Fishy

Headlines

Cyclone

Cyclones

hit region

While Fiji is continuing with its recovery after the onslaught of Cyclone Kina last month, other South Pacific countries are recovering as well. [ Cyclone Nina struck parts of northern Tonga and further south the main island of Tongatapu was hit by strong winds associated with Cyclone Kina. Three people were killed in Tonga and substantial damage was caused to Tongatapu’s eastern side and the capital Nuku’alofa lost power. A number of houses in the capital lost their roofs.

In Nuku’alofa harbour three boats two inter-island ferries and a fishing vessel were wrecked. Meanwhile in Niue Nina’s 50 knot winds damaged the main wharf. ’ In the Solomon Islands a number of disaster areas were declared after Cyclone Nina struck in early January. A National Disaster Council spokesman says as many as 4000 people are homeless on the islands of Rennel and Bellona where only two buildings are still standing. Consignments of relief supplies, mainly tarpaulins and clothing, have been airlifted to the affected areas. Vessels with fresh water and food supplies have also been sent out to the affected areas.

The Australian government has sent emergency supplies to the Solomon Islands. These include tarpaulins and water

ourification equipment.

Two young children and an elderly woman were killed when Vina hit Bellona late on New Year’s Day. Two other Solomon [slanders died when their canoe capsized in rough seas in the country’s Western Province. In the Solomon Islands as a whole ibout 10,000 people are now though to be homeless as a result )f the cyclone.

Kiribati

Fishy

money

fhe Kiribati authorities have accused some of the Korean ishing companies employing I-Kiribati fishermen of not omplying with their agreements signed with the Kiribati ;overnment.

Kiribati’s Minister for Commerce, Industry and Employment Kemuera Tateraka has told parliament some Korean fishing ompanies have not been sending the I-Kiribati fishermen’s alaries back home as agreed.

He says this has been causing hardships to the parents of the "amen concerned. The minister said some companies do send alaries back to Kiribati but not on time.

Tateraka says his ministry is lookinging into the matter.

Fiji

Taukei unhappy

with Rabuka

The Fijian nationalist Taukei movement has called on all indigenous Fijian members of parliament to completely reject moves towards the formation of a government of national unity.

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, who made the initial call for

the formation of a unity government, is a Taukei member.

A statement by the movement’s leader Taniela Veitata says the

37 Fijian parliamen

tarians should throw the proposal out without any qualms. Veitata says the

proposal is a cunning

scheme aimed at taking

away indigenous Fijian’s

control of the country.

He says Rabuka should

not allow himself to be manupulated by what he says are conspirators scheming to steer him away from the goals and ideals of the 1987 struggle.

Meanwhile Fiji’s cabinet has unanimously accepted Ra buka’s call for a government of national unity providing the interests of indigenous Fijians and Rotumans are not sacrificed.

Information Minister Ilai Kuli says the Prime Minister’s call was accepetd by a cabinet meeting with a few reservations.

Marshall Islands

Typhoon

assistance

The Asian Development Bank is expected to give a SUSSOO,OOO loan to the Marshall islands to help in the wake of the destruction caused in November by Typhoon Gay. A bank official Paul McCabe says he anticipates the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency will provide assistance for damage to private homes while the ADB will support the rehabilitation of public facilities, the replanting of crops and the repair of fishing boats.

Indonesia

Soldiers killed At least two Indonesian soldiers are reported to have been killed in clashes with West Papuan OPM separatists.

Rabuka: unity call

Papua New Guinea

Helicopter

attack

The Papua New Guinea government has confirmed an Australian-supplied helicopter was involved in an incident with a motorised boat of! Bougainville in mid-December. The admission follows claims by an Australian Marist brother, Bryan Leak, that PNG defence force personnel abord the helicopter fired a machine gun and grenades at him and 11 other civilians as they tried to leave the island on December 15.

The Australian Foreign minister, Gareth Evans, says a preliminary report by PNG officials has confirmed the incident took place. Brother Leak says the 12 on board were attempting to leave Bougainville for the Solomon Islands to seek urgent medical attention for a nine-year-old boy. He said if one of his party had not returned fire the helicopter attack would have continued until they were all dead.

Meanwhile PNG has told the Australian government not to blame PNG if Australians are killed on Bougainville. In a strong-worded brief to the two countries’ Joint Ministerial Forum in Tasmania in December, Defence Minister, Paul Tohian said Australians bear responsibility for their own actions if they choose to remain on Bougainville. ***

CRA will not

open mine

CRA, the company the development of Bougainville’s Panguna Copper Mine, says it will not accept the reopening of the mine under armed guard. The mine has been shut as a result of the secessionist rising on the island but there have been reports of negotiations on its reopening between CRA and the Papua New Guinea government.

The managing director of CRA Minerals PNG Limited, Mosely Moramoro, says reopening the mine depends on the feeling of Bougainvillians and it would not be proper for armed guards to surround the mine during operations. PNG's national radio NBC says PNG security forces are expected to take control of Panguna by April. ***

Red Cross barred

on Bougainville

Papua New Guinea Security Forces on Bougainville have prevented the Red Cross from entering care centres on the war torn island to distribute relief supplies. The Red Cross mission had been approved by PNG government authorities to enter government controlled areas on Bougainville.

But the mnercy mission headed by Red Cross officer Andrew Sangam, a Bougainvillean, was not given clearance by PNG soldiers to distribute the SUS4I,OOO worth of relief supplies saying Sagam was a security risk. PNG Red Cross chairman Loani Henao says the society is seeking a full explanation.

Illegal

fishing

The Papua New Guinea government says the country may lose over SUSI billion in fisheries revenue due to uncontrolled fishing in its waters. Fisheries Minister lairo Lasaro made the remark while commissioning a National Maritime Surveillance Centre in Port Moresby.

The centre, to be run jointly by PNG’s Defence Force anc the Fisheries Department, will oversee fishing activities in the country as well as undertaking other international bordei surveillance activities. Lasaro said the estimated loss in licence fees alone was about SUS3O million. He said frozen fish taken out the country illegally was worth between SUS2SO million and SUS3OO million each year.

He said the country needs an effective surveillance system which would also serve to protect and conserve resources fon the benefit of future generations.

Australia

Aboriginal

land claim

An Australian Aboriginal group, making a claim for most ofl Brisbane’s Central Business District, says it doesn’t necessarily want the land handed back. The Brisbane-based Aboriginal!

Legal Service acting on behalf of the Mullenjarli people claims the Mullenjarli can establish continuous links with the; land forming most of the central district.

A spokesman for the Legal Service, Sam Watson, says court; action is being planned, challenging a High Court finding that: freehold title extinguishes so-called native title. Watson says the; Mullenjarli want formal recognition.

Japan

Plutonium ship

arrives safely

The Japanese ship Akatsuki Maru which has caused much uproar with its cargo of 1.7 tonnes of plutonium has arrived safely back in Japan.

In spite of a pledge by Japan that the ship would stay outside territorial waters, the ship went through some of the exclusive ■ economic zones of Pacific island countries. The shipment is part of a 20-year Japanese plan to buy 30 tonnes of plutonium from Europe.

Meanwhile Australia’s foreign minister Gareth Evans says h Australian plutonium could be transported in the same way.

Solomon Islands

Government will

accept base

The Solomon Islands gov t ernment has confirmed it ; will accept an Australian built naval base in Honi [ ara despite earlier state ments to the contrary by Prime Minister, Solomon f Mamaloni. Mamaloni i wrote to Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating three months ago saying ! Solomon Islands did not

want the nearly completed

SUS3.S million base.

He said he instead

wanted Australia to channel its defence co-operation assistance to Solomon Islands to a base near the country’s boarder with Papua New Guinea. Solomon Islands Police and Justice Minister, Albert Laore, now says he has consulted Mamaloni about the issue and they had agreed the government would accept the base. ***

Espionage

flight

The Solomon Islands intelligence service has reported another cross-boarder espionage flight into its airspace by a Papua New Guinea Defence Force aircraft. Police in Honiara say a Defence Force Iroquois helicopter flown by a white pilot flew low over parts of the Shortlands group of islands which boarders Bougainville on December 15.

The Solomon Islands authorities say it was the second such flight in less than a week. Solomon Islands paramilitary personnel observed what they said was a PNG spy plane circling the Shortlands islands. Both cross-border flights are believed to have been for the purpose of taking aerial photographs.

The Solomon Islands authorities consider the flights highly provocative. ***

Firearms

stolen

Solomon Islands police are investigating thefts of firearms by youths who allegedly sell them to members of the Bougainville Revolutionary Army. In the two most recent incidents the police say a shotgun was stolen on December 11 and a point -2-2 rifle went missing on December 15.

Police says both weapons are believe to have been sold to the BRA. They say suspects in the thefts are youths of under 20 years old.

American Samoa

Beauty pageant

hosting criticised

American Samoa has won the bid to host the 1993 Miss South Pacific pageant. But the group Miss American Samoan Inc or MASI has disassociated itself from the proceedings.

MASI believes American Samoa is not ready to host the pageant. Masi member Juliette Spencer Swird says while the pageant is a good opportunity to showcase the territory as a tourist destination more time is needed to prepare hotel and other facilities. She pointed to the government’s financial situation and the changeover in administration in January as concerns which led to the MASI board to suggest American Samoa was not ready to host the pageant.

TheS'amofl News says MASI was not represented at the Miss South Pacific board of directors meeting in neighbouring Western Samoa which selected the venue for this year’s pageant. The vote favoured American Samoa over the Cook Islands because the Cooks hosted the pageant two years ago.

New Zealand

Infested

mangoes

New Zealand agriculture officials have expressed concern about mangoes infested with fruit-fly seized at Auckland Airport. A number of flights from Tonga have brought in mangoes which were found to contain fruit-fly lavae.

A spokesman for New Zealand’s Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries says New Zealand is one of just a few countries which are free from this pest. He says the fruit-fly’s introduction would put at risk 75 per cent of New Zealand’s horticulture exports, worth nearly SUS 400 million.

Niue

New

premier

Niue’s parliament has elected Young Vivian as the country’s new premier. Vivian had been acting premier during the illness of his predecessor the late Sir Robert Rex.

Radio New Zealand International says there are indications that Vivian’s leadership will be challenged by a former cabinet minister, Frank Lui.

Mamaloni: accepts