A home for the Forum

From The Editor’S Desk

THE 24th South Pacific Forum meeting began and ended in Nauru last month.

How it went depends on who you talk to.

The regional leaders naturally praised

the outcome of the Forum meeting and of course the hosts. While the people who had their passports confiscated on arrival in Nauru were not too impressed. There were complaints of other shortcomings at the airport from bad organisation to

immigration officials being downright

rude. Some regional journalists were in Nauru three days before they were able to send copy home and communication generally was not terribly good. It was only a lot of hard work by Alfred Sasako of the Forum Secrtariat that got the communication facilities for journalists into some sort of order. Journalists who have returned from reporting the Forum say they were issued stiff warnings from government officials to stay away from controversy surrounding Nauru’s decreasing wealth. The journalists were told to report on the Forum alone or “get on the next flight home”. Nauru seemed paranoid about its dirty linen being aired in public especially during the Forum.

While they were happy to show the world the destruction caused to their island by phosphate mining they were touchy when the subject of missing investment funds was raised. During the Forum women and children took to the streets with banners and placards pro testing the mismanagement of their country’s phosphate wealth.

Last month’s PIM carried a cover report on the investments by the Nauru government and the problems with many of these investments. According to one of

the protest leaders, Ruby Dediya, the Nauru government confiscated the magazine before it was made available to the public. Government officials in Nauru would neither confirm nor deny the confiscation of the magazine saying they hadn’t seen a copy. What is certain is that there were no copies of the magazine available in bookshops during the Forum.

Meanwhile, in was not only journalists who had problems during the Forum.

Papua New Guinea officials had to run around to find a room for PNG prime

minister Paias Wingti before he arrived, There were reports of other accommo dation problems as well.

Not the kind of organisation you expect for such a high-powered regional meeting. Which again raises the question of whether the Forum meeting should have a permanent home. The present practice of island-hopping to a different regional capital each year for the meet ing is a costly affair. And it seems this is done more to keep each country happy than for the benefit of the organisation.

You then also run into problems ol countries like Nauru that are ill prepared and ill-equipped to play host to the regional meeting.

An editorial in The Fiji Times on August 5 called for the Forum meeting to make its home in Suva the home of the Forum Secretariat. Not a bad suggestion considering the facilities and infrastructure available and the fact that international organisations like the United Nations Development Pro gramme, the European Community and the United Nations International Chil dren’s Fund have their regional offices in Suva.

The Forum too has obviously been thinking along a similar vein. It has appointed a committee to review the Forum structure and there are sugges tions that regional leaders meet every second year while their foreign affairs ministers meet in the other years. A decision is expected at the Brisbane Forum next year.

The argument for a permanent home for the Forum is a sound one and should be given a lot of consideration. □(

Pacific Islands Monthly: banned in Nauru?