fishing venture

Business Bulletin

Niugini Mining seeks

s3sm to buy gold shares

NIUGINI Mining Ltd plans to raise US$35 million though an institutional placement to help fund its share of the Lihir gold deposit in Papua New Guinea.

Niugini’s commercial manager Jeff Quartermaine says the company needs US$4B million deposit from 20 per cent to 30 per cent. The balance would come from internal sources.

Niugini has $2O million in cash and its two existing gold mines Red Dome in north Queensland and San Cristobal in Chile are cash positive. Mr Quartermaine says a joint venture agree ment between Niugini, RTZ Corp and the Papua New Guinea government is a good deal for Niugini.

Placer Dome pulls

out of Namosi project

PLACER Pacific Ltd says its 50 per cent partner in the Namosi copper prospect in Fiji, Placer Dome Inc, has withdrawn, ending the joint venture. Placer Pacific has been the manager of the joint venture, formed in April 1992, while Placer Dome has been fully funding the exploration program.

Place Pacific says it will apply to have the tenements transferred to its sole name and will continue its investigations through exploration and economic analysis.

More Kiribati govt

companies for sale

KIRIBATI finance minister Taomati luta says eight more government owned rompanies are in the pipeline for sale.

The minister, who’s also the chairman )f the government privatisation commit ee, named the companies as Abamakoro reading, Atoll Motor and Marine Ser ies, Kiribati Shipping Service Limited,

\ir Tungaru, the Government Printery,

he Betio Shipyard, Kiribati Insurance

md the Housing Corporation. The

nmister said the sale of the first four tate-owned companies was still progress ng but the Kiribati Supply Company is xpected to be sold soon.

»wlss firm to monitor

*NG’s log exports

HE Papua New Guinea cabinet has greed to engage a Swiss company to lonitor all PNG’s log exports. The idependent monitoring program is to ost PNG about US$2 million. The PNG overnment is to contract the Swiss

ampany, Society General Surveillance,

GS, to check on every shipment leaving /ery logging operation in the country.

Prime minister Paias Wingti says the im is to check that every log is paid for ad that no logging companies are ansferring profits abroad. The SGS

company would also look at whether PNG was getting a fair price for its timber resources.

Fibre-optic phone

system for Cook Islands

TELECOM Cook Islands customers are being offered better quality telephone through a new fibre-optic transmission system. The Cook Islands is the third Pacific country to install a fibre-optic service following in the footsteps of Fiji and Hawaii.

The US$5OO,OOO, 22-kilometre cable circles most of the island of Rarotonga and has been put in by Telecom New Zealand a 40 per cent shareholder in Telecom Cook Island’s holding com pany.

Digital multiplex equipment has also been installed on the network. Telecom Cook Islands says subscribers have already noticed that there has been a marked improvement in the quality of their telephone service with clearer and more reliable lines.

Fiji Air’s plans

put on hold

FIJI’S main domestic airline Fiji Air has been told to hold off its plans to reduce services from last month. The order has come from the Air Transport Licensing Board (ALTB) in a letter to company chief executive David Young. The airline had planned to cut services to small outer islnds which it says are unprofitable in the face of competition from newly formed airline Pacific Express.

Pacific Express has been given rights to operate on several high density profitable routes which, according to Fiji Air, subsidise outer island routes. The ALTB’s order not to cut services has sent Mr Young to his solicitors. Radio Fiji says Mr Young is angered that it took the ALTB two months to reply to Fiji Air’s proposed withdrawal.

3 olynesian Airlines

flying low

WESTERN Samoa’s international air carrier, Polynesian Airlines, is reported to be in trouble. The airline faces reduced staff members, as a result of what senior management describes as tough times. In the past year, Polynesian Airlines has expanded its route system four-fold to take in Honululu and Los Angeles.

The airline has also maintained its existing services to Australia, New Zea land, Fiji, Tonga, American Samoa, Cook Islands and Tahiti. The state owned carrier was managed until earlier this year by Australia’s Ansett Airlines, but general manager Papalii Grant Percival says Ansett’s withdrawl has left many staff unsure of what they are doing.

Asked about repeated rumours the airline is going broke, he says it is facing tough times. But he says problems have

to be expected with such rapid expan sion, ana the two new routes are doing very well.

New schedules for

Solomon Airlines

SOLOMON Islands flag carrier, Sol omon Airlines has introduced a new international and domestic flight sched ule which it believes will open up the possibility of attracting more Japanese tourists and divers.

An airline spokesperson said the new schedule came into effect on October 31.

It provides better connections at all Eoints on the routes in and out of olomon Islands and will cut out the need to make on oversnight stay in either Brisbane or Nadi. Under the new schedule it would be possible for a Japanese tourists to fly right through from Tokyo to Honiara or a diver to fly from Los Angeles to Gizo in the Western Province with no overnight stops.

Cooks budget

deficit hits USs3m

THE Cook Islands government’s budget deficit has again hit the US$3 million mark. This was revealed in a mini budget tabled in parliament in Avarua last month. The Cook Islands News says this is the second time in less than 12 months that the deficit has been this high.

Air Pacific gears up

for Osaka flights

FIJI’S international airline Air Pacific is to upgrade its Boeing 767-200 ER aircraft. Company chief executive Andrew Drysdale says the plane will be built at Boeing’s factory in Seattle to Air Pacific specifications. It will be used on the new Nadi-Osaka route.

Air Pacific has ordered another 8767 for delivery in 1996. The airline currently has an all jet fleet consisting of a Boeing 747-200, a 8767-200 and a Boeing 737-400.

Meanwhile, the airline has removed the flying marlin from its logo. The marlin will be replaced with the word ‘Fiji’ on the tails of Air Pacific aircraft.

<iribati, Japan in

fishing venture

THE Kiribati government and a Japan ese fishing company have agreed to form a joint purse seining fishing venture. An official from the ministry of natural resources development, Teekabu Tiikai, said the venture was proposed in a meeting between government officials and official of the Otoshiro Gyogyo

Fishing Company from Japan.

He said the two sides would meet again to sign the agreement for the joint venture in which the Japanese company will provide a purse seiner vessel worth US$3.3 million. □