Islands’ plea

Leave alone our fragile environment, say leaders

PACIFIC island leaders ended the three day meeting at Yaren asking the rest of the world not to spoil their fragile environment. The Forum, which groups tiny island states with Australia and New Zealand, warned they were vulnerable to natural disasters, environmental degra dation and the problems of high popu lation growth. In a communique issued at the end of the conference, member nations called for sustainable economic development.

The communique listed environment threats against its members as de pletion of the ozone layer, possible climate change and rising sea levels from the Greenhouse Effect, destruction of Pacific tropical forests, and ocean trans portation and dumping of nuclear and other hazardous wastes. Of major con

cern is a program to ship plutonium from France through the Pacific to Japan for use in fast-breeder nuclear reactors.

Last December, a Japanese freight ship took about 2 tonnes of the highly radioactive material near the waters of Vanuatu and Solomon Islands. More shipments are planned in coming years.

The communique said there are “in herent risks” involved in such shipments.

However, it stopped short of demanding that Japan, a significant aid donor to the region, abandon the program. Instead it called for the shipments to be carried out in accordance with the highest interna tional safety and security standards and in a manner satisfactorily addressing all

possible contingencies.”

Japan has consistently maintained the shipments will be safe. The Forum also called on international laws to place the responsibility of the nuclear powers to be made totally liable for the cost of

cleaning up a nuclear accident.

Participants: some of the Forum leaders at the Civic Centre at Yaren Nauru