development

UNDP to aid in Kiribati development

KIRIBATI has signed an agreement under which the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will assist in the economic advancement of the country’s Line and Phoenix islands groups. These islands string out to the east of the main Gilberts groups and have been hampered by their small population and distance from the administrative and commercial centre.

Kiribati has aimed to resettle the islands and encourage economic devel opment, and the government’s Minis try of Line and Phoenix Group, based on Christmas (Kiritimati) Island, was formed to manage and co-ordinate development in the two island groups.

The two-year project, which is helped by finance from the UNDP and New Zealand, aims to upgrade the ministry’s development unit, and draft an outer

island plan.

The Line islands are broken into a northern group (Teraina, Tabuaeran and Kiritimati) and the southern (Maldern, Starbuck, Vostok, Caroline and Flint). Several of the islands were dug for guano last century, otherwise the main economic activity has been copra production.

Kirimati’s future lies largely with tourism; it is already favoured by fishermen, mainly from Hawaii and travelling on charter flights. A sched uled jet service calling there en route between Tarawa and Honolulu will open the island to general tourist traffic.

The Kiribati Government wants to turn Kirimati into the country’s second economic centre.

There are also resort plans for Flint.

The Phoenix group consists of eight scattered islands: Kanton or Canton, Enderbury, McKean, Birnie, Phoenix, Nikumaroro, Orona and Manra.

Kanton’s airport once used as a refuelling stop by trans Pacific flights in pre-jet days has recently been upgraded to serve as an emergency strip for two engined jets flying between Kirimati and Tarawa. □