the night of March 4.
He was charged initially under Section 39 (lb) of the Criminal Code which carries a maximum penalty of life im prisonment. But on July 18 the State applied successfully to add a charge of treason under Section 37 (e) (ii). Legal sources told the Post Courier newspaper in Port Moresby that a court convicting anyone under that section had no option but to impose the death penalty.
Boroko Committal Court Magistrate lova Geita ordered the treason count be added after the Australian lawyer repre senting the State, Brian Thompson, QC, applied to amend the charge. Tohian’s lawyer, Les Gavara-Nanu, objected to the application because, he said, it amounted to an abuse of process of the court. The case was adjourned to August 10 for committal ruling. D