Headlines

The battle for Johnston Atoll

A HAWAII district court judge will rule by September 10 on a

preliminary injunction to halt

United States Army shipments of che mical weapons from West Germany to Johnston Atoll. Greenpeace and Hawaii based indigenous rights activists failed on August 9 to get a temporary restrain ing order to halt the shipment of 100,000 rounds of nerve gas to the Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System (J AC ADS) facility. On August 21,

they asked for a preliminary injunction

halting the transfer until the merits of the case against shipment could be argued fully in court. Judge David Ezra said he would rule by September 10, the date beyond which the Army says it can no longer hold the chemical weapons in Germany. The US Army has promised it won’t move the weapons until the judge rules, at which time he would also set a trial date for the merits of the Green peace case.

However, affidavits put to the Honolu lu court by Greenpeace show several for mer Army chemical weapons experts be lieve the shipments could pose serious dangers to people and the environment.

The ex-head of environmental toxiocolo gy at the Aberdeen chemical weapons storage site in Maryland, Dr Wayne Landis, said the Army had “seriously erred” in its environmental analysis of JACADS and its “failure to consider alternative disposal methods is unreason able”.

Dr Landis also warned that an acci

dent during shipment could cause “signi

ficant” harm to marine life and the en vironment. The US Government lawyers tried unsuccessfully to have this affidavit ruled out of contention. It was backed up by evidence from the former en vironmental resources chief of the US

Army’s Engineers Corps, Dr James

Maragos, who said it is “imperative that immediate action to be taken to halt the transport”.

Meanwhile, the US Government has released the classified version of its Glob al Commons environmental assessment on the shipment. It has come up with a FONSI A Finding Of No Significant Impact and the Army claims there is no need for a full environmental impact study, which would be open for public comment. □

Naval delivery

THE Solomon Islands will receive its second naval patrol boat from Australia next year. It will be of the same class as the first boat, Lata, which was built in Freemantle, Western Australia. The ves sel will be the last in Australia’s patrol boat project which was started to help island nations patrol their Exclusive Eco nomic Zones. The Solomon Islands navy has set up base at Bokona Bay, Honiara, where it will build a jetty big enough for the two boats, workshops and storerooms. Australia has agreed to con tinue to provide technical training and logistic support for the Solomon Islands Defence Forces. □ Sunday ban call FIJI’S Methodist Church has called for the retention of the Sunday Ban in Fiji.

The ban was imposed by Major General Sitiveni Rabuka after his second coup in September 1987 as an extension of the curfew. The ban stopped work, trading and sports on Sundays. The easing of the ban by the interim government sparked off a round of religious protests and roadblocks in December 1988 and early last year. The church’s annual con

ference also called for Fiji “to remain a Christian country”. □ MR sacked PAPUA New Guinea Prime Minister Rabbie Namaliu has sacked Marine Re sources Minister Allan Ebu after Ebu criticised the country’s fisheries agree ment with the Soviet Union. Ebu said the agreement which was made last June offered “zero economic benefits” to Papua New Guinea. He said an agree ment with the Asian countries would have been better, and he labelled the Soviet deal as being politically motivated and not based on economics. The dismis sal allowed Namaliu to make a minor Cabinet reshuffle to strengthen his

Coalition Government by inviting

another minority party to join his team.

In the changes, the Minister assisting the Prime Minister, Akoka Doi, becomes the new Fisheries and Marine Resources Minister. Jack Genia moves from Educa tion to Assisting the Prime Minister and will also be responsible for resources de velopment. Education goes to the incom ing leader of the Melanesian United Front, Utula Samana. Namaliu said he fired Ebu because of a breach in Cabinet

solidarity. □